Stegostoma fasciatum ( Hermann, 1783 )

White, William T. & Ko’Ou, Alfred, 2018, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of Papua New Guinea, Zootaxa 4411 (1), pp. 1-82 : 21

Stegostoma fasciatum ( Hermann, 1783)

Zebra Shark

Squalus fasciatum Hermann, 1783: 302 . Based on Squalus varius Seba, 1759 . A senior homonym of Squalus fasciatus Bonnaterre, 1788 = Poroderma africanum ( Gmelin, 1789) . No types known.

Local synonymy: Stegostoma fasciatum— Filewood, 1973: 8 (PNG); Compagno, 2001: 186 (PNG); Baine & Harasti, 2007: 93 (Bootless Bay); Hamilton et al., 2009: 73 (northern Bismarck Archipelago); Last & Stevens, 2009: 153 (PNG); Drew et al., 2012: 5 (Bootless Bay); White et al., 2018: 80, figs (PNG). Stegostoma varium— Kailola, 1987: 9 (Sepik and Ramu River mouths; Orangerie Bay, Darapap, Hall Sound, Kerema).

PNG voucher material: (8 spec.) CSIRO H 7611-01, female 620 mm TL, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°5’9” S, 145°40’22.2” E, 16–23 m depth, 15 Jun. 2014; CSIRO H 7613-01, female 390 mm TL, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°8’15” S, 145°59’29.4” E, 14–15 m depth, 13 Jun. 2014; CSIRO H 8107-01 (dried jaw), juvenile male 690 mm TL, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°6’52” S, 145°58’29” E, 13–17 m depth, 11 Sep. 2015; KFRS E.610, juvenile male 720 mm TL, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°5’11.64” S, 145°47’59.58” E, 16–20 m depth, 14 Sep. 2015; KFRS E.665, juvenile male 790 mm TL, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°5’56” S, 145°56’17” E, 23–25 m depth, 27 Nov. 2014; KFRS E.721, juvenile male 600 mm TL, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°2’9.6” S, 145°42’29.4” E, 14–15 m depth, 17 Jun. 2014; ZMB 10175, juvenile male 313 mm TL, New Britain; ZMB 12709, juvenile male ~ 330 mm TL, New Britain, [1880–1884].

Remarks: First recorded from PNG by Filewood (1973) but specimens deposited in Berlin (ZMB) was collected by Otto Finsch and Eduard Hernsheim, German naturalists who operate in PNG in the 1870s and 1880s. Kottelat (2013) placed Squalus fasciatus into the synonymy of Stegostoma tigrinum ( Forster, 1781) , however consideration for protecting nomenclatural stability should be taken into account.