Hemigaleus australiensis White, Last & Compagno, 2005

White, William T. & Ko’Ou, Alfred, 2018, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of Papua New Guinea, Zootaxa 4411 (1), pp. 1-82 : 29-30

Hemigaleus australiensis White, Last & Compagno, 2005

Sicklefin Weasel Shark

Hemigaleus australiensis White, Last & Compagno, 2005: 40 , Fig. 1 . Holotype: CSIRO H 5949-01. Type locality: northwest of Geraldton, Western Australia.

Local synonymy: Negogaleus microstoma - Filewood, 1973: 3 (PNG). Hemigaleus microstoma— Kailola, 1987: 20 (western Papua; Gulf of Papua; Orangerie Bay; New Britain?); White et al., 2018: 122, figs (PNG).

PNG voucher material: (26 spec.) CSIRO H 7810-03, female 310 mm TL, south of Kerema , Gulf of Papua, 8°2’55.8” S, 145°44’57” E, 14–16 m depth, 19 Jun. 2014 ; CSIRO H 7819-01, female 420 mm TL, south of Kerema , Gulf of Papua, 8°03’ S, 145°46’ E, 18–22 m depth, 30 Nov. 2014 ; CSIRO H 7832-01, female 480 mm TL, south of Deception Bay , Gulf of Papua, 8°8’20” S, 144°24’53” E, 17–20 m depth, 11 Dec. 2014 ; CSIRO H 7834- 0 2, female 500 mm TL, south of Deception Bay , Gulf of Papua, 8°1’54” S, 144°39’13” E, 22–25 m depth, 15 Dec. 2014 ; CSIRO H 8003-01, female 380 mm TL, Freshwater Bay , Gulf of Papua, 8°9’15.54” S, 146°02’49.1” E, 12– 14 m depth, 24 Aug. 2015 ; CSIRO H 8017-01, female 290 mm TL, Freshwater Bay , Gulf of Papua, 8°6’1.56” S, 145°50’16.02” E, 13–16 m depth, 30 Aug. 2015 ; CSIRO H 8019-01, female 310 mm TL, south of Kerema , Gulf of Papua, 8°2’49.5” S, 145°43’41.34” E, 17–19 m depth, 31 Aug. 2015 ; CSIRO H 8165-01 (dried jaws), female 500 mm TL, south of Deception Bay , Gulf of Papua, 8°2’8” S, 144°38’33” E, 22 m depth, 14 Dec. 2014 ; CSIRO H 8168-01 (dried jaws and chondrocranium), adult male 720 mm TL, south of Deception Bay , Gulf of Papua, 8°0’ S, 144°27’ E, 19–21 m depth, 9 Dec. 2014 ; CSIRO H 8158-01 (dried jaws), juvenile female 580 mm TL, south of Kerema , Gulf of Papua, 8°5’50” S, 145°39’11” E, 16–17 m depth, 22 Nov. 2014 ; CSIRO H 8162-01 (dried jaws), adult male 650 mm TL, south of Kerema , Gulf of Papua, 8°4’26” S, 145°40’55” E, 17–20 m depth, 7 Sep. 2015 ; KFRS E.041 (dried jaws), Kairuku , Central Province, late Oct. 1964 ; KFRS E.223A and E.223B (dried jaws), Gulf of Papua , Feb. 1966 ; KFRS E.304 (dried jaws), Orangerie Bay , Jun. 1967 ; KFRS E.600, juvenile male 270 mm TL, Freshwater Bay , Gulf of Papua, 8°9’31.62” S, 146°1’38.04” E, 16 m depth, 24 Aug. 2015 ; KFRS E.626, female 360 mm TL, KFRS E.627, female 310 mm TL, Freshwater Bay , Gulf of Papua, 8°6’1.56” S, 145°50’16.02” E, 13– 16 m depth, 30 Aug. 2015 ; KFRS E.631, female 470 mm TL, Freshwater Bay , Gulf of Papua, 8°8’6.66” S, 145°59’23.58” E, 14–19 m depth, 24 Aug. 2015 ; KFRS E.667, female 460 mm TL, Freshwater Bay , Gulf of Papua, 8°8’ S, 146°1’ E, 14–15 m depth, 29 Nov. 2014 ; KFRS E.672, male 560 mm TL, Freshwater Bay , Gulf of Papua, 8°8’19.2” S, 145°57’4.2” E, 14–18 m depth, 14 Jun. 2014 ; KFRS E.674, male 560 mm TL, south of Deception Bay , Gulf of Papua, 8°9’5” S, 144°26’53” E, 22–24 m depth, 9 Dec. 2014 ; KFRS E.743, adult male 740 mm TL, south of Deception Bay , Gulf of Papua, 8°8’ S, 144°27’ E, 17–18 m depth, 9 Dec. 2014 ; KFRS E.755, female 300 mm TL, south of Deception Bay , Gulf of Papua, 8°2’16” S, 144°38’26” E, 22–23 m depth, 15 Dec. 2014 ; KFRS E.756, female 290 mm TL, south of Deception Bay , Gulf of Papua, 8°4’23” S, 144°38’55” E, 22–31 m depth, 14 Dec. 2014 ; KFRS E.767, male 520 mm TL, south of Deception Bay , Gulf of Papua, 8°8’14” S, 144°29’13” E, 21– 22 m depth, 14 Dec. 2014 .

Remarks: Once considered to be conspecific with Hemigaleus microstoma Bleeker, 1852 which occurs in the Western Central Pacific. White et al. (2005) noted that its presence in PNG needs validating. Restricted to northern Australia and PNG; possibly restricted to the southern coast from Western Province through to Orangerie Bay.

Figures

FIGURE 1. The current location of the KFRS collection in the biological sciences area of the University of PNG.