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.