The epaulette sharks that can be seen in the "Island Stories" exhibition at Nausicaá have become the parents of some very well-formed little epaulette sharks that have since joined the exhibition.
Births of epaulette sharks
Baby epaulette sharks born at Nausicaá.
What are Nausicaá’s epaulette sharks?
The adult epaulette sharks at Nausicaá are among the first to be born as part of a joint breeding programme between European aquariums.
They are on display in the "Island Stories" exhibition, illustrating the vast biodiversity of tropical islands, and in particular Australia's Great Barrier Reef, from which the species originates.
What is the epaulette shark?
The epaulette shark, also known as the walking shark, can grow up to 1.10 m long.
It gets this unusual name from the way it moves along the seabed, using its fins as paws. Nevertheless, it can swim between patch corals. This species lives in the western Pacific Ocean, in the coral waters of northern Australia, Papua and New Guinea. It lives mainly on the tropical seabed, in a coral environment, at shallow depths, from the intertidal zone to a depth of 50 m. It is a nocturnal species that feeds mainly on small fish, worms and crustaceans.
The epaulette shark is oviparous and lays pouches containing two eggs, which are laid at night. A pair of eggs can be produced every 14 days. Breeding takes place from July to November with an incubation period of 4 months.
A new species of "epaulette" shark was recently discovered in Indonesia: Hemiscyllium halmahera.
The conservation programmes at Nausicaá
Nausicaá is a unique biodiversity conservatory where several hundred offspring are born every year. Furthermore, Nausicaá participates in European conservation programmes to save endangered species.