Leopard (Zebra) Shark

Habitat: Sandy patches beside coral reefs; rests on the bottom by day facing into current, hunts the reef at night

Distribuzione: Tropical Indo-Pacific from East Africa and the Red Sea through Southeast Asia to northern Australia and the western Pacific

Comportamento: A gentle, torpid daytime resident, propped on its pectorals on sand with its ridged, spotted body in plain view. Adults wear leopard spots but hatch as striped 'zebras', the source of the naming muddle between Indo-Pacific 'leopard' usage and Australia's 'zebra shark'. Swims with an eel-like wriggle when disturbed.

Dieta: Mollusks, crustaceans, small fish, and sea snakes, extracted from crevices with a flexible, wriggling body

Dimensioni: tipicamente intorno a 2.0 m; documentato fino a 2.5 m (total length, nearly half of it a long, low tail).

Approach a resting shark low and from the front-side, stop outside touching distance, and leave before it bolts. Repeated flushing burns the animal's energy and empties the site for everyone after you.

Endangered: inshore gillnetting has emptied much of Southeast Asia's habitat. A coalition of aquariums and scientists is now rewilding captive-bred pups in Raja Ampat, one of the first shark reintroduction programs anywhere.