Burmese bamboo shark explained

The Burmese bamboo shark, Chiloscyllium burmensis, is an extremely rare bamboo shark in the family Hemiscylliidae. The first specimen was caught in 1963 off the coast from Rangoon in Myanmar (known as Burma at the time) in a depth of 29 – 33 m. This holotype is an adult male, 57 cm long and kept in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC.^[1] Later, three more specimens, two males and one female, were recorded in 2018 from the Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation Fish Landing Center of Cox’s Bazar. ^[2]

Description

The dorsal fin of the Burmese bamboo shark has straight rear margins. They are relatively small in size and have a slender body, blunt snout, and small eyes. It has no particular color pattern.

Diet

They eat small bony fish or invertebrates.^[3]

Reproduction

The Burmese bamboo shark is oviparous (egg laying), notedly laying eggs in pairs.^[4]

See also

• List of sharks

References

• • Compagno, Dando, & Fowler, Sharks of the World, Princeton University Press, New Jersey 2005

Notes and References

1. Howe, J. C. & Springer, V. G. "Catalog of Type Specimens of Recent Fishes in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 5: Sharks (Chondrichthyes: Selachii)". Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology. Number 540, 1993
2. Ahmed, M.S., Chowdhury, N.Z., Datta, S.K. et al. New Geographical Record of the Burmese Bamboo Shark, Chiloscyllium burmensis (Orectolobiformes: Hemiscylliidae), from Bangladesh Waters. Thalassas 35, 347–350 (2019).
3. Compagno, Leonard. Sharks of the World. Shark Research Center Iziko-Museums of Cape Town. No. 1. Vol 2. Cape Town South Africa: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2002. Pg 169.
4. Web site: Reference Summary - Dulvy, N.K. and J.D. Reynolds, 1997 . 2024-04-30 . fishbase.mnhn.fr.