Elasmobranchs (sharks and rays)


Research leaders:

Ian Potter, William White and Malcolm Tull

Research team:

Ashlee Jones


Key research

  • William White and Steve Blaber (CSIRO) - Compositions of the previously unknown elasmobranch catches that are taken to fish markets in Indonesia and determining of the values for some of the basic biological parameters for the main species at those markets.
  • Malcolm Tull - Determining socioeconomic aspects of the artisanal component of the elasmobranch fisheries in Indonesia to elucidate the extent to which local communities depend on the fishery for sharks and rays, which yields not only flesh for human consumption but also material for a variety of other purposes.
  • Ashlee Jones and Lindsay Marshall - Biology of selected shark and ray species on the lower west coast of Australia, and in particular of the Port Jackson shark Heterodontus portusjacksoni and of the elasmobranch community as a whole, in order to extend our earlier studies of resource partitioning amongst elasmobranchs on this coast.
  • Dean Thorburn and David Morgan have recently been working on freshwater elasmobranchs in northern Australia, including the threatened freshwater sawfish Pristis microdon and northern river shark Glyphis sp. C.


Related publications

Hyndes, G.A. Platell, M.E., Potter, I.C. and Lenanton, R.C.J. 1999. Does the composition of the demersal fish assemblages in temperate coastal waters change with depth and undergo consistent seasonal changes? Marine Biology 134, 335-352.
Linke, T.E., Platell, M.E. and Potter, I.C. 2001. Factors influencing the partitioning of food resources among six fish species in a large embayment with juxtaposing bare sand and seagrass habitats. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 266, 193-217.
Platell, M.E. Potter, I.C. and Clarke, K.R. 1998. Resource partitioning by four species of elasmobranchs (Batoidea, Urolophidae) in costal waters of temperate Australia. Marine Biology 131, 719-734.
Potter, I.C. and Hyndes, G.A. 1994. Composition of the fish fauna of a permanently open estuary on the southern coast of Australia, and comparisons with a nearby seasonally closed estuary. Marine Biology 121, 199-209.
Travers, M.J. and Potter, I.C. 2002. Factors influencing the characteristics of fish assemblages in a large subtropical marine embayment. Journal of Fish Biology 61, 764 784.
White, W.T. and Potter, I.C. 2004. Habitat partitioning among four elasmobranch species in nearshore, shallow waters of a subtropical embayment in Western Australia. Mar. Biol. 145 : 1023-1032.
White, W.T., Hall, N.G. and Potter, I.C. 2002. Reproductive biology and growth during pre- and postnatal life of Trygonoptera personata and T. mucosa (Batoidea, Urolophidae). Marine Biology 140, 699-712.
White, W.T., Hall, N.G. and Potter, I.C. 2002. Size and age compositions and reproductive biology of the nervous shark Carcharhinus cautus in a large subtropical embayment, including an analysis of growth during pre- and postnatal life. Marine Biology 141, 1153-1164.
White, W.T., Last, P.R. and Compagno, L.J.V. in press. Description of a new species of weasel shark, Hemigaleus australiensis n. sp. Carcharhiniformes: Hemigaleidae from Australian waters. Zootaxa
White, W.T., Last, P.R. and Dharmadi 2005. Description of a new species of catshark, Atelomycterus baliensis (Carcharhiniformes: scyliorhinidae) from eastern Idonesia. Cybium 29 : 33-40.
White, W.T., Platell, M.E. and Potter, I.C. 2001. Relationship between reproductive biology and age composition and growth in Urolophus lobatus (Batoidea, Urolophidae). Marine Biology 138, 135-147.
White, W.T., Platell, M.E. and Potter, I.C. 2004. Comparisons between the diets of four abundant species of elasmobranchs in a subtropical embayment: implications for resource partitioning. Mar. Biol. 144 : 439-445.
White, W.T., Fahmi, Adrim, M. and Sumadhiharga, K. 2004. A juvenile megamouth shark Megachasma pelagios Lamniformes: Megachasmidae from northern Sumatra, Indonesia. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 52: 603-607.