📸 PhotoPhoto: Sandstein · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Japanese wobbegong
Orectolobus japonicus (Japanese wobbegong · オオセ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its maximum length of 118 cm is about waist height on an adult and 18 cm longer than a 1 m ruler (Comparison).
- 💡 It is caught in small-scale coastal commercial fisheries (FishBase).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The Japanese wobbegong is a little-known bottom-dwelling shark living on sandy and muddy coastal bottoms, active at night. It is also seen on rocky and coral reefs.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
It matures at around 103 cm in body length and grows up to 118 cm. It is a bottom shark with a flattened body adapted to staying on the seafloor.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It feeds mainly at night on fish and benthic invertebrates. Its prey includes lizardfishes, cutlassfish, horse mackerels, goatfishes, tilefishes, sea robins, parrotfishes, seabreams, croakers, skates and rays, shark egg cases, cephalopods, and shrimp. It is ovoviviparous, giving birth to up to 20 young per litter.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
It is a species recorded in Korea and listed on the National List of Species of Korea.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2020) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/161563/124507360
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — 6SSMR
- • iucnredlist.org — 124507360
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000057250 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000057250
- • wikidata.org — Q31794
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Orectolobus japonicus, Naturhistorisches Museum Wien.jp
- • fishbase.se — Orectolobus-japonicus.html
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.