ORECTOLOBIFORMES (CARPET SHARKS)

Orectolobiformes are popularly known as carpetsharks.  All the members of this small but diverse group of seven families and at least 37 species of warm-water sharks have pig-like snouts and short mouths that in most cases are connected to the nostrils by grooves.  They have an anal fin but they differ from the bullhead sharks in having no fin spines on the two dorsal fins.  Carpetsharks have uniquely formed barbels at the inside edge of the nostrils.  They are all sharks of warm temperate or tropical waters in shallow to moderate depths.  They are found largely in the tropics of the wester Pacific and the Indian oceans.

Orectolobiforme families

Brachaelutidae

Parascylliidae

Rhinocodontidae

Ginglymostomatidae

Stegostomatidae

Hemiscylliidae

Orectolobidae

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