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Name : Tasselled wobbegong ( Eucrossorhinus dasypogon )
Where it lives : Western Pacific Ocean , off the glide of Northern Australia , New Guinea and Indonesia .
What it eats : Fish , crabs , squid , cuttlefish , octopus and other sharks .
Why it ’s awesome : The tasselled wobbegong is a master of disguise .
These carpet sharks , which turn up to4 feet ( 1.2 meters ) long , are able to virtually disappear into the sea floor thanks to their encompassing , flat bodies and dreary , blotchy color , which avail them commingle into the reef . They also have coral - like lobes of flesh that organize a beard - like fringe around the forefront and chin , which intermit up the wobbegong ’s outline to sum up an extra layer to its camouflage .
The species name dasypogon come from the Greek Christian Bible dasys , mean " haired , " and pogon , which translates as " beard . "
associate : The ancient deep - ocean creature that can can gag a shark by spewing slime
Their ability to blend into their environment makes them dangerous predators . During the day , wobbegongs stay under reef ledges or in cave . They use a modest , hair’s-breadth - corresponding sensory organ called a feeler , located in the nostrils , to sense their environment and ambuscade quarry that comes too close . These sharks also wave their tails to imitate the trend of a small fish , which can lure in unsuspicious victims .
But at night tasselled wobbegong sharks really come to life , perching on the Rand and attacking passing prey . When they spot a fair game , they hurl upwards and suckle the animal into their elephantine mouths , before clamp down with herculean jaws and sharp , phonograph needle - like tooth .
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These Pisces can also slip their jaw to wipe out larger fair game — including other shark . In 2011 , while carrying out a survey of fishes off the Great Barrier Reef in Australia , marine biologistsspotted a tasselled wobbegongeating a brown - banded bamboo shark(Chiloscyllium punctatum ) that was 80 % its size .
Wobbegongs baffle very fiddling threat to humans but have been report to occasionally bite divers who come too close . TheFlorida Museum ’s International Shark Attack Filerecords 31 wanton wobbegong ( of various species ) attacks since 1580 , but none were fateful .
The wobbegong ’s camo also help to protect them from predators , as they may be use up by othermarine animals , let in tumid shark .
