The gummy shark, Mustelus antarcticus, is a shark in the family Triakidae. It is a slender, grey shark with white spots along the body and flat, plate-like teeth for crushing its prey. It has a maximum length of between 157 cm (male) and 175 cm (female). It feeds on crustaceans, marine worms, small fish and cephalopods. It is found in the waters around southern Australia, from Shark Bay in Western Australia to Port Stephens in New South Wales to a depth of 350 m. Reproduction is ovoviviparous.
Gummy shark meat is often marketed as "flake". Their boneless fillets have made them particularly popular within the fish and chip industry throughout Australia. Although gummy sharks have not been overfished, they inhabit many of the same areas as school (snapper) sharks which have, therefore a bycatch quota was established. This means fishers targeting gummy shark can not have an adverse impact on the school shark population. Bag limits for recreational fishers in Victoria apply, a limit of two gummy shark and/or school shark, landed whole or as a carcass. Minimum size for both species is 45 cm measured from the rear-most gill slit to the base of the tail fin.
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Famous quotes containing the word shark:
“They will tell you tough stories of sharks all over the Cape, which I do not presume to doubt utterly,—how they will sometimes upset a boat, or tear it in pieces, to get at the man in it. I can easily believe in the undertow, but I have no doubt that one shark in a dozen years is enough to keep up the reputation of a beach a hundred miles long.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)