The ornate wobbegong, Orectolobus ornatus, is a carpet shark in the family Orectolobidae, found in the western Pacific Ocean around eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Australia, between latitudes 1° N and 34° S (near Sydney). As yet, only Australian populations are known to certainly belong to this species, and it is possible populations in other countries actually represent a separate, undescribed species. The maximum reported length of the ornate wobbegong is 1.17 metres (3.8 ft). Reports of a larger maximum size is due to confusion with the recently revalidated banded wobbegong, which for the most part is found further south than the ornate wobbegong.
Reproduction is ovoviviparous.
Famous quotes containing the word ornate:
““Have we any control over being born?,” my friend asked in despair. “No, the job is done for us while we’re sleeping, so to speak, and when we wake up everything is all set. We merely appear, like an ornate celebrity wheeled out in a wheelchair.” “I don’t remember,” my friend claimed. “No need to,” I said: “what need have us free-loaders for any special alertness? We’re done for.””
—Marvin Cohen, U.S. author and humorist. The Self-Devoted Friend, New Directions (1967)