The Advertiser of 14/5/25 reported that “Two rare angelsharks have been washed up on Yorke Peninsula …. ”
The report stated that angelsharks are “a critically endangered species that lives on the sea floor, camouflaging itself in the depths”. It was suggested that the two angelsharks that washed up were victims of the recent toxic algal bloom in South Australia. The two angelsharks were said to have been about 30cm long.
I previously wrote about angelsharks in A Chance Sighting of Two Australian Angelsharks, Squatina australis.
In that article, I said, “According to Marine & Freshwater Fishes of South Australia (angelsharks are) viviparous* and breeding during Autumn months (NOW).
* (Later said to be Ovoviviparous (aplacental viviparity) – produce young by means of eggs which are hatched within the body of the parent.)”
It is now Autumn, so these two small angelsharks have washed up during the breeding season, but at 30cm they are far from the full adult size of 1.5m.
(This photo of a washed-up angelshark featured on (1) Facebook: –
(Source: (1) Facebook)