Bearded Wobbegong: It's a shark. Although it looks more like a huge predatory carpet from the bottom of the ocean (7 photos)

Who lives at the bottom of the ocean?

A predatory carpet straight from the closet!

In principle, the entertaining part of the article could have ended here; I couldn’t think of a better pun. But I dug up a whole bunch of interesting facts and I can’t help but share them with you. So pour yourself some tea, wrap yourself in some buns and get ready to read about the bearded wobbegong, grandpa’s carpet from the world of fish!





Wobbegong is a shark. Really, it's useless. He sent shark building standards as far as possible. Instead of pumping up speed and strength, Pisces invested all his development points in stealth. A flat body, a short tail, a lot of facial hair - with such characteristics you will not swim quickly.



Like most extravagant marine animals, the bearded wobbegong hangs out off the coast of Australia and New Guinea. It prefers to live closer to the surface; the fish have not been seen at depths greater than 50 meters.





Or maybe they are just too good at hiding?

Yes, the storm of the seas from the wobbegong is nothing. But the ambush predator is an excellent one. The fringe on the face and camouflage color allow the fish to disappear among the corals even during the day. And at night the fish completely merge with the bottom. Ideal position for hunting.



The wobbegong's hunting process is not very spectacular. The fish lies on the bottom and lazily wags its tail. From a distance and in the dark, the tail looks like a small fish: with its own tail, fins and even eyes - two dark spots. Sooner or later, a careless octopus or fish will become interested in free prey and land right in the mouth of a lurking predator.



Fish on fish!

The huge mouth of the wobbegong is an excellent trap. The Shark Slicer contains 45 teeth! Thin and sharp, they dig into the victim like hooks, giving him no chance of salvation. The trap is so successful that the predator is able to swallow a meter-long prey in one sitting! Despite the fact that a medium-sized wobbegong grows only up to 1.3 meters. And where does so much go?



During the hunt, the wobbegong is focused and does not like it when someone scares its dinner. It is not uncommon for a sea carpet to suddenly attack passing divers. Aborigines say that a shark can kill a person, although not a single official evidence has been provided. But a shark can give itself a good bite. Do you remember about 45 teeth?



And yet the wobbegong is more loved than not. Scuba divers come to see the shark in its natural habitat. And professional aquarists have even gotten used to keeping them at home. Well, did they hang carpets on the walls before? Now they put them in aquariums. I don't see anything unusual.