New Release Fish of the Week: Puppy Shark, Chyllosyllium punctatum

Fish of the Week™

Puppy Shark

by Neil Gunther

LATIN NAME: Chyllosyllium punctatum

EATS: fish, crustaceans, worms, dolphins

The Puppy Shark, or Epaulette Shark, is a playful little lump that enjoys to be with the company of people such as divers. In Australia, the Puppy Shark will come and “hang out” with a tourists’ feet. Generally the tourist is alarmed and swims off.

Puppy Sharks are happy little fish. They usually live in lagoons, reefs and tidepools, which make for good protection and plenty of food. Puppy Sharks are so playful that, according to John Charles Delbeek, P.hD, “their few predators are ashamed to eat them.”

Puppy Sharks are not only easy to train, but they are plentiful so people can collect many for the aquarium trade. They are quite hardy and therefore are recommended to new aquarists, but only if they have 30 and up gallon aquariums with other predatory fish, such as morays, lionfish, crevallé, permit, spadefish and frogfish.

If you want to, you can buy one!!! But only if you’re advanced and you keep reef/saltwater tanks. They’re insanely hardy. Feed them on live foods such as crabs at first, then slowly wean them off it and give them sinking massivore pellets.

TEST YOUR SKILLS—and play my new Crossword Puzzle! It. Is. So. Hard…!!