A Leopard Shark near Koh Born
The
Sharks of Thailand
By Lars
Bindholt
Home Species Leopard shark where?
Leopard
Shark
(Stegostoma fasciatum)
A Leopard Shark near Koh Born
Was
a quite common bottom resting shark until recently. Has a rounded snout and black spots. Not
white spots as the much bigger Whale Shark. The very long tail lack the lover
lope. Only the small rarely seen juveniles have stripes, supporting the name
Zebra Shark. In Thailand they were until recently
very often spotted at Shark Point between Phi Phi Islands and
Phuket. At Similan Islands the species was found most often below 25 meters of depth,
Triple Arch and Boulders probably being the best places to spot them. Surin
Islands was never the best place to look for Leopard sharks.
Could quite often be seen in mating behaviour: the smaller male following the female, its
mouth at the females tail. Sometimes the female turned around belly up when the
male was gripping the tip of the females tail in the mouth, and they both came to
rest on the bottom.
Nowadays unfortunately the population of Leopard Sharks in Thailand is only a
fraction of what it was in the 90'es.
A graceful shark up to 2,5 meters feeding mostly on molluscs and crustaceans. Not shy.
Video clip from Similan Islands