The Oman bullhead shark, ''Heterodontus omanensis'', is a

bullhead shark The bullhead sharks are a small order (Heterodontiformes ) of modern sharks (Neoselachii). The nine living species are placed in a single genus, ''Heterodontus'', in the family Heterodontidae. All are relatively small, with the largest species ...

of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Heterodontidae found in the

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

western

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

around central

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

, from the surface to a depth of on the continental shelf. This

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

has an average length of and can reach a maximum length of . This shark was described in 2005, making it one of the most recently described of its

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

. The Oman bullhead shark likely is accidentally caught as bycatch, putting the species at risk.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oman Bullhead Shark Heterodontidae Fish of the Indian Ocean Fish described in 2005