Chiloscyllium punctatum Müller & Henle, 1838b

Brownbanded Bambooshark

Chiloscyllium punctatum Müller & Henle, 1838b: 18 [pl. 3]. Neotype: AMNH 38153; neotype designation by Dingerkus & De Fino, 1983. Type locality: Jakarta, Java, Indonesia.

Local synonymy: Chiloscyllium punctatum — Filewood, 1973: 8 (PNG); Kailola, 1987: 7 (Daru, Yule Island, Orokolo Bay, Gulf of Papua and New Guinea coast); Allen, 1998: 67 (Milne Bay); Compagno, 2001: 176 (PNG); Allen et al., 2003: 112 (Milne Bay); Last & Stevens, 2009: 147 (New Guinea); Fricke et al., 2014: 13 (Madang); White et al., 2018: 70, figs (PNG).

PNG voucher material: (42 spec.) CSIRO H 7614-01, juvenile male 300 mm TL, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°3’1.2” S, 145°45’7.2” E, 16–17 m depth, 20 Jun. 2014 ; CSIRO H 7803-01, juvenile male 200 mm TL, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°4’22.2” S, 145°46’5.4” E, 18–20 m depth, 12 Jun. 2014 ; CSIRO H 7811-01, female 350 mm TL, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°3’16.2” S, 145°44’57.6” E, 15–17 m depth, 22 Jun. 2014 ; CSIRO H 7827-01, juvenile male 420 mm TL, south of Deception Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°2’34” S, 144°38’31” E, 22–25 m depth, 7 Dec. 2014 ; CSIRO H 7830-01, female 730 mm TL, south of Deception Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°8’22” S, 144°28’47” E, 20–21 m depth, 9 Dec. 2014 ; CSIRO H 8009-01, juvenile male 380 mm TL, CSIRO H 8009-02, female 270 mm TL, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°9’48.66” S, 145°57’58.2” E, 16–20 m depth, 25 Aug. 2015 ; CSIRO H 8010-01, juvenile male 300 mm TL, CSIRO H 8010-02, juvenile male 210 mm TL, west of Avirara, Gulf of Papua, 8°19’20.88” S, 146°11’55.98” E, 8–10 m depth, 26 Aug. 2015 ; CSIRO H 8011-01, female 710 mm TL, CSIRO H 8011-02, female 200 mm TL, west of Avirara, Gulf of Papua, 8°19’3.24” S, 146°11’50.1” E, 12 m depth, 27 Aug. 2015 ; CSIRO H 8012-01, juvenile male 270 mm TL, southwest of Avirara, Gulf of Papua, 8°20’38.46” S, 146°12’46.38” E, 12–14 m depth, 27 Aug. 2015 ; CSIRO H 8013-01, female 360 mm TL, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°13’42.18” S, 146°5’15.18” E, 16–18 m depth, 29 Aug. 2015 ; CSIRO H 8014-01, female 180 mm TL, southwest of Lalapipi, Gulf of Papua, 8°15’19.5” S, 146°7’4.56” E, 14–16 m depth, 29 Aug. 2015 ; CSIRO H 8016-01, female 260 mm TL, CSIRO H 8016-02, juvenile male 230 mm TL, south Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°3’58.14” S, 145°46’38.64” E, 15–16 m depth, 30 Aug. 2015 ; CSIRO H 8026-01, female 290 mm TL, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°8’23” S, 146°3’40” E, 8–15 m depth, 10 Apr. 2015 ; CSIRO H 8152-01 (dried jaw), female 810 mm TL, south of Deception Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°9’ S, 144°28’ E, 19–23 m depth, 9 Dec. 2014 ; KFRS E.601, female 290 mm TL, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°9’31.62” S, 146°1’38.04” E, 16 m depth, 24 Aug. 2015 ; KFRS E.604, juvenile male 260 mm TL, west of Avirara, Gulf of Papua, 8°17’54.3” S, 146°12’18.9” E, 9–10 m depth, 26 Aug. 2015 ; KFRS E.607, juvenile male 300 mm TL, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°9’9.78” S, 145°59’2.22” E, 15–18 m depth, 30 Aug. 2015 ; KFRS E.609, female 310 mm TL, southeast of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°4’4.14” S, 145°47’30.3” E, 17–18 m depth, 31 Aug. 2015 ; KFRS E.618, female 840 mm TL, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°1’21” S, 145°43’35.4” E, 17–18 m depth, 22 Jun. 2014 ; KFRS E.621, female 810 mm TL, west of Avirara, Gulf of Papua, 8°19’38” S, 146°11’41” E, 16–17 m depth, 28 Aug. 2015 ; KFRS E.630, female 260 mm TL, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°8’6.66” S, 145°59’23.58” E, 14–19 m depth, 24 Aug. 2015 ; KFRS E.633, female 280 mm TL, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°9’48.66” S, 145°57’58.2” E, 16–20 m depth, 25 Aug. 2015 ; KFRS E.634, juvenile male 280 mm TL, west of Avirara, Gulf of Papua, 8°19’3.24” S, 146°11’50.1” E, 12 m depth, 27 Aug. 2015 ; KFRS E.639, juvenile male 320 mm TL, southwest of Avirara, Gulf of Papua, 8°20’38.46” S, 146°12’46.38” E, 12–14 m depth, 27 Aug. 2015 ; KFRS E.640, female 260 mm TL, KFRS E.641, juvenile male 300 mm TL, southwest of Lalapipi, Gulf of Papua, 8°14’39.24” S, 146°6’12.96” E, 17–19 m depth, 29 Aug. 2015 ; KFRS E.671, female 180 mm TL, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°8’19.2” S, 145°57’4.2” E, 14–18 m depth, 14 Jun. 2014 ; KFRS E.712, juvenile male 280 mm TL, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°2’40.2” S, 145°46’1.8” E, 15–16 m depth, 7 Jun. 2014 ; KFRS E.719, juvenile male 320 mm TL, KFRS E.720, juvenile male 390 mm TL, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°3’16.2” S, 145°44’57.6” E, 15–17 m depth, 22 Jun. 2014 ; KFRS E.753, female 200 mm TL, south of Deception Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°2’16” S, 144°38’26” E, 22–23 m depth, 15 Dec. 2014 ; KFRS E.760, female 420 mm TL, south of Deception Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°1’21” S, 144°39’16” E, 21–24 m depth, 16 Dec. 2014 ; KFRS E.765, female 850 mm TL, Gulf of Papua, 8°10’48” S, 144°26’47” E, 24 m depth, 8 Dec. 2014; KFRS E.772 (4 spec.), 3 males, 1 female, 222–307 mm TL, no collection data; KFRS E.773, juvenile male 292 mm TL, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, Aug./ Sep. 1976 .

Remarks: First recorded from PNG by Filewood (1973), but listed as not common. Abundant in the prawn trawl grounds of the Gulf of Papua. Recently photographed during fish surveys off Madang (Fricke et al., 2014) and in coastal fisheries catches off Wewak (trap fishery).