Carcharhinus amblyrhynchoides (Whitley, 1934)

Graceful Shark

Gillisqualus amblyrhynchoides Whitley, 1934: 189, Fig. 4. Holotype: QM I.2003. Type locality: Cape Bowling Green, Queensland, Australia.

Local synonymy:? Carcharhinus “ pleurotaenia ”— Filewood, 1973: 6 (PNG). Carcharhinus amblyrhynchoides— Kailola, 1987: 15 (Western Papua; Astrolabe Bay; Port Moresby; Binaturi River; Yule Island; New Britain); Eley, 1988: 15 (Tureture); White et al., 2018: 130, figs (PNG).

PNG voucher material: (1 spec.) KFRS E.180B (dried jaws), Tatana, Fairfax Harbour, Port Moresby, 7 Oct. 1965.

Remarks: Filewood (1973) referred to a limbatus group species as C. “ pleurotaenia ” Broad-nosed Spinner; close to C. limbatus but with a shorter and broader snout and less than 85 precaudal vertebrae. These characters and its similarity to C. limbatus make it most likely to be C. amblyrhynchoides; although this cannot be confirmed, a set of dried jaws (KFRS E.180B) collected in 1965 and part of Filewood’s collection confirms he had recorded this species in PNG.