1. Family Hemigaleidae The Weasel Sharks
Sara McCutcheon

2. General Characteristics
Small to medium sized sharks
Horizontal, oval eyes w nictitating eyelids
Long labial furrows
Spiral intestinal valve
Strong ventral lobe of caudal fin
Wavy dorsal edge of caudal
Upper teeth large and saw-edged
Lower hooked teeth protrude from mouth

3. Taxonomy 8 species in 4 Genera
Chaenogaleus (1 sp.)
Hemipristis (1 sp.)
Hemigaleus (2 spp.)
Paragaleus (4 spp.)

4. Taxonomy 1 Chaenogaleus macrostoma – Hooktooth shark
2 Hemigaleus microstoma – Sicklefin weasel shark
3 Hemigaleus australiensis – Australian weasel shark
4 Hemipristis elongatus – Snaggletooth shark
5 Paragaleus leucolomatus – Whitetip weasel shark
6 Paragaleus pectoralis – Atlantic weasel shark
7 Paragaleus randalli – Slender weasel shark
8 Paragaleus tengi – Straighttooth weasel shark

5. Habitat Continental and insular shelves
Tropical and subtropical waters
Depths range from shallow to 170 m
Demersal
Benthopelagic
Coastal

6. Distribution Indo-West Pacific for 7 species
East Atlantic for Paragaleus pectoralis

7. Reproductive Biology Viviparous with yolk-sac placenta
Minimum population doubling time more than 14 years
Fecundity ranging from 1-19
Gestation time of 6 months to one year
Biennial or triennial reproductive cycles Mate in March-May and parturition in May-June

8. Diet Varied diet Feed on cephalopods, crustaceans, and small fish
Some are specialist feeders of cephalopods, especially octopus
Hemipristis elongatus also feeds on sharks and rays
Some live in reefs and weedy areas for prey

9. Fisheries Common and important in fisheries
Taken regularly in inshore artisanal fisheries
Intensive and largely unmanaged net and trawl fisheries occur throughout most of the sharks range (except for Australia)
Hemigaleus microstoma is fished in high numbers in SE Asia

10. Status
Used for human consumption, the liver is processed fro vitamins, fins for oriental shark fin trade, and by-products for fishmeal
Thought to have a very low resilience to fishing, with a maximum population doubling time of more than 14 years
Most are considered harmless to humans
Hemipristis elongatus is considered potentially dangerous because of large teeth and shallow habitat

11. IUCN Red List Hemigaleus microstoma listed as least concern
Hemipristis elongatus is listed as vulnerable except in Australia (Least Concern)
Chaenogaleus macrostoma, Paragaleus leucolomatus, Paragaleus pectoralis, Paragaleus randalli, and Paragaleus tengi are not in IUCN Red List

12. Bibliography
Bass, A.J., Heemstra, P.C., and Compagno, L.J.V Carcharhinidae. P In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (ed.s) Smith's sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Carrier, J.C., Musick, J.A., and Heithaus, M.R Biology of Sharks and their Relatives. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. pp. 51, 73.
Compagno, LJV FAO Species Catalogue, Vol 4. Sharks of the World. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Part 2 – Carcharhiniformes. FAO Fish. Synop. 125 (4/2):
Compagno, L, M. Dando, and S. Fowler Sharks of the World. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. pp
Nelson, J.S Fishes of the World, 4th ed. John Wiley and Sons, Inc, NJ. p. 62.
Simpendorfer, CA, Hemigaleus microstoma. In: IUCN IUCN Red list of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 24 October 2007.
White, W.T Hemipristis elongatus. In: IUCN IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 24 October 2007.
White, W.T., Last, P.R., and Compagno, L.J.V Description of a new species of weasel shark, Hemigaleus australiensis n.sp. (Carcharhiniformes: Hemigaleidae) from Australian waters. Zootaxa 1077:27-49.
Capape C, Diatta Y, Diop M, Reynaud C, Guelorget O. New data on the reproductive biology of the Atlantic weasel shark, Paragaleus pectoralis (Chondrichthyes : Hemigaleidae) from the coast of Senegal (eastern tropical Atlantic). CYBIUM 29 (4):