DiscoverSpeciesSharks and rays
Freckled carpet shark
Hemiscyllium freycineti
- Water temperature28–29 °C
- Best monthsFebruary, March, and October
- How commonRare
Photo credit: no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
About this species
The Indonesian speckled carpetshark, Hemiscyllium freycineti, is a species of bamboo shark in the family Hemiscylliidae. It is found in the shallow ocean around the Raja Ampat Islands in West Papua, Indonesia, but was formerly believed to be more widespread. This was due to confusion with H. michaeli, a species described from eastern Papua New Guinea in 2010. Compared to that species, the spots on H. freycineti are smaller, more rounded or slightly elongated in shape, and tend to darken at regular intervals forming 8-9 vertical bars on the body and tail. Furthermore, the large black spot behind the pectoral fin is more clearly defined in H. michaeli than in H. freycineti. Confusingly, some books with illustrations and photos labelled as H. freycineti actually show H. michaeli.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Indonesian speckled carpetshark”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 19 records
- February: 27 records
- March: 25 records
- April: 15 records
- May: 14 records
- June: 11 records
- July: 2 records
- August: 3 records
- September: 7 records
- October: 27 records
- November: 24 records
- December: 19 records
Depth and water temperature
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 28–29 °C
Photos
(c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) PampaSorro, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Roger Rittmaster, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Freckled carpet shark, Indonesian speckled carpet shark, freckled carpet shark, Freycinet's Epaulette Shark, Freycinet's shark, Indonesian speckled carpetshark, Indonesia speckled carpetshark, The Raja Ampat Epaulette Shark
Names in 5 more languages
- German
- Freycinets Epaulettenhai
- Spanish
- bamboa jaspeada
- French
- requin-chabot grivelé
- Indonesian
- Cucut tekeh
- Japanese
- インドネシアモンツキテンジクザメ
Other scientific names: Chiloscyllium malaianum, Scyllium freycineti, Scyllium malaisianum, Scyllium malaisianus
Similar species
Epaulette sharkHemiscyllium ocellatum
Papuan epaulette sharkHemiscyllium hallstromi
Cat sharkHemiscyllium trispeculare
- Leopard Epaulette shark
Hemiscyllium michaeli
- Hooded carpet shark
Hemiscyllium strahani
Brownbanded bamboo sharkChiloscyllium punctatum
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 32 open-data records from 1929 to 1929.
- Species data updated November 3, 2026.
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