DiscoverSpeciesSharks and rays
Barred bull-head shark
Heterodontus zebra
- Usual depth133–205 m
- Water temperature14–29 °C
- Best monthsOctober
- How commonRare
Photo credit: (c) CSIRO National Fish Collection, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
The zebra bullhead shark is a bullhead shark of the family Heterodontidae found in the central Indo-Pacific between latitudes 40°N and 20°S, from Japan and Korea to Australia. It is typically found at relatively shallow depths down to 50 m (160 ft), but off Western Australia, it occurs between 150 and 200 m. It can reach a length of 1.25 m (4.1 ft). The reproduction of this bullhead shark is oviparous.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Zebra bullhead shark”, 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: 0 records
- February: 0 records
- March: 2 records
- April: 0 records
- May: 2 records
- June: 1 records
- July: 1 records
- August: 0 records
- September: 2 records
- October: 7 records
- November: 3 records
- December: 0 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 133–205 m · Deepest record: 225 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 14–29 °C
Names and classification
- English
- Barred bull-head shark, Barred shark, Cat shark, Little shark, Striped bullhead shark, Striped cat shark, barred bull-head shark, Barred Bullhead Shark, barred shark, Bullhead Shark, cat shark, little shark, striped bullhead shark, striped cat shark, zebra bullhead shark, zebra horn shark, zebra Port Jackson shark
Names in 6 more languages
- German
- Zebra-Hornhai, Zebra-Stierkopfhai
- Spanish
- dormilón acebrado, Tiburón cabeza de toro cebra
- French
- requin dormeur zebre, Requin Dormeur Zèbre
- Japanese
- shima-nekozame, Shimanekozame, シマネコザメ
- Thai
- ปลาฉลามหน้าวัวลาย
- Simplified Chinese
- maou urh sha, mau i sha, 斑紋異齒鯊, 狹紋虎鯊, 虎沙, 虎皮鯊, 角鯊
Other scientific names: Centracion philippi, Centracion zebra, Cestracion amboinensis, Cestracion zebra, Heterodontus phillipi
Similar species
BullheadHeterodontus portusjacksoni
Crested bullhead sharkHeterodontus galeatus
Bull headHeterodontus japonicus
Mozambique bullhead sharkHeterodontus ramalheira
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).
- 41 open-data records from 1922 to 2007.
- Species data updated November 3, 2026.
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