wobbegong

English
A spotted wobbegong, of the type species of genus Orectlobus

Wikispecies

Etymology

From Dharug wabigang.[nb 1] A parallel in Tharawal dhabigang[nb 2] suggests a common Yuin-Kuric origin.

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈwɒbɪɡɒŋ/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈwɑbiˌɡɑŋ/[2][3]

Noun

wobbegong (plural wobbegongs)

  1. Any of several species of bottom-dwelling carpet sharks in the family Orectolobidae, distinguished by their small vegetation-like flaps of skin around the mouth.
    • 1882, Julian Edmund Tenison-Woods, “Sharks”, in Fish and Fisheries of New South Wales‎, Thomas Richards, page 95:
      The wobbegong is of little use; the liver will make some oil, and which is particularly good for parasites on animals, but the fish is not sought after, and the natives attack it when in their way, but do not meddle with it otherwise. South, as far as Jervis Bay, they call this fish thubbegong.
    • 1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 98:
      The Shark Attack File lists only one authenticated wobbegong attack, but contains fourteen "unauthoritative" attacks, and given the distinctive appearance of these sharks, it is very likely that at least some of the sharks were wobbegongs.

Derived terms

Notes
  1. In its early recording, transcribed wahbegong.[1]
  2. In its early recording, transcribed thubbegong.[1]

References
  1. An Amateur (Edward Smith Hill) (1871) “The fishes of, and fishing in, New South Wales”, in The Sydney Mail‎, volume 44, page 377
  2. “wobbegong”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
  3. “wobbegong”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
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