science

List of fishes of the Coral Sea

List of fishes of the Coral Sea is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of fishes of the Coral Sea rather than just read about it. In short: This is a list of fish recorded from the Coral Sea, bordering Australia, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. This list comprises locally used common names, scientific names with author citation and recorded ranges.

Key takeaways

List of fishes of the Coral Sea belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of fishes of the Coral Sea to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of fishes of the Coral Sea from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

This is a list of fish recorded from the Coral Sea, bordering Australia, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. This list comprises locally used common names, scientific names with author citation and recorded ranges. Ranges specified may not be the entire known range for the species, but should include the known range within the waters of the Coral Sea. List ordering and taxonomy complies where possible with the current usage in Fishbase, and may differ from the cited source, as listed citations are primarily for range or existence of records for the region. Sub-taxa within any given family are arranged alphabetically as a general rule. Details of each species may be available through the relevant internal links. Synonyms may be listed where useful.

Geographical scope The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Coral Sea as follows:

On the North. The South coast of New Guinea from the entrance to the Bensbak River (141°01'E) to Gado-Gadoa Island near its Southeastern extreme (10°38′S 150°34′E), down this meridian to the 100 fathom line and thence along the Southern edges of Uluma (Suckling) Reef and those extending to the Eastward as far as the Southeast point of Lawik Reef (11°43.5′S 153°56.5′E) off Tagula Island [Vanatinai], thence a line to the Southern extreme of Rennell Island and from its Eastern point to Cape Surville, the Eastern extreme of San Cristobal Island [Makira], Solomons; thence through Nupani, the Northwestern of the Santa Cruz Islands (10°04.5′S 165°40.5′E) to the Northernmost Island of the Duff or Wilson Group (9°48.5′S 167°06′E). On the Northeast. From the Northernmost island of the Duff or Wilson Group through these islands to their Southeastern extreme, thence a line to Mera Lava, New Hebrides Islands [Vanuatu] (14°25′S 163°03′E) and down the Eastern coasts of the islands of this Group to Aneityum Island (20°11′S 169°51′E) in such a way that all the islands of these Groups, and the straits separating them, are included in the Coral Sea. On the Southeast. A line from the Southeastern extreme of Aneityum Island to Southeast (Nokanhui) Islets (22°46′S 167°34′E) off the Southeast extreme of New Caledonia, thence through the East point of Middleton Reef to the Eastern extreme of Elizabeth Reef (29°55′S 159°02′E) and down this meridian to Latitude 30° South. On the South. The parallel of 30° South to the Australian coast. On the West. The eastern limit of the Arafura Sea [The entrance to the Bensbak River (141°01'E), and thence a line to the northwest extreme of York Peninsula, Australia (11°05′S 142°03′E)] and the East Coast of Australia as far south as Latitude 30° South.

Class Chondrichthyes

Order Hexanchiformes Family Hexanchidae - six and sevengill sharks

Bluntnose sixgill shark, Hexanchus griseus (Bonnaterre, 1788) (worldwide in tropical and temperate seas)

Order Heterodontiformes Family Heterodontidae – hornsharks, Port Jackson sharks, bullhead sharks

Zebra bullhead shark, Heterodontus zebra (Gray, 1831) (Northern Australia to southern Japan)

Order Orectolobiformes Family Orectolobidae – wobbegongs

Tasselled wobbegong, Eucrossorhinus dasypogon Regan, 1908 (Northern Australia and New Guinea) Banded wobbegong, Orectolobus ornatus (De Vis, 1883) (Northern Australia, New Guinea and southern Japan) Northern wobbegong, Orectolobus wardi Whitley, 1939 (Northern Australia) Family Hemiscylliidae - bamboo sharks

Brownbanded bamboo shark, Chiloscyllium punctatum Mueller and Henle, 1838 (east coast of Indian peninsula to Northern Australia and north to Japan) Epaulette shark, Hemiscyllium ocellatum (Bonnaterre, 1788) (Northern Australia and New Guinea) Speckled catshark, Hemiscyllium trispeculare Richardson, 1843 (Northern Australia) Family Stegostomatidae - leopard sharks

Zebra shark, Stegostoma fasciatum (Hermann, 1783) (East Africa and the Red Sea to Australia and New Caledonia) Family Ginglymostomatidae - nurse sharks

Tawny nurse shark, Nebrius ferrugineus (Lesson, 1830) (Indo-West Pacific from East Africa and the Red Sea to the Society Islands) Family Rhincodontidae - whale sharks

Whale shark, Rhincodon typus (Smith, 1828) (circumglobal in warm temperate seas)

Order Lamniformes Family Odontaspididae - sand tiger sharks

Grey nurse shark, Carcharias taurus Rafinesque, 1810 syn. Eugomphodus taurus (Around the Australian mainland, also widespread overseas) (tropical and temperate waters of most seas but absent from eastern and central Pacific Ocean) Family Alopiidae - thresher sharks

Small tooth thresher shark, Alopias pelagicus Nakamura, 1935 (circumtropical) Family Lamnidae – makos, mackerel sharks

Shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus Rafinesque, 1809 (circumglobal in temperate and tropical seas)

Order Carcharhiniformes Family Scyliorhinidae - catsharks

Marbled catshark, Atelomycterus macleayi Whitley, 1939 (Northern Australia) Reticulated swellshark, Cephaloscyllium fasciatum Chen, 1966 (Northern Australia and South China Sea) Family Carcharhinidae – whaler sharks, requiem sharks

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of fishes of the Coral Sea

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of fishes of the Coral Sea claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of fishes of the Coral Sea before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of fishes of the Coral Sea ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of fishes of the Coral Sea

In research: List of fishes of the Coral Sea appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of fishes of the Coral Sea in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of fishes of the Coral Sea is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Coral Sea, Lists of fishes by sea, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of fishes of the Coral Sea outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “List of fishes of the Coral Sea” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study List of fishes of the Coral Sea in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what List of fishes of the Coral Sea means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain List of fishes of the Coral Sea out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is List of fishes of the Coral Sea in simple terms?

Why does List of fishes of the Coral Sea matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of fishes of the Coral Sea?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of fishes of the Coral Sea.