In Australia what is a wobbegong?

Wobbegong is the common name given to the 12 species of carpet sharks in the family Orectolobidae. They are found in shallow temperate and tropical waters of the western Pacific Ocean and eastern Indian Ocean, chiefly around Australia and Indonesia, although one species occurs as far north as Japan.

Wobbegong might sound like something out of a Dr. Seuss book, but it is a real word. It comes from the language of the Australian Aborigines, or the native people of Australia, and means “shaggy beard”. In Australia, wobbegong sharks are lovingly called “wobbies”.

Now, why on earth would sharks be called “shaggy”? The reason is that wobbegong sharks do look like they have a beard. They have whiskers (called barbels) around their noses, and flaps of skin that look like tiny fins around their mouths and eyes and on the sides of their heads. For this same reason, the scientific name of the family of wobbegong sharks is Orectolobidae, from the Greek words orektos, meaning “stretched out”, and lobos, meaning “lobe”.