page_title: Haploblepharus
section_title: Biology and ecology
hierarchical_section_title: Haploblepharus / Biology and ecology
caption_attribution_description: English: a photo of the egg case of a puffadder shyshark, Haploblepharus edwardsii, taken in 20m of water off the Cape Peninsula using a Nikonos V camera
context_page_description: Haploblepharus is a genus of catshark, and part of the family Scyliorhinidae, containing four species of shysharks. Their common name comes from a distinctive defensive behavior in which the shark curls into a circle and covers its eyes with its tail. The genus is endemic to southern Africa, inhabiting shallow coastal waters. All four species are small, stout-bodied sharks with broad, flattened heads and rounded snouts. They are characterized by very large nostrils with enlarged, triangular flaps of skin that reach the mouth, and deep grooves between the nostrils and the mouth. Shysharks are bottom-dwelling predators of bony fishes and invertebrates. They are oviparous, with the females laying egg capsules. These harmless sharks are of no commercial or recreational interest, though their highly limited distributions in heavily fished South African waters are of potential conservation concern.
context_section_description: Shysharks feed on a variety of small benthic bony fishes and invertebrates. In turn, they are preyed upon by larger fishes and marine mammals. When threatened, these sharks adopt a curious posture in which they curl their bodies into a ring and cover their eyes with their tails, which is the origin of the name "shyshark". This behavior likely serves to make the shark more difficult for a predator to swallow. Shysharks are oviparous with females producing egg capsules (known as "mermaid's purses") two at a time. Reproduction has been investigated in the puffadder and dark shysharks; neither species appears to have a distinct breeding season, and their eggs take around three and a half weeks to hatch.
caption: The egg case of a puffadder shyshark
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