I see heaps of these wobbygong sharks out at the reefs out the back of rye. Theyre quick and they hide well. Can you eat them and is it legal to catch them.
Also is there a good website available that tells you all this information with photos and descriptions, regulations and edability? There must be something.
You can eat wobbegongs, the flesh quality is reasonable, similar to flake but not as good. My fish idetification 'bible' - 'Sea Fishes of Southern Australia' by Hutchins and Swainston - gives them 3 out of 4 stars for edibility. It is legal to catch them, there is no minimum legal size in Victoria and the bag limit is 1 per day. Here is alink to some info about the spotted wobbegong, the most common species in Victoria:
[url="http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/students/focus/gwobbe.htm"]http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/students/focus/gwobbe.htm[/url]
[quote name='Jazman' date='May 9 2005, 03:00 PM']You can eat wobbegongs, the flesh quality is reasonable, similar to flake but not as good. My fish idetification 'bible' - 'Sea Fishes of Southern Australia' by Hutchins and Swainston - gives them 3 out of 4 stars for edibility. It is legal to catch them, there is no minimum legal size in Victoria and the bag limit is 1 per day. Here is alink to some info about the spotted wobbegong, the most common species in Victoria:
[url="http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/students/focus/gwobbe.htm"]http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/students/focus/gwobbe.htm[/url]
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Thanks for the good link jazman, I might buy that book too if you reckon its the ducks guts. The wobbygongs I see look alot darker than that.
The colour is variable. Quoting 'Sea Fishes of southern australia':
"Base colour variable, including pale brown, reddish brown and greenish brown."
If you are interested in accurately identifying your catch, I would HIGHLY recommend this book. You should be able to pick it up for around 20-ish bucks.
just stay away from the larger wobbygong sharks because it might be them eating you!
i am sure i read about incidents where they have bitten divers though i think its pretty rare. <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' />
glen
Wobbys have teeth that curve backwards, so they're hard to remove if they decide to keep their mouth closed.
Pay particular attention to this Glen.....I heard of an underwater photographer who was kneeling in front of a large wobbegong to take a close-up photo of its head. The wobby objected to the flash in its face, and latched onto the guy's groin - he ended up with a row of bite marks encircling his nether regions - thankfully it let go. And I guess everyone heard about that guy who got bitten by a wobby underwater last year that wouldn't let go, he had to walk a few hundred metres to the carpark to pry it off.
[quote name='Jazman' date='May 10 2005, 12:57 PM']Wobbys have teeth that curve backwards, so they're hard to remove if they decide to keep their mouth closed.
Pay particular attention to this Glen.....I heard of an underwater photographer who was kneeling in front of a large wobbegong to take a close-up photo of its head. The wobby objected to the flash in its face, and latched onto the guy's groin - he ended up with a row of bite marks encircling his nether regions - thankfully it let go. And I guess everyone heard about that guy who got bitten by a wobby underwater last year that wouldn't let go, he had to walk a few hundred metres to the carpark to pry it off.
[right][post="4812"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]
fair dinkum, I thought they were more placid than that. Cant wait to get one on my plate now that I got a new more powerful spear gun.
if i were you, i wouldn't go spearing a wobbeygong...
they are very placid until provoked and they are not worth the effort of spearing, cleaning and cooking.
heres a fact that i bet most of you didnt know, wobbegongs are the only shark in the world that can bite their own tails, so dont go grabbing them by their tail. So my advive would be not to spear a wobbeygong unless you are a very experienced spearfisherman and you are very patient, as they put up one hell of a fight, unless you stone them dead!
pj