The Port Jackson shark (Heterodontus portusjacksoni) is a nocturnal, oviparous (egg laying) type of bullhead shark of the family Heterodontidae, found in the coastal region of southern Australia, including the waters off Port Jackson. It has a large, blunt head with prominent forehead ridges and dark brown harness-like markings on a lighter grey-brown body. The species is not dangerous but should be handled with caution because it has a venomous barb in front of each dorsal fin. It also has strong jaws with plate-like teeth that are used for crushing bivalve molluscs.

• Max Size: 165 cm
• Sea Temperature Range: 13.0-23.2°C
• Depth: 1-275m
• Habitat: Coral Reef, Rocky Reef, Soft sediment
• Habitat Generalisation Index: 2.9
  Also referred to as the SGI (Species generalisation index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here

• Threats: By-catch, Exploitation
• IUCN Threat Status: Not Evaluated
• Occurrence: Frequent (13% of sites)
  Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed
• Abundance: Few (4 per transect)
  Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.