Learn About Melbourne Aquarium Sharks

While our 2.2 million litre Oceanarium undergoes renovations, some of the incredible marine creatures – including tawny nurse sharks, speartooth sharks, leopard sharks, sawfish, smooth rays and eagle rays – will not be visible to our guests. These large sharks and rays will be back to inspire our guests when the Oceanarium reopens in December 2023.

Rest assured, you can still see some incredible sharks and rays at SEA LIFE Melbourne! You can find Port Jackson sharks and fiddler rays in Bay of Rays and a range of carpet sharks in Coral Atoll.

SEA LIFE, Bay of Rays

Bob, Spot, Splits, Kinky, and Trio are our resident Port Jackson Sharks! These lovely ladies lay eggs which are spiral shaped and look like seaweed! That helps prevent them getting snacked on by camouflaging the eggs into their environment. They can only be found in southern Australia and nowhere else in the world. These sharks are nocturnal and are mostly active at night, which is why they are a dark brown colour. Much like carpet sharks, Port Jackson Sharks are able to rest at the bottom, rather than continuously swimming. These sharks love to snack on animals with a hard shell, like crabs, so their teeth are almost flat like our molars. This doesn’t mean that they can’t give a painful bite though!

Fiddler Rays are also known as Banjo Sharks due to their shape. These rays are not stingrays as they dont have a venomous barb in their tail, so they are completely harmless! They Can be found in both tropical and temperate water along the eastern and southern coast of Victoria. We have two species of Fiddler Ray in the Bay of Rays; The larger Eastern Fiddler Ray, and the smaller Southern Fiddler Ray. The Fiddler Ray is closely related to the Sawfish and Guitarfish. They feed by pouncing on their prey, pinning it down with their rounded pectoral fins.

Our beautiful Necklace Carpet Shark is called Catdog due to his long, and skinny body. Necklace Carpet Sharks get their name from the patterning around their neck. Catdog does like to get up close and personal to guests during feeds by splashing them or spitting water, so give him plenty of room! He can usually be found up the front of the tank resting alongside the acrylic. As Necklace Carpet Sharks are small species of shark, they lay eggs, which can be found at our Touch and Feel Discovery Rockpools. Necklace Carpet Sharks lay eggs with filaments that anchor it to the substrate. Necklace Carpet Sharks only grow to around 90cm and are small in comparison to other species of Carpet Shark species such as Nurse Sharks, Wobbegongs and even Whale Sharks.

FIN-tastic Carpet Shark Facts

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Port Jackson Sharks, unlike most species of shark, can eat and breathe at the same time! The sharp teeth help to hold their prey while their back teeth to crush through the shells of their prey.

Try and spot the Ray! Our six Fiddler Rays are masters of disguise. They bury themselves in the sand with just their eyes poking out to stay hidden from predators and to get close to their prey.

Necklace Carpet Sharks have small barbels that look like whiskers. These have taste receptors on them which help our carpet sharks to find their food in murky water, amongst sand or in the dark!

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We are planning to reopen the reinvigorated Oceanarium in December. The exact date will be confirmed closer to the time.

Tawny nurse sharks, speartooth sharks, leopard sharks, sawfish, smooth rays, eagle rays and the grouper will not be visible to our guests while the Oceanarium undergoes upgrades.

The creatures that resided in our Oceanarium have either been moved to our sister attractions SEA LIFE Sydney and SEA LIFE Sunshine Coast, or are currently behind the scenes here at SEA LIFE Melbourne. The creatures have been transported safely and our dedicated team has ensured their comfort every step of the way.