 Molecular clock estimation placed the speciation of the tasselled wobbegong at 11–6 Ma, coinciding with a period of significant geological rearrangement and the formation of coral reef habitats in the region.The tasselled wobbegong is a very broad, moderately flattened shark.The head is wider than long, with a distinctive fringe of branching dermal lobes running almost continuously from the snout tip to the origins of the pectoral fins, including a "beard" on the chin.