New Walking Shark Species Discovered in Papua New Guinea

While locals had long known of its presence, a recent scientific expedition along the shores of Papua New Guinea led to the description of a new species of walking shark, the tenth to be recorded.

Hemiscyllium dudgeonae

The sharks of the genus Hemiscyllium, better known as the “walking sharks” or “epaulette sharks,” possess the unusual trait of using their pectoral fins as legs to shuffle along the seabed as well as the low-lying reef ledges at low tide. Their diet mainly consists of small invertebrates.

Named Hemiscyllium dudgeonae, the new species was first spotted in March 2025, while it swam in less than a meter of water off Milne Bay, renowned for its seagrass meadows. As explained by Christine Dudgeon, the Australian scientist in whose honor the species was named, her team was initially searching for Hemiscyllium michaeli, observed repeatedly in the area.

Terrified by the glow of the flashlight, the roughly 75-centimeter-long specimen was gently captured by Dudgeon, who used a jiujitsu-inspired grip to quickly flip it head-down, plunging it into a state of tonic immobility. It was then examined aboard the boat used by the team.

“At first glance, it was clear that its coloration and patterns [reminiscent of a leopard’s coat] were different from those of other known walking sharks, which were remarkably similar in size and morphology,” explains Jess Blakeway, co-author of the new study, published in the Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation.

A New Species in Danger

In the days that followed, 11 additional H. dudgeonae were identified during dives, and tissue samples were collected for nine of them. Back in the laboratory, Dudgeon and colleagues conducted a series of DNA sequencing runs that confirmed this was indeed a species new to science.

According to Blakeway, rapid coastal development, the spread of palm oil plantations, and episodes of coral bleaching are taking a heavy toll on walking shark populations in Papua New Guinea. The fact that H. dudgeonae is found only in Milne Bay suggests it could be the most threatened species of all.

“This new shark highlights the region’s extraordinary biodiversity, but it could well disappear in the absence of drastic conservation measures,” the researcher notes.

Earlier, it was a shark species believed to have vanished for half a century that had been spotted in the waters of Papua New Guinea.