Researchers have identified a new species of “walking shark”, a rare group of small carpet sharks that use their fins to “walk” on shallow reefs.
A team of divers spotted the newly discovered shark, which they named Hemicillium dijonae, In the deep waters around the reefs of southeastern Papua New Guinea. There was a small, brown-spotted shark gliding across the rocks that they could not identify.
“I was so excited… I didn’t look very closely at the pattern and immediately grabbed it and took it back to the boat,” christine dudgeona senior research fellow at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia told Live Science in an email.
Dudgeon handed over to the sharks Jess BlakewayA doctoral student and first author of a new study describing the shark. Blakeway “noticed that the shark’s pattern was different from the pattern we were looking for and he said to me: ‘Chris, this is different.'”
The new shark has been named after Dudgeon, the Dudgeon Walking Shark, in honor of his 20 years of research. hemicillium Genus.
New discovery, described on June 15 Journal of the Ocean Science FoundationThat brings the number of known species of walking sharks to 10, each with its own distinctive body pattern.
“This discovery is exciting because a lot of the new fish, and in particular, the new shark and ray species, live in the deep sea, so finding something in the very shallow [less than 3 feet, or 1 meter] The amount of water is unusual and highlights that there is potentially a lot of biodiversity that we don’t really know about,” Dudgeon said.
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encountering a new species
The team was searching for another walking shark species, called the Michaels walking shark (Hemicillium michaeli), when they encountered an unusual shark.
“Michael’s walking shark has leopard markings and Dudgeon’s walking shark has small white dashes and brown dots all over its body,” Dudgeon said. “But with only one sample we weren’t sure whether it was an anomaly or a real difference.”
Researchers continued to survey nearby rocks, and within two days, they detected 11 additional Dudgeon walking sharks at three locations. These included both males and females, juveniles and adults, all displaying distinctive body patterns. That consistency convinced the team that they were likely looking at an undescribed species.
Left to right: Researchers Jess Blakeway, Mark Erdman and Christine Dudgeon pose with the newly identified shark species H. Dijon.
(Image credit: Nesha Ichida)
Dudgeon and Blakeway used genetic data to test this hypothesis in their laboratory in Australia. By comparing the newly discovered shark’s DNA to genetic samples from nine other walking shark species, they confirmed that the population represented a new species.
walking on the ground
Walking sharks are notable for their unusual biology. Unlike larger, open-ocean shark species, walking sharks spend their lives near coral reefs. their ability to “walk” Using its pectoral and pelvic fins on the sea floor is particularly useful during low tide, when parts of the reef are separated by deeper water. “Walking” helps the animals remain active when oxygen levels drop so they can continue hunting prey on reef flats.
new shark species H. Dijon Was found in Milne Bay, near Watota, southeastern Papua New Guinea.
(Image credit: Mark Erdman)
Scientists think about this ability developed as a response In the challenging environment of tropical reef flats, where oxygen levels can change dramatically as the tide rises and falls.
Studies indicate that some walking shark can survive Dudgeon said more research is needed to understand how sharks are able to do this for hours in a low-oxygen environment, though.
So far, Dudgeon’s walking shark has been documented in only three locations in Papua New Guinea. If future research confirms that the species’ range is highly restricted, H. Dijon Habitat may be vulnerable to degradation, Climate change Or overfishing.
It appears that many walking shark species remain close to the reefs where they were born, limiting their ability to recolonize damaged habitats. Species with smaller geographic ranges are often more vulnerable to population declines because local disturbances can affect a larger portion of the total local population.
The discovery also shows how new shark species are still being found in areas that have received relatively little scientific attention. Dudgeon and his team plan to continue the survey in Papua New Guinea to study the new species in their home environment.
“I think a lot of people don’t know about the amazing diversity of sharks and their relatives, rays, skates and chimeras,” Dudgeon said. “Very few species are dangerous to humans and they are an amazingly wide and diverse group of animals. They continue to surprise and fascinate us.”
Blakeway, J., Townsend, K., Erdman, M., Allen, G., Teliva, M., Waranaka, J., Brooks, W., and Dudgeon, CL (2026). A review of the distribution of walking sharks (Hemicillidae: Hemicillium) in Papua New Guinea and description of a new species. Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20575429
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