Scientists have identified a new species of walking shark during a night dive off the coast of Papua New Guinea.
The newly discovered metre-long shark has been named Hemiscyllium dudgeonae, after Christine Dudgeon, a senior research fellow at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC), Australia.
Dudgeon was the first to spot the shark, during a night dive in March 2025, gliding through shallow coastal waters near Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea.
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The discovery marks the first new species to be formally described within the genus since 2013.
“Straight away I recognised that the colour pattern was different from any of the other species I had worked with before,” says Jess Blakeway, a UniSC PhD student and lead author of the paper it was scientifically confirmed in.
“The first thing that stood out was the white dashes along its brown body. These dashes were quite different to the leopard-like spots we were expecting.”
The species’ local name (‘kadedekedewa’) loosely translates to ‘dog shark’ or ‘lazy shark’, referring to its slow, four-limbed gait.
The research confirmed that the nocturnal shark is found only in a small area off southeastern Papua New Guinea. These findings immediately raised concerns about the new shark’s vulnerability due to its restricted home range, habitat degradation, fishing activity and climate change.
“We hope to collect more data on our next research trip in October to help the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assess the species as vulnerable or endangered with extinction,” explains Blakeway.
