''Hemiscyllium'' is a genus of sharks in the family

Hemiscylliidae The Hemiscylliidae are a family of sharks in the order Orectolobiformes, commonly known as longtail carpet sharks and sometimes as bamboo sharks. They are found in shallow waters of the tropical Indo-Pacific. They are relatively small sharks ...

Overview

This genus is confined to tropical waters off

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

, and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, but an individual from this genus, possibly representing an undescribed species, has been photographed at the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

. They have short snouts with the

nostril A nostril (or naris , plural ''nares'' ) is either of the two orifices of the nose. They enable the entry and exit of air and other gasses through the nasal cavities. In birds and mammals, they contain branched bones or cartilages called turbi ...

s placed almost at the tip, and well-elevated eyes and supraorbital ridges. The mouth is closer to the tip of the snout than the eyes, and lacks the connecting dermal fold across the chin. The pectoral and pelvic fins are thick and heavily muscular. Either a black hood on the head or a large black spot on the sides of the body is present, though juveniles often are strongly marked with dark spots/bars. Some species are known as "walking sharks". In January 2020, marine biologists at the School of Biomedical Sciences at the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

in Australia announced new findings that provide evidence that genus ''Hemiscyllium'', also known as "walking sharks", was the newest genus of sharks in terms of historical findings on biological evolution.

List of species

Nine recognized species are in this genus: * ''

Hemiscyllium freycineti The Indonesian speckled carpetshark, ''Hemiscyllium freycineti'', is a species of bamboo shark in the family Hemiscylliidae. It is found in the shallow ocean around the Raja Ampat Islands in West Papua, Indonesia, but was formerly believed to be ...

'' ( Quoy &

Gaimard Joseph Paul Gaimard (31 January 1793 – 10 December 1858) was a French naval surgeon and naturalist. Biography Gaimard was born at Saint-Zacharie on January 31, 1793. He studied medicine at the naval medical school in Toulon, subsequent ...

, 1824) (Indonesian speckled carpetshark) * ''

Hemiscyllium galei ''Hemiscyllium galei'', the Cenderawasih epaulette shark, is a species of bamboo shark in the family Hemiscylliidae. Together with '' H. henryi'', it was only scientifically described in 2008 by Gerald R. Allen and Mark V. Erdmann. At present, ''H ...

'' G. R. Allen &

Erdmann Erdmann is a first name and surname, and may refer to: Surname *Carl Erdmann (1898—1945), German historian *Eduard Erdmann (1896—1958), Baltic German pianist and composer *Hans Otto Erdmann (1896–1944), member of the German resistance *Hugo E ...

, 2008 (Cenderwasih epaulette shark) * '' Hemiscyllium hallstromi'' Whitley, 1967 (Papuan epaulette shark) * ''

Hemiscyllium halmahera ''Hemiscyllium halmahera'', or the Halmahera epaulette shark, is a species of bamboo shark from Indonesia. This species is described from two specimens collected near Ternate island in 2013, off the coast of larger Halmahera island. This species ...

'' G. R. Allen,

Dudgeon Dudgeon is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Cecil Dudgeon, politician * Gus Dudgeon, record producer * James Dudgeon, footballer * Joe Dudgeon, English footballer * John Dudgeon, physician * Neil Dudgeon, actor * Patrick Dudg ...

, 2013 (Halmahera epaulette shark) * '' Hemiscyllium henryi'' G. R. Allen &

, 2008 (Henry's epaulette shark) * ''

Hemiscyllium michaeli ''Hemiscyllium michaeli'', the leopard epaulette shark, is a species of bamboo shark in the genus ''Hemiscyllium''.

'' G. R. Allen &

, 2010 (Milne Bay epaulette shark) * ''

Hemiscyllium ocellatum The epaulette shark (''Hemiscyllium ocellatum'') is a species of longtailed carpet shark, family Hemiscylliidae, found in shallow, tropical waters off Australia and New Guinea (and possibly elsewhere). The common name of this shark comes from t ...

'' ( Bonnaterre, 1788) (epaulette shark) * ''

Hemiscyllium strahani The hooded carpetshark (''Hemiscyllium strahani'') is a bamboo shark in the family Hemiscylliidae found around Papua New Guinea, between latitudes 5° S and 10° S, and longitude 144° E and 153° E. Its length is up to 75 cm. Like other ...

'' Whitley, 1967 (hooded carpetshark) * ''

Hemiscyllium trispeculare The speckled carpetshark, ''Hemiscyllium trispeculare'', is a bamboo shark in the family Hemiscylliidae found around north and west Australia between latitudes 8° S and 22° S, and longitude 114° E and 152° E. Its length is up to 79 c ...

'' J. Richardson, 1843 (speckled carpetshark) * '' Hemiscyllium sp.'' Not yet described (Seychelles carpetshark)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q557963 Shark genera Taxa named by Johannes Peter Müller Taxa named by Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle Walking fish