The newly identified walking shark, Hemiscyllium dudgeonae MV Erdmann A shark that can walk with most of its body out of the water, found on the shores of Papua New Guinea, has been identified as a new species. Locals have long been aware of the strange fish, which they sometimes see waddling across reef flats at low tide. They call it kadedekedewa, which means “dog shark” or “lazy shark”. Sharks in the genus Hemiscyllium, commonly known as walking sharks or epaulette sharks, use their pectoral fins like legs to move around and are only known to be in Australia and New Guinea. The new species has been named Hemiscyllium dudgeonae after Christine Dudgeon at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, who was part of the team that formally identified it. She first encountered the shark after midnight one day in March 2025, swimming in just a metre of water covering a meadow of seagrass in Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea. Dudgeon was looking for a different species, Hemiscyllium michaeli, known to inhabit …