''Hemiscyllium halmahera'', or the Halmahera epaulette shark, is a species of

bamboo shark The Hemiscylliidae are a family (biology), 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 relativ ...

from

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. This species is described from two specimens collected near

Ternate Ternate (), also known as the City of Ternate (; ), is the List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city with the largest population in the province of North Maluku and an island in the Maluku Islands, Indonesia. It was the ''de facto'' provi ...

island in 2013, off the coast of larger

Halmahera Halmahera, formerly known as Jilolo, Gilolo, or Jailolo, is the largest island in the Maluku Islands. It is part of the North Maluku Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, and Sofifi, the capital of the province, is located on the west coa ...

island. This species is most similar to '' Hemiscyllium galei'', found in West Papua, but looks strikingly different in its pattern of spots. While ''H. galei'' has seven large, dark spots on each side of its body, ''H. halmahera'' has a brown color with clusters of brown or white spots in

polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon ...

configurations all over its body. These small sharks are like other bamboo sharks, in that they use their

pectoral fins Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only b ...

to "walk" along the ocean floor.

Etymology

The shark is named for

, Indonesia, the type locality where the fish was collected.

References

External links

* Halmahera epaulette shark Hemiscyllium halmahera Hemiscyllium halmahera Hemiscyllium halmahera Taxa named by Gerald R. Allen Taxa named by Mark van Nydeck Erdmann Taxa named by Christine L. Dudgeon Halmahera epaulette shark {{Shark-stub