A new walking shark has been discovered in Indonesia.
According to newscientist.com, the new species was seen strutting on the ocean floor off the coast of the country's Halmahera Island.
Rainer Froese of the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel, Germany told New Scientist the epaulette shark's walk is different than the the fish species by the name of coelacanth, which are living fossils since they have not evolved or developed for millions of years.
"The coelacanth shows no walking behavior at all," Froese said. "Hemiscyllium Halmahera, on the other hand is definitely is not a living fossil but one of the 'modern' sharks. There are several other species of weird fish that also seem to walk, such as frog fish."
The fins on coelacanths are believed to be closely related to the limbs of people living on land the New Scientist reported.
The species known as an epaulette shark, which is also named Hemiscyllium Halmahera after the island where it was seen, steps with its fins which look like paddles. This results in the species appearing to strangely wiggle and walk around.
This movement could be compared to how the first animals to reach land went from point A to point B after they got out of the pre-historic seas. It's also possible the walking is related to how a species of its kind adapts to life in coral reef the News Scientist reported.
The species was identified by researchers from Conservation International head quartered in Arlington, Va. and the Western Australian Museum in Welshpool, Australia.
Hemiscyllium Halmahera is the ninth species of a walking shark type of animal to be discovered New Scientist reported.
Researchers from the ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research in Vancouver, Canada examined the walking movements of other sharks, and used a model to relate it to how animals in the beginning of history moved around.
