Hemiscyllium michaeli Allen & Dudgeon, 2010

Michael’s Epaluette Shark

Hemiscyllium michaeli— Allen & Dudgeon, 2010: 19, figs 2–4. Holotype: USNM 218602. Type locality: Harvey Bay, Milne Bay Province.

Local synonymy: Hemiscyllium freycineti— Whitley, 1940: 75 (Samarai Island); Dingerkus & DeFino, 1983 (in part): 38, fig. 25 (Harvey Bay, Trobriand Island, Samarai, Milne Bay); Compagno, 1984 (in part): 196 (PNG); Compagno, 2001 (in part): 179, fig. (PNG). Chiloscyllium freycineti —Munro, 1958: 111 (Collingwood Bay); Compagno, 1984: 197 (PNG). Hemiscyllium trispeculare — Allen et al., 2003: 112 (Milne Bay). Hemiscyllium species—Allen & Erdmann, 2008: 107 (Milne Bay Province); Allen et al., 2013: 134, fig. 8 (eastern Papua New Guinea). Hemiscyllium michaeli Allen & Dudgeon, 2010: 19, figs 2–4 (Milne Bay Province)— Ebert et al., 2013: 256, pl. 34, fig. (PNG); Allen et al., 2016: 81, figs (Milne Bay Province); White et al., 2018: 74, figs (PNG).

PNG voucher material: (8 spec.) AMS IA.5741 (paratype), 285 mm TL, AMS IA.5742 (paratype), 365 mm TL, vicinity of Samarai, 10°36.633’ S, 150°39.690’ E, Feb. 1933; AMS IB.5429, female 755 mm TL , Morobe, received 1962 from Taronga Park Zoo; CU 24992 (paratype), 695 mm TL, Milne Bay; QM I 12038, female 719 mm TL, Samarai Island, 10°37’ S, 150°40’ E, 22 Oct. 1953 ; USNM 218602 (holotype), female 610 mm TL, coral reef at Harvey Bay, Oro Province, 08°54.440’ S, 148°30.306’ E, less than 10 m depth, 6/ 7 Aug. 1975; USNM 221705 (paratype), 257 mm TL, Kuia Island, 08°35.350’S, 150°51.332’E, Trobriand Islands, 1 m depth, 11 Jun. 1970 ; WAM P. 32840-001 (paratype), female 544 mm TL, under wharf at Samarai Island, 10°36.633’ S, 150°39.690’ E, 6 m depth, 10 Apr. 2003.

Remarks: First recorded from PNG by Whitley (1940), based on specimens collected in 1933 from Samarai Island, as Hemiscyllium freycineti . Described as a distinct species in 2010, restricted to Milne Bay and Oro Provinces in southeastern PNG. Endemic to PNG. Two destroyed specimens from the KFRS collection (E.321, Tuma Island, Trobriands, 25 Jul. 1967, male 625 mm TL and female 664 mm TL) which were identified as Hemiscyllium sp. ( freycineti) would most likely refer to this species.