Hemiscyllium michaeli Allen & Dudgeon, 2010

White, William T. & Ko’Ou, Alfred, 2018, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of Papua New Guinea, Zootaxa 4411 (1), pp. 1-82 : 20

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4411.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:255EE06E-3171-41F3-BB3D-E7D29537A292
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5982967
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/735C87F1-8A45-FFBD-9BF6-FE95599F8C40
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Hemiscyllium michaeli Allen & Dudgeon, 2010
status

Treatment

Michael’s Epaluette Shark

Hemiscyllium michaeli— Allen & Dudgeon, 2010: 19, figs 2–4. Holotype: USNM 218602 View Materials . 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 GoogleMaps , 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 GoogleMaps ; USNM 218602 View Materials (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 GoogleMaps ; USNM 221705 View Materials (paratype), 257 mm TL, Kuia Island, 08°35.350’S, 150°51.332’E, Trobriand Islands , 1 m depth, 11 Jun. 1970 GoogleMaps ; 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. GoogleMaps

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.