By Stephanie Pappas, Live
Science Contributor | November 17, 2017 01:16pm ET
Great Whites may get all the
headlines, but it's a miniature species of shark that can do what no other
shark can: walk.
The epaulette
shark (Hemiscyllium ocellatum) grows to less than 3.3 feet (1
meter) in length and lives in shallow coral
reefs off Australia, Indonesia and New Guinea. With its small
body and brown-spotted skin, the shark doesn't seem very flashy. But the
species is well-adapted to its shallow marine environment. If a receding tide
strands the animal on the reef, not only can the shark slow its metabolism to
survive for an hour on a single gasp of air, but it can also use its fins to
"walk" back into the water.
A new documentary by PBS called
"Nature's Miniature Miracles" shows the sharks doing just that. The
1-hour show, part of the channel's "Nature" series, will feature
feats by planet Earth's small, often-overlooked creatures. Viewers can watch
epaulette sharks escape suffocation on dry land, see a peacock
spider (Maratus Volans) do a colorful mating dance and peek in
on a Japanese puffer fish as it sculpts a mating nest out of sand with its
fins. [Photos:
Pufferfish Make Seafloor Circles to Mate]
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