Abstract:
The Papua Bird's Head Seascape is a water area that has a high level of biodiversity, shallow
water habitat, also endemic species of walking sharks like as Hemiscyllium galei and Hemiscyllium henryi
can be found in this area. The need for data on the genetic diversity of sharks has become an urgency
that can assist in considering shark protection regulations in this area. This study was conducted with the
aim of knowing the morphological characters, levels of individual and populations genetic diversity, and
the genetic relationship between walking sharks Hemiscyllium galei and Hemiscyllium henryi in the Papua
Bird's Head Seascape. The research method used was morphometric data collection and molecular
analysis. The results of this study concluded that the size of the walking sharks H. galei and H. henryi in
the Papua Bird's Head Seascape area varied between 29.4 cm to 86.5 cm. Furthermore, the genetic
distance between individual walking sharks has a genetic distance between 0.000 to 0.043, with the level
of genetic diversity of the population belonging to the high and medium categories. In addition, the
walking shark species Hemiscyllium henryi and Hemiscyllium galei in Bird's Head Seascape area of Papua
are closely related to Hemiscyllium freycinet and Hemyscillium halmahera
