Yes, walking sharks are a thing and they have been known for a long time. In fact, the Epaulette Shark (pictured below) has been commonly kept in the aquarium hobby for quite some time now.
Several aquaculture companies who regularly breed all kinds of species for the aquarium trade have been successfully breeding this species for awhile now as well.
Here is one in particular named Zelda that I have been raising since she hatched from her egg on 10/22/2018:
So why lately are all of the major news outlets talking about them as if this is a new discovery? No idea. But – it does looks like scientists may have discovered a few additional species that are variants of the Epaulette Shark.
Cool? Yeah, of course! The need to have headlines like this one:
Slow news day maybe? Not sure.
Either way, if you want to learn more about this amazing species – that we have known about for a long time before today – watch the video below.
Also, in case the media headlines and cute videos of this species made you want to potentially go out and buy one as a pet, watch the video below before you make a decision.
For even more information on this species as well as a few other small, benthic species of sharks, watch the video below.