The research team from Conservation International, which is based in the US, claim to have found 52 new species, including 24 new species of fish, 20 species of coral and eight species of shrimp.

Experts say that the discovery has confirmed Bird’s Head Seascape, which stretches for 180,000 sq km (70,000 sq miles) on the north western end of the province, as arguably the world's richest diversity of marine life.

“It’s one of the most stunningly beautiful landscapes and seascapes on the planet,” said Mark Erdmann, a senior adviser of Conservation International who led two surveys to the area earlier this year.

“Above and below water, it’s simply mind-blowing.”

Among the highlights of the discoveries were two types of epaulette shark, a small, spotty creature.

Growing up to 1.2m (4ft) long, they are able to "walk" along the seafloor using their muscular pectoral fins.

Sebastian Troeng, director of Regional Marine Strategies at Conservation International, said that epaulette sharks' ability to walk enabled them to keep close to the seabed where they hunted for food, and to weave in and out of tight spaces between coral reefs.

"They are bottom-dwellers which feed on crustaceans such as crabs and snails as well as small fish, and being able to walk may give them an advantage in catching them," he said.

"Also, they are quite small sharks and not exactly at the top of the food chain, so being able to remain at the bottom by walking helps them to keep out of the way of predators themselves.

There are also theories suggesting that these types of shark, with their ability to "walk", are related to the first forms of marine life which made their way on to land.

"It's pretty amazing finding two new species of shark like this. A lot of surveys are done in which new species are discovered but to find a new shark is very rare, and to come across two is quite spectacular," he added.

Carden Wallace, a coral expert and principal scientist at the Museum of Tropical Queensland in Townsville, Australia, said that she was not surprised by the findings because the location was very remote and had not been scoured by scientists very much.

She said that the discovery should provide crucial information in understanding the ecosystem.

“This will give us a better understanding of where all this diversity originates from and how vulnerable it may be,” she said.

Research on two of the new fish species - named flasher wrasse because of the bright colours displayed by males during mating – have already been accepted for publication in a science journal, while Conservation International is in the process of writing papers on the other species.

Dubbed Asia’s “Coral Triangle,” the region is home to more than 1,200 species of fish and almost 600 species of reef-building coral – amounting to 75 per cent of the world’s known total.

But the area’s biodiversity faces threats – not only from subsistence fishermen who use dynamite and cyanide to net their catches, but also from a government scheme to introduce commercial fishing along the coast.

The proposal has prompted Conservation International to call for the government to set up a series of marine parks around the area to protect local species.

“These Papuan reefs are literally species factories that require special attention to protect them from unsustainable fisheries and other threats so they can continue to benefit their local owners and the global community,” said Mr Erdmann, adding that only 11 per cent of the area was presently protected.

The locations of the latest research are just a few hundred kilometres from another Conservation International site in the barely touched Foja Mountains, where researchers discovered a "lost world" of species including birds, frogs and butterflies.

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