Kanak people
The earliest history of Europeans arriving on these islands is when Captain Cook of the United Kingdom landed in these islands in 1775 at a time when there were reportedly 70,000 Kanaks living in the archipelago. Cook gave the name "New Caledonia" to these islands, after Caledonia, his Scottish highlands.
New Caledonia catshark
The New Caledonia catshark or Kanakorum catshark ("Aulohalaelurus kanakorum") is a catshark of the family Scyliorhinidae in the order Carcharhiniformes, known only from one specimen collected near southwestern New Caledonia in the western central Pacific Ocean. The holotype measured . The New Caledonia catshark is a rare and vulnerable inshore catshark found around coral reefs.