Handfish has hands, just read this info

The English common name of the handfish is “handfish”, which simply and roughly describes the way they walk on the seabed with their pectoral fins, like walking with two small hands. In 2020, the Symterichthys unipennis was declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. This is the first modern marine fish to completely disappear in recorded history.

But just 200 years ago, the handfish was abundant in Australia. It basked in Tasmania’s warm coastal waters and was one of the first fish in Australia to be scientifically recorded. In 1802, French naturalist Francois Pazaren caught the first specimen of this strange creature in a net bag in southeastern Tasmania. Which seemed easy because handfish lived in shallow waters at the time. Now, Pazaren’s specimen is the only one left for scientists to study. Despite extensive underwater surveys along the Australian coastline over the years. The smooth handfish has not been seen in more than 200 years.

With the extinction of the single-finned fish, only 13 other species of handfish survived, all of which live on the seafloor and are also extremely rare. Conservationists were delighted to announce to the world that they had discovered a previously unknown population of red long-finned fish ( Thymichthys politus ) in 2018, numbering 20 to 40 individuals.

University of Tasmania

This year, a research team from the School of Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania, Australia, announced that they had successfully bred 21 red long-handed fish. They are small in size, no longer than 10 centimeters. Because they rarely swim. Their range of activity is only the size of two tennis courts, and their egg production is extremely low. The artificially bred young fish are only 8 millimeters long. The researchers said they will have to wait until they are fully mature and trained before they can be released back into the sea.

In good news this year, divers exploring an 1873 shipwreck off the coast of Tasmania have discovered an extremely rare pink handfish ( Brachiopsilus dianthus ).

Hiding in coral-covered debris with their hand-like pectoral fins sticking out. The pink handfish has been encountered only a few times since it was discovered in 1947.

The reason why this fish have become so endangered. They are domestic animals and do not have a large habitat. In other words, if their area is disturbed, the fish will have nowhere to go. Researchers generally believe that pink handfish live in shallow waters. In 1999, pink handfish were sighted at a depth of about 20 to 30 meters. The earliest sighting was at a depth of about 10 meters. But now, it was found at a depth of 120 meters, indicating that they have moved to deeper and more open waters to live. Probably to stay away from humans to survive…