• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Rare Handfish Seen For First Time In 25 Years Off Coast Of Tasmania

August 28, 2023 by Deborah Bloomfield

Some species are so widespread and common that you could be fortunate enough to spot a magpie or even an ant nearly every day. On the flipside, some species are much harder to find, and those in the deep sea can be so rare, they only make an appearance once every few years. Now, scientists on a research vessel near Tasmania have observed a handfish, the first specimen to be seen in 25 years.

The CSIRO-led South-East Australia Marine Ecosystem Survey (SEA-MES) research vessel (RV) Investigator was on a survey to determine how the climate is affecting marine parks and fisheries. It has a deep tow camera system that found the handfish at 292 meters (958 feet) deep off the northeast of Flinders Island in Tasmania in July. 

Advertisement

The narrowbody handfish (Pezichthys compressus) was first discovered in 1986 and hasn’t been seen in the wild since 1996. However, scientists aren’t entirely sure which species they spotted from the RV.

“We suspect it’s a narrowbody handfish […] This is as close as we can get without seeing others or collecting a sample fish,” research technician Carlie Devine said in a statement. “We can’t be 100 percent sure which handfish species it is.”

The handfish the team observed was much bigger than the two specimens on record in the Australian National Fish Collection and was also observed around 100 kilometers (621 miles) away from where the known location of the last species was seen.

Orangey pick handfish specimen wit black fins on a white background

A previously discovered handfish specimen showing those unusual fins.

Image Courtesy of CSIRO

“I was pretty excited to find the handfish. I know that this is a rare and special fish. And that the chances of seeing one in this environment and capturing it on the deep tow camera are very rare. It’s an important discovery,” said Dr Candice Untiedt, a marine ecologist who was aboard the RV and identified the handfish.

Advertisement

Handfish are unusual for more than their camera-shy personalities, these fish move by “walking” along the seafloor on their fins. There are 14 known species of handfish with seven that live around Tasmania and the Bass Strait, including the spotted handfish that managed to scoop first prize at Ocean Art 2022.

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Paris ramps up security as jihadist attacks trial starts
  2. Cricket-‘Western bloc’ has let Pakistan down, board chief says
  3. Analysis-Diverse boards to pick the next Boston and Dallas Fed bank chiefs
  4. Ancient Bison Found In Permafrost Is So Well Preserved Scientists Want To Clone It

Source Link: Rare Handfish Seen For First Time In 25 Years Off Coast Of Tasmania

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • Meet The “Four-Eyed” Hirola, The World’s Most Endangered Antelope With Fewer Than 500 Left
  • The Bizarre 1997 Experiment That Made A Frog Levitate
  • There’s A Very Good Reason Why October 1582 On Your Phone Is Missing 10 Days
  • Skynet-1A: Military Spacecraft Launched 56 Years Ago Has Been Moved By Persons Unknown
  • There’s A Simple Solution To Helping Avoid Erectile Dysfunction (But You’re Not Going To Like It)
  • Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS May Be 10 Billion Years Old, This Rare Spider Is Half-Female, Half-Male Split Down The Middle, And Much More This Week
  • Why Do Trains Not Have Seatbelts? It’s Probably Not What You Think
  • World’s Driest Hot Desert Just Burst Into A Rare And Fleeting Desert Bloom
  • Theoretical Dark Matter Infernos Could Melt The Earth’s Core, Turning It Liquid
  • North America’s Largest Mammal Once Numbered 60 Million – Then Humans Nearly Drove It To Extinction
  • North America’s Largest Ever Land Animal Was A 21-Meter-Long Titan
  • A Two-Headed Fossil, 50/50 Spider, And World-First Butt Drag
  • Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Is Losing Buckets Of Water Every Second – And It’s Got Cyanide
  • “A Historic Shift”: Renewables Generated More Power Than Coal Globally For First Time
  • The World’s Oldest Known Snake In Captivity Became A Mom At 62 – No Dad Required
  • Biggest Ocean Current On Earth Is Set To Shift, Spelling Huge Changes For Ecosystems
  • Why Are The Continents All Bunched Up On One Side Of The Planet?
  • Why Can’t We Reach Absolute Zero?
  • “We Were Onto Something”: Highest Resolution Radio Arc Shows The Lowest Mass Dark Object Yet
  • How Headsets Made For Cyclists Are Giving Hearing And Hope To Kids With Glue Ear
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version