22years after its disappearance, a very rare “two-handed” fish appears in Australia
For the first time in 22 years, a rare fish was spotted moving at the bottom of the sea on what looked like hands in the front of its body in a manner similar to walking, off the coast of the island of Tasmania, where its original habitat is in Australia.
The last time this type of pink fish (known as the handfish) was spotted by a diver off the coast of the island was in 1999, and it was only seen four other times after that.
Officials have recently classified this type of fish as endangered, fearing its complete extinction and scarcity.
However, Australian researchers say they spotted it again in a clip recorded by camera lenses in the depths of the sea and captured earlier this year in a marine park.
The fish appears in that clip as it swims at lower depths and wider areas than those in which it lived before.
Scientists believed that this species was a shallow-water fish that lived in protected bays, but it has now been found at a depth of 150 meters off the southern coast of Tasmania.
Neville Barrett, a marine biologist and assistant professor at the University of Tasmania and the lead researcher, said that this discovery is exciting and gives hope that the survival of this type of fish will continue, as it is clear that it has larger natural habitats and is more widespread than before.
In this type of fish, the fish has two large “hands” (mutated fins) that enable it to “walk” on the sea floor in addition to swimming.
Barrett's team sent a baited camera in February to the seafloor at Tasman Marine Park to scan coral reefs and monitor the crabs and other fish species found there.
While one of the research assistants was examining the videos recorded by that camera in October, her attention was caught by the appearance of this distinctive marine creature among a large number of larger marine creatures.
This pink fish is one of 14 species of mantis spotted in Tasmania.
This park, which is a marine reserve the size of Switzerland, is famous for having a long crack in the earth’s crust that allowed marine life to exist at depths exceeding four thousand metres.
This pink fish is considered one of 14 species of fish with hands that have been spotted in Tasmania, the island state located south of the mainland of Australia.
Source: websites