Glimpse into the Endangered Red Handfish’s Unique Beginnings
The successful development in captivity of embryos of red #handfish – a family of fish that walk with their over-sized ‘hands’ rather than swim – signifies a significant milestone in conservation efforts.
Photograph: Andrea Williamson
#MarineLife
Red #Handfish are rare, only about one hundred individuals left in the wild, living on two tiny reefs in south Tasmania.
This summer, as a marine heatwave bore down on these critically endangered fish, scientists leapt into action to prevent the species' extinction, taking 25 Red Handfish out of the sea and caring for them on land until waters cooled.
https://www.3cr.org.au/radioblue/episode/extraordinary-effort-save-one-worlds-rarest-fish
Photo: John Turnbull
Red Handfish are one of the rarest fish in the world, with only about one hundred individuals left in the wild, living on two tiny reefs in south ast Tasmania.This summer, as a marine heatwave bore down on these critically endangered fish, scientists leapt into action to prevent the species' extinction, taking 25 Red Handfish out of the sea and caring for them on land until waters cooled.Now, they've been able to release nearly all of them back into the wild.
Rare red handfish returned to Tasmanian wild after riding out marine #heatwave in tank https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-07/rare-handfish-returned-to-wild-after-riding-out-marine-heatwave/103809054
"18 red #handfish have been returned to their natural environment in south-east #Tasmania... An emergency intervention to remove the #fish from Frederick Henry Bay was green-lit last December over fears a #MarineHeatwave could cause their #extinction. There are only about 100 #RedHandfish left in the wild."
They've been gently coaxed out of the plastic bag and into the big, bad underwater world where they are exposed to the elements. Now, researchers have big hopes this small group of red handfish will not only survive, but thrive — the species is depending on it.
There is a strange underwater creature that you can only find in southern Australia – it doesn't have a swim bladder to regulate its buoyancy and so doesn't often swim, instead walking along the sea floor using its hand-shaped fins to move about and eating small crustaceans, worms and molluscs as it goes.
These creatures are handfish. There are 14 known species living around the mainland coast and Tasmania. Unfortunately, handfish are incredibly rare, with three species classified as critically endangered, but hope exists.
Learn more about these incredible creatures and conservation efforts… https://ausgeo.co/handfish
🎥 Matt Testoni
#ausgeo #australia #seeaustralia #fish #handfish #tasmania #sealife #ocean #wildlife #nature #underwater
#environment #globalwarming #biodiversity #ecology #rewilding #biology #nature #wildlife
'Years to get it right': Spotted handfish bred in captivity, far away from wild Tasmanian home
A bid to breed an "ambassador" population of the endangered spotted handfish in captivity in Melbourne has been so successful, there are hopes the program may grow enough to return some to the wild.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-11/captive-bred-spotted-handfish-hopes-or-rewilding/101840218
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