Red Handfish
Description
Red Handfish is a handfish native to Tasmania. According to its conversation status it is a critically endangered animal. They are in two color varieties. One with red embellishments and the other with red all over. It is about 6cm to 13cm long. Habitat loss , urban development are the main threats to Red handfish. Because of their less population and the small body size it's hard to find them. They feed on small crustaceans and worms. They have a special ability of walking on the sea floor rather than swimming. That is the reason behind its naming. It is argubaly the most threatened marine fish in the world. obviously there are many plans, projects, committees and societies to protect them. Recently Tasmania is conducting many projects to help these fascinating creatures. These things may help them prevent from extinction.
Classification
Scientific name - Thymichthys politus
Order - Lophiiformes
Family - Brachionichthyidae
Kingdom - Animalia
Class - Actinopterygii
Phylum - Chordata
Genus - Thymichthys
Distribution
The red handfish are native to the east coast of Tasmania. There are historical records of their sightings in the area near port Arthur, Fortescue Bay, Lobster point, the Forestier Penisula and the north coast of Tasmania, but now they are only known to occur in two small areas near Primerose Sands. They mostly prefer to hangout around the sandy and rocky bottoms of the sea floor. In the 1980s a small population was found on the Actaeon Islands, south of Hobart, and the biggest population to date was found on a reef off Primrose Sands around Hobart (10 individuals) in the 1990s.
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The reproductive cycle of the red handfish is said to be complex but poorly understood. Their spawning season is from August to October, though unlike many marine species, they do not spend their early stages of life drifting as larvae within the water column, and therefore, have poor dispersal capacity which limits their ability to colonize new areas. The females lay their eggs on seaweeds or sea grass and stand guard until they hatch directly onto the sand as a fully developed juvenile between 4 and 6 mm in length.
Red handfish are critically endangered animals. They face may threats such as collection, illegal take, habitat loss and destruction, pollution and urban developments, degradation of seaweed habitat. Because of all these things they are extincting day by day. There are only 70-80 Red handfish left. So please think about these fascinating creatures and stop harming them.
