Antonia Cooper and her research team dived for two hours to find a rare fish with hands. A group of scientists from the University of Tasmania (Australia) received a signal from local residents that a rare species of fish had been spotted near a reef several kilometers off the southeast coast of Tasmania, and decided to go in search.
However, more than half of the 3.5-hour search has already passed, and the team has not been able to find the fish. Cooper was about to put an end to it, but then she saw something red in the water. It was her.
This species, famous for its hand-shaped fins, lives in ocean benthals, moving along the seabed on its limbs. These fish grow up to 6,35 cm in length and feed on small crustaceans and worms. Red brachyonychtium fish are of two types - bright red and decorated with red elements.
Tasmania found a rare fish with "hands"
yesterday 8:19
Antonia Cooper and her research team dived for two hours to find a rare fish with hands. A group of scientists from the University of Tasmania (Australia) received a signal from local residents that a rare species of fish had been spotted near a reef several kilometers off the southeast coast of Tasmania, and decided to go in search.
However, more than half of the 3.5-hour search has already passed, and the team has not been able to find the fish. Cooper was about to put an end to it, but then she saw something red in the water. It was her.
This species, famous for its hand-shaped fins, lives in ocean benthals, moving along the seabed on its limbs. These fish grow up to 6,35 cm in length and feed on small crustaceans and worms. Red brachyonychtium fish are of two types - bright red and decorated with red elements.
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The species is one of the rarest in the world. The elusive fish were first spotted near Port Arthur on the Tasmanian Peninsula in the 1800s. Until recently, only a group of 20–40 fish were known to live on a reef strip near Frederick Henry's Bay in Hobart.
Cooper's discovery could increase the known population of red brachyonychtium fish to 80 individuals.
Fourteen known species of brachyonychtium are endemic to waters along the southeast of Tasmania. Small, colored, sedentary fish are not made for long voyages, so the discovered population is probably genetically different from the Hobart population.
Brachyonychtium fish are endangered. They lay eggs at the base of aquatic plants, so swimmers and boats often damage clutches. Fish are also threatened by poachers, and low rates of reproduction and spread prevent populations from recovering.
