Chance discovery of handfish thought locally-extinct

October 31, 2023 8:19 PM

A chance discovery by a runner on a beach near Hobart of a spotted handfish thought extinct in the area has scientists excited about the species potential survival. The species, Brachionichthys hirsutus, has not been seen in the Primrose Sands area for nearly 20 years.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries (9 comments total)

I love handfish! They're adorable.
posted by Jilder at 8:49 PM on October 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

I clicked, not knowing quite what to expect, and... it does have little hands!

With those fins I wondered if it might be able to venture out of water like the mudskipper... but apparently not.

(Memories of a long-ago friend leaning over the mudskipper tank at Kew and telling them urgently "The secret is to bang the rocks together!")

Christopher Smart, in his great unhinged epic Jubilate Agno, mentions "the Great Flabber Dabber Flat Clapping Fish with hands". The footnote in the Penguin edition merely says "No such fish has been identified."
posted by Pallas Athena at 9:05 PM on October 31, 2023 [9 favorites]

hand fish?
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:26 PM on October 31, 2023

On the sand, it looks like cave art.
posted by pracowity at 12:11 AM on November 1, 2023 [2 favorites]

I’m glad these weird little fish are struggling back. Our world needs less offshore dredging and more weird little fish.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:42 AM on November 1, 2023 [8 favorites]

It looks more like a foot fish, it even has a protoleg.
posted by waving at 5:29 AM on November 1, 2023

Let’s not kinkshame; these fish have enough going on.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:20 AM on November 1, 2023

Big year for locally extinct critters in Australia reappearing.
posted by Atreides at 7:07 AM on November 1, 2023 [2 favorites]

these fish have enough going on

They've got a lot on their fins, in other words
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:19 AM on November 1, 2023 [3 favorites]