We are often curious about extraterrestrial life and what lies beyond our planet. But the truth is that you do not need to hunt for unknown living organisms outside Earth. This is because our planet itself is a storehouse of vast species, each unique in its way. The oceans have a completely different ecosystem. They house many strange aquatic creatures that are unknown to the layman and may blow your mind away. We are here to tell you about one such creature today.
We all know that fish use their fins for swimming in the water. What if we told you that there was a fish that walked? Yes, it is true. This strange fish has been seen on the coast near the island of Tasmania, Australia. An initiative has been taken by the University of Tasmania to conserve this fish named Handfish, as they are almost on the brink of extinction.
This fish does not have fins; instead, they have protruding limbs, with which it walks on the ocean bed, hundreds of feet below sea level. Its inability to swim is also because it is only found at the very bottom of the sea, near the bed, where it walks.
A total of 14 handfish species are present in South Australia. But increased human activity near their natural habitat and global warming has caused the number of handfish to decline rapidly. The biology of handfish is poorly known and their typically small population sizes and restricted distributions make them highly vulnerable to disturbance.
With a maximum length of 15 cm (5.9 inches) and skin coated in denticles (scales that resemble teeth), handfish are also known as warty anglers.
One of its species was declared extinct 3 years back. The IUCN Red List declared the Smooth Handfish (Sympterichthys Unipennis) extinct in March 2020. This is the first modern marine fish to be formally recognised as extinct. It was formerly widespread enough to be one of the first fish documented by European explorers of Australia, but it hasn’t been spotted in over a century. This was revoked in September 2021, though, as insufficient information exists to validate its status.
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