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| BBC |
Animals rare fish-handed (handfish) pink for the first time seen in offshore Tasmania in 22 years.
The fish, found only in Australia, was last seen by a diver in Tasmanian waters in 1999 and before this last sighting had only been seen four times on different occasions.
Conservation officials are concerned about the survival of this fish and designate it as an endangered animal.
But Australian researchers say they have found it again.
It was confirmed that the pink-handed fish were still present when they checked deep-sea camera footage.
From this recording, the researchers stated that the fish lived in waters that were deeper and more open than their previous habitat.
At first scientists thought this fish was a shallow water species and lived in the bay, but now the fish was found at a depth of 150 meters off the southern coast of Tasmania.
"This is a very exciting discovery and offers hope about the survival of pink-handed fish. Evidently, their habitat and distribution is wider than previously thought," said Neville Barrett, researcher, marine biologist and professor at the University of Tasmania.Apart from swimming, as the name implies, this fish seems to have hands - which are large - and "walk" on the seabed.
The story of his discovery
In February, a team led by Barrett placed cameras to survey coral reefs, lobster species and fish species in a marine park in Tasmanian waters.
This protected park is the size of Switzerland and has a long alcove that allows marine life to be found at depths of more than 4,000 meters.
The handfish was discovered by research assistant Ashlee Bastiaansen while combing through camera footage in October.
He saw an unusual fish among a crowd of other larger-sized sea animals.
"It looks a little strange ... after I looked at it, this fish has hands," Bastiaansen told Australian media, ABC.
Footage shows this 15 cm long fish moving from its position after being disturbed by a crayfish.
The fish was there for a few seconds before finally leaving.
Professor Barrett said from these recordings scientists were able to identify and determine the size of the rare fish.
The pink-handed fish is one of 14 types of handfish that live around Tasmania, an island in southern Australia.
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