Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by CoolHand on Monday August 31 2015, @01:26AM   Printer-friendly
from the having-fish-for-dinner dept.

Scientists are considering a captive breeding program to ensure the survival of an enigmatic little sea floor walking fish found only in Hobart's Derwent estuary.

Once widespread globally, the finger-sized spotted handfish is now confined to the Tasmanian waterway and may need an insurance population after recent surveys found its numbers were at dangerously low levels.

CSIRO senior research scientist Tim Lynch says the first complete survey of handfish colonies, an exhaustive run of 100 transects this winter in bone-chilling Derwent waters, found a total of just 79 fish.

The creature looks like something straight out of Dr. Seuss. On a different note, what is it about Tasmania and extinctions?


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @06:48AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @06:48AM (#230053)

    Maybe creationists are killing them off because it violates their "kinds can't become other kinds" doctrine. Double incentive if the fish are gay.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @08:29AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @08:29AM (#230061)

    If the fish were gay, the creationists wouldn’t have to kill them, they would just have to wait a little.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @05:25PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @05:25PM (#230294)

      You may be onto something here.