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?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @06:48AM
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
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
You may be onto something here.