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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?


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Joe Desertrat on Monday August 31 2015, @01:41AM

    by Joe Desertrat (2454) on Monday August 31 2015, @01:41AM (#230008)

    On a different note, what is it about Tasmania and extinctions?

    An isolated pocket of life evolved from an already isolated population (Australia) cannot handle the impact of humans.

    • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Tuesday September 01 2015, @03:07AM

      by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Tuesday September 01 2015, @03:07AM (#230619)

      On a different note, what is it about Tasmania and extinctions?

      An isolated pocket of life evolved from an already isolated population (Australia) cannot handle the impact of humans.

      Of course that doesn't apply to all the extinctions on Tasmania:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_War/ [wikipedia.org]

  • (Score: 1, TouchĂ©) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @01:44AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @01:44AM (#230009)

    Obviously these fish have not been fucking fast enough. Evolution demands that they be killed and eaten to extinction by the apex predator. God bless human dominion over fish.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @03:00AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31 2015, @03:00AM (#230020)

    Maybe they outta learn to run, eh. Life is a bitch, ain't it.

  • (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.