Rare Pink Handfish Found in Australia Since 1999

According to Australia’s national science agency, a rare pink handfish has been discovered after 22 years off the Tasmanian shore since 1999.

The uncommon fish was observed by Australian researchers on deep-sea video footage captured earlier this year in the Tasman Fracture Marine Park. The handfish has lately been designated as endangered.

The anglerfish was thought to be a shallow-water species, but the most recent observation was at a depth of 120 meters off Tasmania’s south coast.

The new image depicts the fish in deeper and more open seas than it had previously resided in. The 15cm fish is seen emerging from a ledge after being spooked by a rock lobster in the vision. You can also read more about Hong Kong’s Tiananmen Square statue removed.

It is first intrigued by the noise and watches the situation for a few seconds before swimming away as well as its 14 different varieties of handfish found in Tasmania.

Professor Neville Barrett of the University of Tasmania’s Institute of Antarctic and Marine Studies and his colleagues had placed a baited camera on the seabed of the marine park to examine the coral, lobster, and fish species.

“Collaboration is the key to surveying this amazing marine park where underwater canyons and mountains house a great diversity and quantity of marine animals, many of which are found nowhere else in the world,” Parks Australia First Assistant Secretary Jason Mundy said.

The Tasman Fracture Marine Park is well-known for a crucial biological feature: a massive break in the earth’s crust where marine life has been discovered on the seabed to depths of nearly 4000 meters.

Parks Australia manages 58 Australian Marine Parks, including this one. These parks, along with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and the Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve, form one of the world’s biggest marine park networks, encompassing 3.3 million square kilometers or 37% of Australia’s oceans.