‘Strange’ sea creature was considered locally extinct — until a runner spotted one
While out for a run in Australia, a woman noticed a “strange” sea creature washed up on the beach — and rediscovered a species considered locally extinct.
Kerri Yare was running along Primrose Sands beach in Tasmania when she stumbled on the “strange and wonderful fish,” the Australian research organization CSIRO said in a Sept. 8 news release.
The dead fish was about 3 to 4 inches and had distinctive-looking limbs, the release said. CSIRO wildlife experts identified it as a critically-endangered spotted handfish.
Handfish are a poorly-known group of fish that move by walking on their hand-like fins, according to the Handfish Conservation Project. There are 14 known species of handfish exclusively found around southern Australia.
“If you’ve never seen a handfish before, imagine dipping a toad in some brightly colored paint, telling it a sad story, and forcing it to wear gloves two sizes too big,” the organization said.
Photos show the spotted handfish Yare discovered. Its pale white body is covered in dark red spots and a coat of sand. Its orange fins look almost like webbed duck feet.
Spotted handfish were “once plentiful along Tasmania’s east coast,” the release said. Over the last 30 years, dredge fisheries and an invasive sea star have caused the species’ population to rapidly decline.
Additionally, spotted handfish are “rare and elusive,” CSIRO said. Their small size and solitary lifestyles make them “very difficult” to find.
“Up until last weekend’s find, we thought this spotted handfish population at Primrose Sands was locally extinct, and that it had been since before 2005,” Carlie Devine, a researcher with CSIRO, said in the release.
“We did look a few years ago too, but we didn’t find a single fish,” Devine said. “This gives us cause to go looking again.”
Primrose Sands is on the southeastern coast of Tasmania, an island state of Australia off its southeastern coast.
This story was originally published September 12, 2023 at 12:30 PM with the headline "‘Strange’ sea creature was considered locally extinct — until a runner spotted one."
