La nuova determinazione è stata effettuata sulla base di una serie di fattori, incluso il numero di vertebre e i raggi della pinna, la colorazione, la presenza di scale e spine e delle misure del corpo, in accordo con l’autore Daniel Gledhill dell’ Australian Commonwelth Scientific and industrial Organisation (CSIRO). Le 14 specie di handfish conosciute sono state trovate tutte al largo dell’ Australia. Anche le specie più note sono state poco studiate e non si conosce molto sul loro comportamento o biologia.
HANDFISH: A NEW SPECIES
Using its fins to walk, rather than swim, (derive the name fish with hand),
( Brachionitchtys hirsutus) along the ocean floor the pink handfish is one of nine newly named species described in a recent scientific review of the handfish family. Only four specimens of the pink handfish have ever been found, and all of those were collected from areas around the city of Hobart , on the Australian island of Tasmania.Though no one has spotted a living pink handfish since 1999, it’s taken till now for scientists to formally identify it as a unique species.
The new-species determinations were made based on a number of factors, including number of vertebrae and fin rays, coloration, the presence of scales and spines, and proportional body measurements, according to review author Daniel Gledhill of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, or CSIRO.
All of the world’s 14 known species of handfish are found only in shallow, coastal waters off southeastern Australia,
Even among the previously known species, they are poorly studied and little is known about their biology or behavior.