While exploring a sunken shipwreck off the coast of the Tasmanian Peninsula, a group of divers stumbled upon an unusual sight. At first, they couldn’t believe their eyes, but upon closer inspection, it became clear that they had discovered an extremely rare creature sheltering in the hull of the ship. The animal, which was a small, light pink aquatic creature, is known as a handfish. They are critically endangered, making this a very rare sighting.
Very little is known about the handfish, and researchers believe that this was the first sighting of the species in their natural environment. They are named for their hand-like fins, which they used to crawl along the bottom of the ocean floor. The species used to be more common, but their numbers have dwindled substantially due to pollution and habitat decline. This could explain why this particular fish was using a wrecked ship as its home. Researchers believe that they are also related to the anglerfish, but lack the threatening set of fangs that makes their counterpart so well known.
It is difficult to imagine how the divers must have been feeling when they came across the alien-like creature, but according to one of them, James Parkinson, he was delighted when he realized what he was looking at. “Once my eyes adjusted to what they were pointing at, I saw the handfish and realized immediately it was [a] pink handfish and that this was a significant discovery,” Parkinson said.
To read more about this unique animal, be sure to check out the Handfish Conservation Project website.
A group of divers off the coast of Tasmania recently found an incredibly rare handfish living in the hull of a shipwreck.
h/t: [The Dodo]
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