Spotted Handfish

📖 Overview

Occurs in the continental shelf and inshore waters . Occurs in coarse to fine sand habitats in depths of 5-40 m (most commonly 5-10 m). Often found in shallow, shell-filled depressions or near rocks of low relief projecting from the substrate . Length only preliminary, replace with better value (RF). Egg masses contain about 80-250 eggs, about 1.8-2 mm in diameter; egg capsules about 3-4 mm diameter. Newly hatched juveniles are about 6-7 mm SL, attaining at least 9.0 cm SL (about 13.0 cm TL), with adults commonly about 6.0-7.5 cm SL .

🔬 Taxonomy

🐟 Physical Description

Dorsal soft rays (total): 19 - 21; Anal soft rays: 8 - 10. This species is unique in having the following set of characters: esca small, 15-26% (mean 20%) of illicium length (including esca); illicium very slender, no dermal spinules, length 19-20% SL (mean 20%), 2.3-2.4 times in head length; eye moderate, exceeding 5.4 times in head; body entirely covered with close-set, non-imbricate scales; scale bases subcircular with long unicuspid spinules (except for those closely-associated with pores of the acoustico-lateralis system); spinules originating from middle of scale base, variable in length over body; second dorsal-fin rays 17-19 (mean 18), fin base 61-64 (mean 62%) SL; first ray of first dorsal fin length 0.7-1.0 times length of longest ray of second dorsal fin; anal-fin rays 8-10; pectoral-fin rays usually 7 ; upper body usually covered with fine dark spots or short streaks (rarely with long streaks on head); caudal fin with dense coverage of fine spots, forming a dark submarginal bar in juveniles .: elongated.

🌀 Behaviour

Behavioural data for Spotted Handfish is currently being reviewed.

🦐 Diet

Little is known regarding their diet, but they have been known to prey on small shellfish, shrimp, and polychaete worms in the wild. When captive in aquaria, spotted handfish eat mysid shrimp, amphipods, and small live fish. Newly hatched handfish have been observed to do quite well on a diet of small amphipods.

🥚 Reproduction

🌍 Habitat & Distribution

Marine; demersal; non-migratory; depth range 1 - 60 m , usually 5 - 15 m . Temperate; 41°S - 44°S, 147°E - 149°E Southwest Pacific: Endemic to Tasmania, Australia.

🌿 Ecology

📐 Morphometrics

🌡️ Water Parameters & Tolerance

🛡️ Conservation Assessment

📊 Population Risk & Fisheries

🌐 Names & Taxonomy

Scientific Synonyms

🐠 Related Species

🗺️ Global Occurrence Map

Occurrence records from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) - 2 records indexed .

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