Find a Fish
Australian Handfish
Brachionichthys australis Last, Gledhill & Holmes, 2007
Above and below: Two Australian Handfish (42 mm - 52 mm SL), trawled by K. Graham on FV Shelley H at a depth of 100 m, south-east of Bermagui, New South Wales, April 2000. Photo: M. McGrouther © Australian Museum. View larger image.
The Australian Handfish has a small mouth and gill openings that are restricted to a tubular pore behind the pectoral fins. It has prominent hand-like pectoral fins and jugular pelvic fins.
The dorsal fin is divided into three parts; an illicium on the snout, a tall sail-like spinous dorsal fin on top of the head, and a long-based soft-rayed dorsal fin along the back.
The Australian Handfish is pale with yellow to brown dashes. Most fins are clear with black spots.
The species grows to 8 cm in length.
It is endemic to Australia, occurring in marine waters from southern New South Wales to the Great Australian Bight, Western Australia.
It is usually seen in the catches of trawls taken at depths between 18 m and 210 m.
In addition to colouration differences, the Australian Handfish differs from the Spotted Handfish by having a larger eye, longer illicium, smaller esca and differences in fin lengths and ray counts.
Related links
- Red Handfish popup image
- Spotted Handfish fact sheet
- View the Family Brachionichthyidae list
- View the Handfishes list
Further reading
- Kuiter, R.H. 2000. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Gary Allen. Pp. 437. (as Brachionichthys sp)
- Last, P.R. in Gomon, M.F., Glover, C.J.M. & R.H. Kuiter (Eds). 1994. The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. State Print, Adelaide. Pp. 992.
- Last, P.R., Gledhill, D.C. & B.H. Holmes. 2007. A new handfish, Brachionichthys australis sp. nov. (Lophiiformes: Brachionichthyidae), with a redescription of the critically endangered spotted handfish, B. hirsutus (Lacepède). Zootaxa. 1666: 53-68.
