Brachionichthys hirsutus, Spotted Handfish

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Brachionichthys hirsutus (Lacepède, 1804)

Spotted Handfish
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Brachionichthys hirsutus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Brachionichthys hirsutus (Spotted Handfish)
Brachionichthys hirsutus
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Lophiiformes (Anglerfishes) > Brachionichthyidae (Handfishes)
Etymology: Brachionichthys: Latin, bracchium = arm + Greek, ichthys = fish (Ref. 45335);  hirsutus: Name from Latin 'hirsutus' for hairy, in reference to its rough, hairy skin.(Ref. 82446)..
More on author: Lacepède.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; demersal; non-migratory; depth range 1 - 60 m (Ref. 72490), usually 5 - 15 m (Ref. 72490). Temperate; 41°S - 44°S, 147°E - 149°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Southwest Pacific: Endemic to Tasmania, Australia. Has been nearly wiped out by an introduced starfish which preys on its egg clusters (Ref. 27438).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 15.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 7300)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

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 (Ref. 72490).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs in the continental shelf and inshore waters (Ref. 7300). 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 (Ref. 30684). 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 (Ref. 72490).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Paxton, J.R., D.F. Hoese, G.R. Allen and J.E. Hanley, 1989. Pisces. Petromyzontidae to Carangidae. Zoological Catalogue of Australia, Vol. 7. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 665 p. (Ref. 7300)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Critically Endangered (CR) (B1ab(iii,v)); Date assessed: 30 April 2018

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

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Ecology
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Common names
Synonyms
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Predators
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Fecundity
Eggs
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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 13.5 - 21.2, mean 15.8 °C (based on 68 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.7501   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00389 (0.00180 - 0.00842), b=3.12 (2.94 - 3.30), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.3   ±0.39 se; based on food items.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100).