| Brachionichthyidae (Handfishes) |
| 11.68 cm SL (male/unsexed) |
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demersal; marine; depth range 10 - 20 m |
| Eastern Indian Ocean: Restricted to eastern and southern Tasmania, Australia. |
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Dorsal spines (total): 18-20; Anal spines: 9-10. Member of the genus Brachiopsilus with a combination of the following characters: esca
small, 19–32% of illicium length; illicium thick, fleshy, length 18–24% SL, 2.4–3.0 times in head length, 1.2–1.4 times in length of second dorsal-fin spine; apex of esca situated well posterior of hind margin of eye when illicium adpressed; esca slightly wider than illicial stem, covered with dense, short papillae; head bulbous; eye small (horizontal diameter 5–6% SL); mouth broad; lips very fleshy with vertical folds; body and fins entirely naked in adults (except for scales associated with pores of the acoustico-lateralis system); 4 sensory pores
above eye; short first dorsal-fin base (length 21–25% SL); second dorsal-fin rays 16–18, length of fin base 63–70% SL; length of second dorsal-fin spine 0.8–1.2 times length of longest ray of second dorsal fin; 9–10 anal-fin rays, length of anal-fin base 34–38% SL; 9 pectoral-fin rays; short caudal peduncle (length 2–5% SL); caudal fin small, its length barely longer than fin rays of pectoral fin, length 2.7–3.4 times caudal peduncle depth; body whitish with fine, greyish purple peppering; fins vivid yellow (Ref. 82446). |
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Critically Endangered (CR); Date assessed: 30 April 2018 (A2ce) Ref. (130435)
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| harmless |
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Type locality, Actaeon Islands, D'Entrecasteaux Channel, Tasmania, CSIRO T 1993-01 (holotype of Brachiopsilus ziebelli, 10.15 cmSL). Restricted to eastern and southern Tasmania, widely disjunct populations; in the southern parts of the D’Entrecasteaux Channel (ca. 43° 30'S, 147° 03'E), Cox Bight, south-west Tasmania (ca. 43°31'S, 146° 13'E), and the Forestier and Tasman Peninsulas (ca. 43° S, 148° E). Photographed by scuba divers in situ off Bicheno, eastern Tasmania (Ref. 82446). |
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