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Thymichthys politus (Richardson, 1844)

Red handfish
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Image of Thymichthys politus (Red handfish)
Thymichthys politus
Picture by Hall, D.J.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Lophiiformes (Anglerfishes) > Brachionichthyidae (Handfishes)
Etymology: Thymichthys: Greek thymos (warty excrescence) and Greek ichthys (fish) in allusion to the warty protuberances on the skin of these handfishes;  politus: Name from Latin 'polio' for polish, in reference to its ‘shining reddish brown appearance (Ref. 82446).
More on author: Richardson.

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

Marine; demersal. Temperate

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

Southwest Pacific: Endemic to Tasmania.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 9.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 82446)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal soft rays (total): 18 - 19; Anal soft rays: 9 - 10. This species is distinguished by the following combination of characters: large esca, 45-65% (mean 52%) of illicium length (including esca); short illicium, thick and fleshy, no dermal spinules, length 14-17% SL, 3-3.4 times in head length, well separated from upper jaw (pre-illicial length 3.3-7.9% SL); moderate size eye, 6.9-9.3 times in head; body variably covered with small, close-set flattened warts but no well-developed dermal flaps; posterior margins of warts usually with a small, sharp, prostrate spine (mostly embedded with its tip sometimes visible); deeply embedded scales, widely spaced; second dorsal-fin rays 16-17, fin base 63-71 (mean 67)% SL; length of second dorsal-fin spine 0.7-1 times length of longest ray of second dorsal fin; anal-fin rays 9-10; pectoral-fin rays 9 (rarely 10); body variable shades of red, often paler ventrally; often bluish or blackish near dorsal tips of pectoral and pelvic fins, and along margins of dorsal, anal and caudal fins (Ref. 82446).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

A benthic species (Ref. 75154) which occurs in inshore waters (Ref. 7300, 75154).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Last, P. and D.C. Gledhill, 2009. A revision of the Australian handfishes (Lophiiformes: Brachionichthyidae), with descriptions of three new genera and nine new species. Zootaxa 2252:1-77. (Ref. 82446)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Critically Endangered (CR) (B1ab(iii,v)+2ab(iii,v); C2a(i)); 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

Trophic ecology
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Ecology
Ecology
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Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
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References

Tools

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

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

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.6251   [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):  3.7   ±0.6 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100).