Brachionichthys hirsutus
Creators: name: Last, Peter R.
name: Gledhill Csiro, Daniel C.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Actinopterygii
Lophiiformes
Brachionichthyidae
Brachionichthys
Brachionichthys hirsutus

description: <i>Brachionichthys hirsutus</i> (Lacepède) Figs 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9; Tables 7–10 <i>Lophius hirsutus</i> Lacepède, 1804: 202, 210, pl. 55 (3); type not designated; southern coast of Australia, presumably Tasmania [original description]. <i>Chironectes punctatus</i> Cuvier, 1817: 434, pl. 18 (2, 5); lectotype MNHN A 4627, by subsequent designation of Le Danois (1964: 139), paralectotype apparently skeletonised and subsequently lost, see Pietsch, 1985; southern Australia, presumably Tasmania [new name for <i>Lophius hirsutus</i> Lacepède]. <i>Chironectes hirsutus</i>: Valenciennes, 1837: 434 [new combination]. <i>Brachionichthys hirsutus</i>: Bleeker, 1855: 22–23 [new combination]. <i>Brachionichthys politus</i> (not Richardson): Whitley, 1949: 403 [misidentification]. <b>Lectotype.</b> MNHN A 4627, 78.7 mm SL, coast of southern Australia (probably Tasmania), voyage de Péron (1800–1804), no other data. <b>Additional material.</b> 5 specimens (63–101 mm SL): NMV A 21672, 62.6 mm SL, Derwent Estuary, Tasmania, 42° 57'S, 147° 21'E, 10 Mar. 1997; NMV A 21687, 66 mm SL, Derwent Estuary, Tasmania, 42° 55'S, 147° 21'E, 1997; QVMT 1974.5.165, 2 specimens, 84.4 and 89.4 mm SL, off Cape Portland, Tasmania, ca. 40° 43'S, 148° 00'E, 8 Sep. 1974. QVMT 2009.5. 1, 100.6 mm SL, off St Helens, Tasmania, ca. 41° 18'S, 148° 20'E, no other data. <b>Material from Last <i>et al.</i> (2007).</b> 81 specimens (21–83 mm SL): CSIRO C 2986, CSIRO H 797–01, CSIRO H 2629–01, CSIRO H 2629–02, CSIRO H 2629–03, CSIRO H 2629–04, CSIRO H 4114–01, CSIRO H 4114–02, CSIRO H 4114–03, CSIRO H 4114–04, CSIRO H 4114–05, CSIRO H 4115–01, CSIRO H 6564– 01, CSIRO T 2, CSIRO T 3, CSIRO T 7, CSIRO T 10, CSIRO T 11, CSIRO T 1989–01, CSIRO T 1990–01, NMV A 2305, NMV A 29404 –001, TMH D 80, TMH D 81, TMH D 237, TMH D 240, TMH D 254, TMH D 269, TMH D 364, TMH D 640, TMH D 650, TMH D 746, TMH D 962, TMH D 965, TMH D 966, TMH D 1309, TMH D 1333, TMH D 1775, TMH D 1892, TMH D 1929, TMH D 1938. <b>Diagnosis.</b> Member of the genus <i>Brachionichthys</i> with a combination of the following characters: esca small, 15–26 (mean 20)% of illicium length (including esca); illicium very slender, length 19–20% SL, 2.3– 2.4 times in head length; apex of adpressed illicium reaching to or just behind base of third dorsal-fin spine; esca barely thicker than illicial stem, its filamentous branches multiple, irregular, dense, short thallate; eye moderate-sized, horizontal diameter exceeding 5.4 times in head, 7.0–8.5% SL; upper lip very fleshy; relatively short first dorsal-fin base (length 23–26% SL); second dorsal-fin rays 17–19 (mean 18), length of fin base 61–64 (mean 62)% SL; length of second dorsal-fin spine 0.7–1.0 times length of longest ray of second dorsal fin; vertebrae 22–26; 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. <b>FIGURE 7.</b> Collection localities for: A. <i>Brachionichthys australis</i> holotype () and additional material (<b>•</b>); and B. all material of <i>B. hirsutus</i> (). Locations are approximate, and may represent multiple records; they include registered collection, and verified, non-retained material. <b>Size.</b> To 100.6 mm SL (ca. 143 mm TL), adults more commonly ~ 60–75 mm SL; juveniles hatch at about 6–7 mm SL (the caption for figure 8 in Last <i>et al</i>. (2007) erroneously states that the newly hatched juvenile is 30 mm TL, this should read ca. 6 mm TL). Egg masses contain about 80– 250 eggs (1.8–2 mm diameter); egg capsules about 3–4 mm diameter and connected by strands. <b>Distribution.</b> Now confined to southeastern Tasmania (Derwent River estuary mouth and adjacent marine embayments) but once more widespread in disjunct populations off eastern Tasmania; mainly demersal inshore (ca. 5–15 m) on the continental shelf, but probably occurred at depths of 1– 60 m. Appears to have undergone a major range reduction and its populations have declined significantly since its discovery; now considered to be Critically Endangered (Bruce &amp; Last, 2006) and Endangered (Australian Government <i>Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, 1999</i> and the State Government of Tasmania <i>Threatened Species Protection Act, 1995</i>, Anon 2005, 07). Specimens were collected in Great Oyster Bay, central eastern Tasmania (ca. 42° 06′S, 148° 09′E) between 1909 and 1957, the Huon Estuary (ca. 43° 12′S, 147° 04′E) in the 1940s, and more widely in the D'Entrecasteaux Channel (ca. 43° 03′S, 147° 20′E) in the 1960’s and 1980s, but have not been collected from these regions since. In 1974, two specimens (QVMT 1974.5.165) were obtained from Cape Portland, eastern Bass Strait (ca. 40° 43'S, 148° 00'E), and an additional specimen (QVMT 2009.5.1, date unspecified) was collected from off St Helens, eastern Tasmania (ca. 41° 18'S, 148° 20'E). No other records of this species exist from Bass Strait or off eastern Tasmania despite extensive commercial and recreational dive effort, a scallop fishery and several biological surveys of the region in the past half century. <b>Etymology.</b> The epithet is based on the Latin <i>hirsutus</i> (hairy) with reference to its rough, hairy skin. Vernacular name: Spotted Handfish (Yearsley <i>et al.</i>, 2006, Last <i>et al.</i>, 2007). <b>Comparisons.</b> <i>Brachionichthys hirsutus</i> can be distinguished from <i>B. australis</i> based on its colour pattern which is more densely spotted, particularly on the caudal fin, and usually lacks thin longitudinal yellowish streaks. It also has typically shorter fins (illicium length 19–20% vs. 23–28% SL; 42–44% vs. 49–57% of head length; length of second dorsal-fin spine 0.7–1.0 vs. 1.1–1.4 times length of longest ray of second dorsal fin), a smaller eye (diameter mainly exceeding 5.4, rather than less than 5.4, in head), more second dorsal-fin rays (17–19 mainly 18 vs. 16–18, mainly 17) with a longer dorsal-fin base (61–64% vs. 55–61% SL). <b>Remarks.</b> The conservation biology and population status of this species have been discussed in some detail (Green &amp; Bruce, 1998; Bruce <i>et al.</i>, 1998, 1999; Last <i>et al.</i>, 2007). Museum data indicates that <i>B. hirsutus</i> was probably reasonably common in Great Oyster Bay before the First World War. Similarly, handfishes taken by early French explorers suggest that <i>B. hirsutus</i> was likely to be abundant in the D’Entrecasteaux Channel in the early 19 th C. Periodic sightings throughout the 20 th C indicate that these populations remained viable up until at least the mid 1980s. Dredges are very efficient in catching small, slow-moving benthic fishes, such as adult handfishes, and can impact on breeding populations by damaging critical spawning substrate (see Bruce <i>et al.</i>, 1998, 1999). These areas were subjected to aggressive harvesting of the commercial scallop (<i>Pecten fumatus</i>), from the 1960s through to the 1980s, using dredges (Dix, 1982), and <i>B. hirsutus</i> has not been collected in either area since (apart from North West Bay, near the Derwent Estuary mouth) despite several scallop surveys and special requests to fishers to report sightings. The likely extirpation of <i>B. hirsutus</i> from these regions flags the need for strong management approaches to be put in place to conserve the remaining populations.
description: Published as part of <i>Last, Peter R. &amp; Gledhill Csiro, Daniel C., 2009, A revision of the Australian handfishes (Lophiiformes: Brachionichthyidae), with descriptions of three new genera and nine new species 2252, pp. 1-77 in Zootaxa 2252 (1)</i> on pages 15-19, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2252.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5310434
description: {"references": ["Lacepede, B. G. E. (1804) Memoire sur plusieurs animaux de la Nouvelle Hollande dont la description n'a pas encore ete publiee. Annales du Museum, Paris, 4, 184 - 211.", "Cuvier, G. (1817) Sur le genre Chironectes Cuv. (Antennarius Commers.). Memoires du Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle (N. S.) (Serie A) Zoologie, 3, 418 - 435, Pls 16 - 18.", "Le Danois, Y. (1964) Etude anatomique et systematique des Antennaires, de l'ordre des Pediculates. Memoires du Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Serei A. Zoologie, 31, 1 - 162.", "Pietsch, T. W. (1985) The manuscript materials for the Histoire Naturelle des Poissons, 1828 - 1849: sources for understanding the fishes described by Cuvier and Valenciennes. Archives of Natural History, 12, 59 - 106.", "Valenciennes, A. (1837) Des Chironectes (Chironectes, Cuv., Antennarius, Comm.). In: Cuvier, G. &amp; Valenciennes, A. (Eds.) Histoire Naturelle des Poissons. Levrault, Paris &amp; Strasburg, pp. 389 - 437.", "Bleeker, P. (1855) Over eenige visschen van Van Diemensland. Verhandelingen van het Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam, 2, 1 - 30.", "Anon (2005) Recovery plan for the following species of handfish: Spotted handfish (Brachionichthys hirsutus), Red handfish (Brachionichthys politus), Ziebell's handfish (Sympterichthys sp. [CSIRO T 6.01]), Waterfall Bay handfish (Sympterichthys sp. [CSIRO T 1996.01]). Natural Heritage Trust. Australian Government, Department of the Environment and Heritage, Canberra. Available from: http: // www. environment. gov. au / biodiversity / threatened / publications / recovery / 4 - handfish / pubs / 4 - handfish. pdf.", "Bruce, B. D., Green, M. A. &amp; Last, P. R. (1998) Threatened fishes of the world: Brachionichthys hirsutus (Lacepede, 1804) (Brachionichthyidae). Environmental Biology of Fishes, 52, 418.", "Bruce, B. D., Green, M. A. &amp; Last, P. R. (1999) Aspects of the biology of the endangered spotted handfish, Brachionichthys hirsutus (Lophiiformes: Brachionichthyidae) off southern Australia, p. 369 - 380. In: Seret, B. &amp; Sire, J. - Y. (Eds.). Proceedings of the 5 th Indo-Pacific Fish Conference, Noumea."]}