Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2016L00300:body:0:p10
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2016L00300
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 26283–29026

(Gowlett-Holmes, pers comm., 2014; Jacques, unpublished). Historically the red handfish was also known from a number of locations off Port Arthur, the Acteaon Islands and the Forestier Peninsula, with the species being not uncommon in the Port Arthur area in the 1800s (Last and Gledhill, 2009). There have been suggestions that the species may have undergone a major population decline (Last and Gledhill, 2009) sometime during the 1900s. There have been no reported observations of the species from the Port Arthur area in recent decades and the last reliable sighting in Fortescue Bay was from the 1990s (Gowlett-Holmes, pers comm., 2014). However, survey effort for red handfish has been very limited and more information is needed to accurately assess population trends.

3.2.3 Biology and Ecology
Red handfish move by using their hand-like fins to crawl across the seafloor (DEH, 2005). The species' diet includes small crustaceans and polychaete worms (Edgar et al., 1982). The longevity of red handfish is yet to be determined. However, recorded specimens have ranged in size from 50-80 mm in length and observations suggest there may be sexual dimorphism in this species, with males being smaller than females (Bruce et al., 1997).
Red handfish have a low reproductive rate and a very low rate of dispersal. Females produce egg masses that vary in size, consisting of an estimated 30-60 eggs connected by tubules and bound together by associated threads (Bruce et al., 1997). Females have been observed to attach egg masses to green alga, Caulerpa sp., (Bruce et al., 1997) as well as Sargassum species and thin red alga (Jacques, unpublished). Egg masses have been observed in the field in late October and early November and all egg masses were guarded by an adult red handfish (Bruce et al., 1997). Newly emerged hatchlings look similar to adults but are yellow/orange in colour and some have exhibited a pattern of black and white markings on their pectoral fins (Bruce et al., 1997). Once hatched, juveniles have been observed to settle immediately in the vicinity of the egg mass (DEH 2004).

3.2.4 Habitat critical to the survival of the red handfish
The red handfish is currently known from a single site at Primrose Sands Reef in Frederick Henry Bay. The species occurs in a variety of locations, such as on the top of rocks, amongst macro-algae and in sandy areas between rocks and the reef-sand interface (Bruce et al., 1997) and has a depth distribution of 1-20 metres (Last and Gledhill, 2009). Given the low number of mature individuals and the extremely limited distribution of the species, all areas in which red handfish are found (including those currently known and any new areas identified in the future) represent