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Definition: HANDFISH

Part of Speech Definition
Noun 1. The frogfish.[Websters].

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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Date "Handfish" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1914. (references)


Extended Definition: HANDFISH

Handfish

Handfishes
Fossil range: Eocene to Present[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Lophiiformes
Family: Brachionichthyidae
Genus: Brachionichthys
Bleeker, 1855
Species

See text.

Handfishes are anglerfishes in the genus Brachionichthys, the only genus in the family Brachionichthyidae.[2][3]

They are small (up to 15 cm) bottom-dwelling marine fishes found in coastal waters of southern Australia and Tasmania. Their skin is covered with denticles (tooth-like scales), giving them the name warty anglers.

They use their pectoral fins to walk about on the sea floor. These highly modified fins have the appearance of hands, hence their scientific name, from Latin bracchium meaning "arm" and Greek ichthys meaning "fish".

Like other anglerfishes, they possess an illicium, a modified dorsal fin ray above the mouth, but it is short and does not appear to be used as a fishing lure. The second dorsal spine is joined to the third by a flap of skin, making a crest.[4]

Species

There are five species:

References

  1. Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology 364: p.560. Retrieved on 01/08/08. 
  2. "Brachionichthyidae". FishBase. Ed. Rainer Froese and Daniel Pauly. February 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
  3. "Brachionichthys". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. February 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
  4. Theodore W. Pietsch (2005). Brachionichthyidae. Tree of Life web project. Retrieved on 4 April 2006.
  5. Last, Gledhill & Holmes (2007-12-19). "[http://mapress.com/zootaxa/2007f/z01666p068f.pdf A new handfish, Brachionichthys australis sp. nov. (Lophiiformes: Brachionichthyidae), with a redescription of the critically endangered spotted handfish, B. hirsutus (Lacepède)]". Zootaxa 1666: 53-68. 

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; from the article "Handfish". Image Credit.
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Topics by Level of Interest: HANDFISH

Topics sorted by level of Interest Level (1=low, 600=high)     Topics sorted Alphabetically Level (1=low, 600=high)
Handfish 9     Handfish 9
Spotted handfish 7     Spotted handfish 7
Starry handfish 5     Starry handfish 5

Source: the editor, created by/for EVE to gauge likely levels of human interest in linguistically triggered topics (compiled across various sources, such as Wikipedia and specialty expression glosses).