A Fish That Walks on its “Hands”

Did you know that fish can walk? This photograph shows an Australian fish called a pink handfish. No one has actually seen this tiny four-inch (ten-centimeter) fish since 1999, and no one is sure exactly when this photo was taken. These fish have been spotted a total of only four times in the shallow waters near Hobart, a city on the island of Tasmania.

Scientists recently determined that the pink handfish is a distinct species from other handfish. They haven’t been studied very often, and there is not much information on their behavior. There are 14 known species of handfish, and they all live in shallow water on the southeastern edge of Australia.

See more handfish pictures on National Geographic News.

Watch a video about fish camouflage on National Geographic Kids.

Photograph courtesy Karen Gowlett-Holmes

Comments

climber
June 1, 2010, 7:48 pm

looks like i am the first one to coment, so cool fish that walks on it’s hands!
MS.JUSTIN
June 2, 2010, 9:53 am

that thing is ugley!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
aj0203
June 2, 2010, 3:42 pm

That is a cool fish.I wish I can feed it!!!!!!
Applequeen5
June 2, 2010, 8:24 pm

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
angel123456
June 3, 2010, 1:33 pm

hi i realy think that dis is so cool and kind of freaky b cuz i hav neaver seen a pic of a walking fish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yoly*girl
June 3, 2010, 2:34 pm

That is a really cool fish! There are so many things that you don’t know about that haven’t been discovered… this is one of them! Kind of cool looking!
loka9743
June 3, 2010, 8:38 pm

its NOT ugly! that fish is cute ^.^ haha i like it (:
escape2books
June 3, 2010, 9:34 pm

I am going to agree with MS.JUSTIN on this one. Who does not see that fish as ugly? I am not offending anyone about the great scientific find that this fish is, but I do not find this fish pleasant to the eyes.
angel123456
June 4, 2010, 11:27 am

it looks so weird
jliardo
June 4, 2010, 1:17 pm

that fish looks so freakishly weird. Iam soo going to set that as my desktop backround
ben12395
June 4, 2010, 1:51 pm

yo peeps freakishly ugly
abcrafa
June 4, 2010, 3:25 pm

is very cooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool
peacesunny101
June 6, 2010, 11:16 pm

tht is AWESOME someone should seriously study tht thing : )
climber
June 8, 2010, 9:22 am

I wish i could learn about the fish! But it is summer!
Claymont10
June 8, 2010, 10:24 am

that is so cool how did u tack the pick
claymont summer 13
June 8, 2010, 10:27 am

That fish is rrrreeeeaaaallllyyyy cool!
smiley17a
June 10, 2010, 2:13 pm

Haa this fish looks creepy but its a pretty cool fish . i mean i didnt even know a fish can walk ! :S
climber
June 10, 2010, 9:33 pm

I will have to agree with smiley…
tnc1999
June 20, 2010, 11:30 am

Well, if its only been spotted four times it is very endangered or it just lives where humans are scarce in population
mochachino121
September 6, 2010, 1:45 pm

THAT FISH IS GROSS!!!! but that is almost like the missing link in evalution so i guess we can almost say we formed then we went from water to land.
etiler
April 19, 2012, 6:20 am

I swear a terrible asthma shad

Etiler