The smooth handfish (''Sympterichthys unipennis'') is a possibly extinct species of

handfish Handfish are any anglerfish within the family Brachionichthyidae, a group which comprises five genera and 14 extant species. These benthic marine fish are unusual in the way they propel themselves by walking on the sea floor rather than swi ...

in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

Sympterichthys ''Sympterichthys'' is a genus in the handfish family Brachionichthyidae with these species: Species * '' Sympterichthys moultoni'' Last A last is a mechanical form shaped like a human foot. It is used by shoemakers and cordwainers in the ...

''. It was

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to waters off the coast of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, mainly the D’Entrecasteaux Channel. It was declared extinct by the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

in 2020, marking the first entirely marine fish classified as such. However, in 2021 its status was changed to Data Deficient due to uncertainties over the exhaustiveness of the unsuccessful surveys to find this species. In the past, it was likely reasonably common, as it was one of the first fish described on

François Péron François Auguste Péron (22 August 1775 – 14 December 1810) was a French naturalist and explorer. Life Péron was born in Cérilly, Allier, in 1775, the son of a tailor (not a harness maker as is frequently asserted). Although intended for ...

's 1802 survey of Australia and an individual was caught with a simple

dipnet A hand net, also called a scoop net, is a fishing net or meshed basket held open on a rigid hoop, which may or may not be mounted to the end of a handle. A hand net with a long handle is often called a dip net. When it is used by an angler to ...

; this is the only known specimen of the species. When and how the species went extinct is relatively unclear, but it likely had to do with the intensive scallop and

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not ...

harvesting that went on in the area between the 19th and mid-20th centuries which dredged every part of the channel, resulting in the destruction of critical habitat that the benthic handfish required. In March 2020, the smooth handfish was the first modern-day marine fish to be officially declared extinct in the

. However, this was reversed in September 2021, as there is not sufficient data to confirm this status.

References

Brachionichthyidae † Fish extinctions since 1500 smooth handfish Taxa named by Georges Cuvier {{Lophiiformes-stub