‘Could be the end’: Tasmanian red handfish to be removed from wild amid marine heatwaves fears

A handful of critically endangered Tasmanian red handfish will be housed at breeding facilities to be protected from the summer’s expected marine heatwaves. Photograph: Rick Stuart-Smith/Reef Life Survey

Scientists in Tasmania will remove up to half of the island’s “emblematic” red handfish from the wild ahead of expected marine heatwaves deemed an existential threat to their survival.

The critically endangered Tasmanian red handfish population has fallen to between 50 and 100 in the wild, due to the degradation of the seaweed habitat it needs to breed.