Smooth Handfish Extinction Marks a Sad Milestone - Scientific American

Smooth Handfish Extinction Marks a Sad Milestone - Scientific American

First modern marine fish declared extinct

In March, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List declared the smooth handfish, Sympterichthys unipennis, extinct. It is the first marine fish alive in modern times to be declared gone forever. The bottom-dweller was one of the first fish species described by European explorers in Australia. Now none has been reported in well over a century. “It might be hard to imagine why a little organism occupying a small niche in a place few humans ever visit might be important,” says conservation scientist Katie Matthews. “But it's an enzyme from an extremophile microbe that's being used in tests to diagnose COVID-19 right now.”

Scientific American | 3 min read