Goodbye to smooth puffer fish: it is the first officially documented extinction of the modern era

The first "bony" fish of the modern era has become extinct. It was the IUCN who officially declared his disappearance. That's where he lived

He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him

Unfortunately, it no longer exists in the seas of the world. We have lost the smooth pufferfish (Sympterichthys unipennis) forever. It is the first modern marine fish to go extinct. An extraordinary creature, able to "walk" on the pectoral and pelvic fins.

It is, or rather it was, an unusual species that lived in Australian waters but which has now been declared extinct by the IUCN, probably due to habitat loss and destructive fishing practices. According to Australian scientists, there was only one known exemplary emblematic of the entire species.

And there is only one photo of this creature, in which you can see a shriveled, yellowing fish with pectoral fins that extend like arms and a triangular crest attached to the top of the head. Between 1800 and 1804, French zoologist François Péronne saw it and captured it in the ocean on a voyage across Australia, presumably in the coastal waters of southeastern Tasmania.

Since then, no other specimens have been identified and the fish that Péron collected became the holotype of the entire species. In March 2020, the IUCN officially declared the species extinct.

The loss of this species may seem insignificant, especially since it hasn't been spotted in the last 200 years, but it's a noteworthy event: smooth swordfish is actually the first bony marine fish to become extinct in modern times. It could also be argued that the New Zealand grayling (Prototroctes oxyrhynchus) was actually the first ocean fish to become extinct, but it migrated and reproduced in fresh water, so it was not exclusively a marine fish.

According to Jessica Meeuwig, a lecturer at the University of Western Australia and director of the university's Center for Marine Futures, the fish has likely disappeared due to habitat loss and destructive practices such as scallop fishing and the extinction of the species. it is “indicative of wider problems in how we continue to manage our oceans. "

"Some argue that the ocean is too vast for marine life to go extinct," he said. "But the industrialization of the oceans between fishing, mining, oil and gas exploration, shipping and infrastructure development is approaching the scale of terrestrial industrialization and the risk of extinction for marine fauna".

Sympterichthys unipennis was part of the family of Brachionittidi (Brachionichthyidae). These are 14 species of fish all united by the ability to "walk" on the bottom of the sea with their pectoral fins. They have no swim bladders to help them float, so walking is their preferred source of movement. Today there are 13 but many are at risk, 4 are classified as endangered.

Unfortunately, this characteristic makes them even more vulnerable due to habitat decline, pollution, destructive fishing practices and predation of invasive species.

News that should make us reflect.

Sources of reference: Iucn Red List, Mongabay