Thymichthys politus is one of the rarest species of fish, if not the rarest, in the world. Until the middle of last month, researchers know only one population in the world, and its members only amounted to 20-40 tail.
Therefore, when seven divers from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) at the University of Tasmania and a group of amateur scientists incorporated in the Reef Life Survey found a new population of T politus, the world was rejoicing.
The team of divers found eight T polituses swimming near Frederick Henry Bay, Tasmania. However, they suspect that the population in the area reaches 20 to 40 heads as the population has been found previously.
Given these findings, Rick Stuart Smith who is an IMAS researcher said that the world can breathe a little more relieved.
The reason, T politus is very rare and difficult to conserve. These endemic Tasmanian fish have very low reproductive rates, and if they succeed, they spawn on seaweed fragments. As a result, their eggs are often damaged by human activities and other marine animals.
Then, until the end of last week researchers are still delaying the process of T politus shoot, although the Australian government has launched a conservation program for four species of Brachionichthyidae fish since September 2017.
The researchers argue that the T politus population is too small to survive if some of them are taken to be brought to a breeding ground. However, with this new population, researchers re-evaluate the plan.