A small, unusual sea creature with hand-like fins that it uses to walk along the ocean floor instead of swimming.
Compound word combining 'hand' and 'fish,' named descriptively for its distinctive fin structure that resembles hands. The term is modern, created because the fish's most notable feature is how its pectoral fins resemble human hands.
Handfish are so rare that scientists have only found a few species, and some live nowhere on Earth except for a tiny area near Tasmania—one species called the 'Polka-dot handfish' was thought extinct for 20 years until fishermen accidentally caught one in 2011.
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