A rare walking fish has been spotted in Australia

A rare "walking" fish has been spotted in the southeastern part of Australia for the first time in a quarter of a century. According to the Australian State Association of Applied and Scientific Research, scientists have discovered the creature in the waters of the Bass Strait. The fish is a representative of the species Pezichthys compressus. She is able to walk, leaning on her fins, as if on her hands.

Before that, walking fish were spotted only twice, in 1986 and 1996, near the coast of Victoria.

Until now, experts do not know exactly where these fish prefer to live, as well as what their number is in nature. The last individual was discovered by members of an expedition conducted to study the impact of climate change on the marine ecosystem in the southeast of the continent.

According to researcher Carly Devine, the fish was spotted at a depth of about 300 meters near an underwater canyon off Flinders Island, northeast of Tasmania. Finding the rare creature was extremely difficult, Devine added.