Red and Spotted Handfish Morphometrics for Sex Determination

Morphological measurements of adult and sub-adult Red handfish (Thymichthys politus) and Spotted handfish (Brachionichthys hirsutus) were collected from preserved specimens and underwater images. The data, associated with the NESP MB A10 project, was gathered to investigate if external morphometrics can determine sex. The dataset is hosted by the Australian Ocean Data Network and was last updated on 2026-06-04.

Use Cases

• Train a sex classification model based on morphological trait measurements.
• Conduct comparative morphometric analysis between Red and Spotted handfish species.
• Validate non-invasive measurement techniques using digital images against physical specimen data.

Strengths

• Measurements were taken with electronic callipers accurate to ±0.1 mm for physical specimens.
• Data includes specimens from the CSIRO Australian National Fish Collection, a known authoritative source.
• Digital image measurements were calibrated using a ruler in images or size taken in situ.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

CSIRO Australian National Fish Collection and underwater images.

Collection Method

Measurements taken from preserved specimens using electronic callipers and from digital images using ImageJ software.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-04 22:23:26.474331; freshness should be verified.