Key points:- The critically endangered spotted handfish has been bred in captivity for the first time outside Tasmania- The baby handfish hatched more than a year ago and are now ready for display at Melbourne's aquarium- It's hoped there will eventually be enough bred to return some to the wildEndemic to the island state, the spotted handfish is known for its preference of walking on hand-like pectoral fins across the seabed rather than swimming, and has become a big focus of marine conservation efforts.The babies, known as fry, were hatched in January last year, and have been spending their time since growing and developing in nursery aquariums in the facility's back of house.From there, the aquarium team worked to replicate the handfish's environmental conditions in the wild, including changes in temperature, food availability and lighting and salinity levels — to get conditions just right for breeding.It's hoped the aquarium population will eventually breed, with ambitions of eventually being able to release some of the handfish back into wild Tasmanian waters."We'll be hoping to use that experience that we've gained to produce more, hopefully, and make some more progress," he said."