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Marine species live out-of-sight, consequently geographic range, population size and long-term trends are extremely difficult to characterise for accurate conservation status assessments. Detection challenges have precluded listing of marine bony fishes as Extinct on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, until now (March 2020). Our data compilation on handfishes (Family Brachionichthyidae) revealed them as the most threatened marine bony fish family, with 7 of 14 species recently listed as Critically Endangered or Endangered. The family also includes the only exclusively marine bony fish to be recognised as Extinct – the Smooth handfish (Sympterichthys unipennis). Ironically, some of the characteristics that threaten handfishes with extinction have assisted assessments. Poor dispersal capabilities leading to small, fragmented populations allow monitoring and population size …