The carpenter's chimaera (''Chimaera lignaria''), also known as the giant chimaera or the giant purple chimaera, is a species of fish in the family

Chimaeridae The Chimaeridae, or short-nosed chimaeras, are a family of cartilaginous fish. They resemble other chimaeras in general form and habits, but have short, rounded snouts, without the modifications found in related families. Many species have lon ...

Description

The carpenter's chimaera grows to in length; the largest specimen recorded, a male, had a total length of , although some specimens may grow up to roughly . It has been described as a "distinctly large and robust chimaera" and is purple in color, with a very large head. The claspers of males are colored purple at their intersection with the species' body while their tips are white. 1/3 of the area at the end of claspers is divided.

Biology and habitat

The carpenter's chimaera exhibits

oviparity Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and m ...

, with egg shells containing "horns" on them. Males mature at a body length (BDL) of roughly , while females mature at BDL, generally equaling a total length of roughly . Little is known about the species' biology. The chimaera is a marine species, typically found on slanted and flat areas of deep oceans at the continental slope, sometimes extending into the

bathyal zone The bathypelagic zone or bathyal zone (from Greek βαθύς (bathýs), deep) is the part of the open ocean that extends from a depth of below the ocean surface. It lies between the mesopelagic above, and the abyssopelagic below. The bathypelagi ...

. It has a broad depth range, occurring in waters – in depth, typically in the deeper part of this range. It is a benthic fish, meaning that it is denser than water and lives at the bottom of the sea floor.

Distribution and conservation

The carpenter's chimaera is found in the southwest Pacific Ocean and the eastern Indian Ocean, particularly in Tasmania, Australia and New Zealand. Its exact population is unknown; however, a large number of specimens have been found in deep waters from fishing and scientific research. Due to this, it is thought that the species is common in the parts of oceans it lives in. The species is threatened by trawls, which, when searching for other species that live in deep waters in the same area as the carpenter's chimaera, will sometimes catch this species incidentally. Aside from this, there are no major threats; the species is not targeted for commercial purposes. Studies have shown that the amount of the species caught as a bycatch by trawls in New Zealand has increased from 1990 – 2011; however, in Australia, it is currently caught infrequently, partially due to the Australian South Tasman Rise Trawl Fishery's shutting down in 2007. It also has some protection against fisheries due to the depths of the waters it lives in. No conservation actions are taking place for the species currently, although part of its range extends into protected areas. In June 2018 the New Zealand

Department of Conservation An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

classified the carpenter's chimaera as "Not Threatened" under the

New Zealand Threat Classification System The New Zealand Threat Classification System is used by the Department of Conservation to assess conservation priorities of species in New Zealand. The system was developed because the IUCN Red List, a similar conservation status system, had some ...

. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists it as Least Concern, as of 18 February 2015.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2925164 Chimaera Taxa named by Dominique A. Didier Dagit Fish described in 2002 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Fish of Australia Marine fish of New Zealand Marine fish of Tasmania