The Chimaeridae, or short-nosed chimaeras, are a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

of cartilaginous fish. They resemble other

chimaeras Chimaeras are cartilaginous fish in the order Chimaeriformes , known informally as ghost sharks, rat fish, spookfish, or rabbit fish; the last three names are not to be confused with rattails, Opisthoproctidae, or Siganidae, respectively. At o ...

in general form and habits, but have short, rounded snouts, without the modifications found in related families. Many species have long, tapering tails, giving them an alternative name of ratfish. Shortnose chimaeras have a venomous spine on their backs, which is sufficiently dangerous to injure humans. They are found in temperate and tropical marine waters worldwide. Most species are restricted to depths below , but a few, notably the

spotted ratfish The spotted ratfish (''Hydrolagus colliei'') is a chimaera found in the north-eastern Pacific Ocean. Often seen by divers at night in the Pacific Northwest, this cartilaginous fish gets its characteristic name from a pointed rat-like tail. Th ...

and rabbit fish, can locally be found at relatively shallow depths. They range from in maximum total length, depending on species.

Species

The species are grouped into two genera and include: Family Chimaeridae * Genus ''

Chimaera Chimaeras are cartilaginous fish in the order Chimaeriformes , known informally as ghost sharks, rat fish, spookfish, or rabbit fish; the last three names are not to be confused with rattails, Opisthoproctidae, or Siganidae, respectively. At ...

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the sta ...

** '' Chimaera argiloba''

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, W. T. White & Pogonoski, 2008 (whitefin chimaera) ** '' Chimaera bahamaensis'' Kemper, Ebert, Didier & Compagno, 2010 (Bahamas ghostshark) ** ''

Chimaera carophila Chimaeras are cartilaginous fish in the order Chimaeriformes , known informally as ghost sharks, rat fish, spookfish, or rabbit fish; the last three names are not to be confused with rattails, Opisthoproctidae, or Siganidae, respectively. A ...

'' Kemper, Ebert, Naylor & Didier (brown chimaera) ** ''

Chimaera cubana The Cuban chimaera (''Chimaera cubana'') is a species of fish in the family Chimaeridae. It is found in Colombia, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. Its natural habitat is open seas. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed hab ...

'' Howell-Rivero, 1936 (Cuban chimaera) ** ''

Chimaera fulva The southern chimaera (''Chimaera fulva'') is a chimaera species in the family Chimaeridae. It lives in Australia, usually in marine waters 780 to 1095 meters deep. It can grow to a maximum length of at least 100 centimeters, and is sometimes c ...

'' Didier, Last & W. T. White, 2008 (southern chimaera) ** ''

Chimaera jordani Jordan's chimaera (''Chimaera jordani'') is a species of fish in the family Chimaeridae found near Japan, Madagascar, and Mozambique. Its natural habitat is open sea The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of ...

'' S. Tanaka (I), 1905 (Jordan's chimaera) ** ''

Chimaera lignaria 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. Description The carpenter's chimaera grows to in length; the largest specimen reco ...

'' Didier, 2002 (Carpenter's chimaera) ** ''

Chimaera macrospina The longspine chimaera (''Chimaera macrospina'') is a chimaera species in the family Chimaeridae. It is found off of the eastern and western coasts of Australia, and lives in tropical and temperate waters 435–1,300 meters deep. Males and femal ...

'' Didier, Last & W. T. White, 2008 (longspine chimaera) ** ''

Chimaera monstrosa ''Chimaera monstrosa'', also known as the rabbit fish or rat fish, is a northeast Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean species of cartilaginous fish in the family Chimaeridae. The rabbit fish is known for its characteris ...

'' Linnaeus, 1758] (Rabbitfish) ** ''

Chimaera notafricana The cape chimaera (''Chimaera notafricana'') is a chimaera species in the family Chimaeridae, which lives in South Africa and Namibia. Taxonomy The cape chimaera is one of 16 species in the genus Chimaera. The species was described in 2010 b ...

'' Kemper, Ebert, Compagno & Didier, 2010 (Cape chimaera) ** ''

Chimaera obscura The shortspine chimaera (''Chimaera obscura''), also commonly known as the short spine chimaera, is a chimaera species in the family Chimaeridae, which lives off of the east coast of Australia. Description The shortspine chimaera is similar to ...

'' Didier, Last & W. T. White, 2008 (shortspine chimaera) ** '' Chimaera owstoni'' S. Tanaka (I), 1905 (Owston's chimaera) ** '' Chimaera panthera'' Didier, 1998 (leopard chimaera) ** '' Chimaera phantasma'' D. S. Jordan & Snyder, 1900 (silver chimaera) ** ''Chimaera'' cf. sp. E Last & Stevens, 1994; White et al. 2006 (Lombok chimaera) * Genus ''

Hydrolagus ''Hydrolagus'' is a genus of fish in the family Chimaeridae found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.Weigmann, S. (2016)Annotated checklist of the living sharks, batoids and chimaeras (Chondrichthyes) of the world, with a focus on biogeog ...

Gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

, 1863 ** '' Hydrolagus affinis'' ( Brito Capello, 1868) (small-eyed rabbitfish) ** '' Hydrolagus africanus'' ( Gilchrist, 1922) (African chimaera) ** ''

Hydrolagus alberti The gulf chimaera (''Hydrolagus alberti'') is a species of cartilaginous fish in the family Chimaeridae found near Mexico, the United States, and possibly Suriname. Its natural habitat is open sea The sea, connected as the world ocean or ...

'' Bigelow &

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, 1951 (Gulf chimaera) ** ''

Hydrolagus alphus The whitespot ghost shark (''Hydrolagus alphus'') is a chimaera species in the family Chimaeridae, which lives in parts of the Galápagos Islands in the southeast Pacific Ocean. It lives in waters with steep slopes and boulders and grows to a to ...

'' Quaranta, Didier, Long & Ebert, 2006 ** '' Hydrolagus barbouri'' (

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, 1908) (ninespot chimaera) ** '' Hydrolagus bemisi'' Didier, 2002 (pale ghost shark) ** ''

Hydrolagus colliei The spotted ratfish (''Hydrolagus colliei'') is a chimaera found in the north-eastern Pacific Ocean. Often seen by divers at night in the Pacific Northwest, this cartilaginous fish gets its characteristic name from a pointed rat-like tail. Th ...

'' (

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& E. T. Bennett, 1839) (spotted ratfish) ** '' Hydrolagus eidolon'' (D. S. Jordan & C. L. Hubbs, 1925) ** '' Hydrolagus erithacus'' Walovich, Ebert & Kemper, 2017 (Robin's ghostshark)Walovich, K.A., Ebert, D.A. & Kemper, J.M. (2017): ''Hydrolagus erithacus'' sp. nov. (Chimaeriformes: Chimaeridae), a new species of chimaerid from the southeastern Atlantic and southwestern Indian oceans. ''Zootaxa, 4226 (4): 509–520.'' ** '' Hydrolagus homonycteris'' Didier, 2008 (black ghostshark) ** ''

Hydrolagus lemures The bight ghostshark or blackfin ghostshark (''Hydrolagus lemures'') is a species of chimaera endemic to the waters of Australia from Queensland to Western Australia where it is found near the ocean floor of the continental shelf and upper slo ...

'' ( Whitley, 1939) (bight ghostshark) ** '' Hydrolagus lusitanicus'' T. Moura, I. M. R. Figueiredo, Bordalo-Machado, C. Almeida & Gordo, 2005 (Portuguese rabbitfish) ** '' Hydrolagus macrophthalmus'' F. de Buen, 1959 (big-eyed chimaera) ** ''

Hydrolagus marmoratus The marbled ghostshark (''Hydrolagus marmoratus'') is a chimaera species 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 ...

'' Didier, 2008 (marbled ghostshark) ** ''

Hydrolagus matallanasi ''Hydrolagus matallanasi'', the striped rabbitfish, is a species of very rare, deep-water chimaera that lives in the ocean at depths to 600 m. It was discovered in 2001 by a team of Brazilian scientists. These 40-cm-long fishes have an unusual a ...

'' Soto & Vooren, 2004 (striped rabbitfish) ** ''

Hydrolagus mccoskeri ''Hydrolagus'' is a genus of fish in the family Chimaeridae found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.Weigmann, S. (2016)Annotated checklist of the living sharks, batoids and chimaeras (Chondrichthyes) of the world, with a focus on biogeog ...

'' L. A. K. Barnett, Didier, Long & Ebert, 2006 (Galápagos ghostshark) ** '' Hydrolagus melanophasma'' K. C. James, Ebert, Long & Didier, 2009 (Eastern Pacific black ghostshark) ** ''

Hydrolagus mirabilis ''Hydrolagus'' is a genus of fish in the family Chimaeridae found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.Weigmann, S. (2016)Annotated checklist of the living sharks, batoids and chimaeras (Chondrichthyes) of the world, with a focus on biogeog ...

'' ( Collett, 1904) (large-eyed rabbitfish) ** ''

Hydrolagus mitsukurii ''Hydrolagus mitsukurii'' is a species of fish in the family Chimaeridae found in China, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, and possibly Indonesia. Its natural habitat is open seas. It is one of several species commonly called "spookfis ...

'' (D. S. Jordan & Snyder, 1904) (spookfish) ** ''

Hydrolagus novaezealandiae The dark ghostshark (''Hydrolagus novaezealandiae'') is a shortnose chimaera of the family Chimaeridae, found on the continental shelf around the South Island of New Zealand. In June 2018 the New Zealand Department of Conservation classified the ...

'' ( Fowler, 1911) (dark ghostshark) ** '' Hydrolagus ogilbyi'' ( Waite, 1898) (Ogilby's ghostshark) ** '' Hydrolagus pallidus'' Hardy & Stehmann, 1990 (pale chimaera) ** '' Hydrolagus purpurescens'' ( C. H. Gilbert, 1905) (purple chimaera) ** '' Hydrolagus trolli'' Didier & Séret, 2002 (pointy-nosed blue chimaera) ** '' Hydrolagus waitei'' Fowler, 1907 ** ''Hydrolagus'' sp. D/G (giant black chimaera) ** ''Hydrolagus'' sp. F (Peruvian rabbitfish)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1543050 Cartilaginous fish families Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte

Species

See also

References