Chimaera

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Other meanings, including the ancient placename Chimaera, are based on the mythological creature Chimera; see the disambiguation page Chimera for a full list.

Chimaeras are cartilaginous fishes in the order Chimaeriformes. They are related to the sharks and rays, and are sometimes called ghost sharks.

Chimaeras live in temperate ocean floors and grow up to two meters long. Like other members of the class Chondrichthyes, chimaeras have a skeleton constructed of cartilage. Their skin is smooth and lacks scales, and their color can range from black to brownish gray.

For defense, most chimaeras have a poisonous spine located in front of the dorsal fin.

Chimaeras resemble sharks in some ways: they employ claspers for internal fertilization of females and they lay eggs with leathery cases. They differ from sharks in that their upper jaws are fused with their skulls; they have separate anal and urogenital openings; and they lack the many sharp and replaceable teeth of sharks, having instead a few large permanent grinding tooth plates.

Classification

This Pacific spookfish (Rhinochimaera pacifica) juvenile uses its snout to detect the electrical currents of its prey under the sand, much like a metal detector.

In some classifications the chimaeras are included (as subclass Holocephali) in the class Chondrichthyes of cartilaginous fishes; in other systems this distinction may be raised to the level of class. Chimaeras also have some characteristics of bony fishes.

There are about forty species in six genera and three families:

Family Callorhinchidae

• Genus Callorhinchus
• * Elephantfish, Callorhinchus callorynchus (Linnaeus, 1758).

Elephantfish, Callorhinchus callorynchus

• * Cape elephantfish, Callorhinchus capensis (Duméril, 1865).
• * Australian ghost shark, Callorhinchus milii Bory de Saint-Vincent, 1823.

Family Chimaeridae

• Genus Chimaera
• * Chimaera cubana Howell Rivero, 1936.
• * Chimaera jordani Tanaka, 1905.
• * Carpenter's chimaera, Chimaera lignaria Didier, 2002.
• * Chimaera monstrosa Linnaeus, 1758.

Chimaera monstrosa

• * Chimaera owstoni Tanaka, 1905.
• * Chimaera panthera Didier, 1998.
• * Silver chimaera, Chimaera phantasma Jordan & Snyder, 1900.
• Genus Hydrolagus
• * Smalleyed rabbitfish, Hydrolagus affinis (de Brito Capello, 1868).

Smalleyed rabbitfish, Hydrolagus affinis

• * African chimaera, Hydrolagus africanus (Gilchrist, 1922).
• * Hydrolagus alberti Bigelow & Schroeder, 1951.
• * Hydrolagus barbouri (Garman, 1908).
• * Pale ghost shark, Hydrolagus bemisi Didier, 2002.
• * Spotted ratfish, Hydrolagus colliei (Lay & Bennett, 1839).
• * Philippine chimaera, Hydrolagus deani (Smith & Radcliffe, 1912).
• * Hydrolagus eidolon (Jordan & Hubbs, 1925).
• * Blackfin ghostshark, Hydrolagus lemures (Whitley, 1939).
• * Hydrolagus macrophthalmus de Buen, 1959.
• * Hydrolagus matallanasi Sotto & Vooren, 2004.
• * Hydrolagus media (Garman, 1911).
• * Large-eyed rabbitfish, Hydrolagus mirabilis (Collett, 1904).
• * Spookfish, Hydrolagus mitsukurii (Jordan & Snyder, 1904).
• * Dark ghost shark, Hydrolagus novaezealandiae (Fowler, 1911).
• * Hydrolagus ogilbyi (Waite, 1898).
• * Hydrolagus pallidus Hardy & Stehmann, 1990.
• * Purple chimaera, Hydrolagus purpurescens (Gilbert, 1905).
• * Pointy-nosed blue chimaera, Hydrolagus trolli Didier & Séret, 2002.
• * Hydrolagus waitei Fowler, 1908.

• Genus Harriotta
• * Smallspine spookfish, Harriotta haeckeli Karrer, 1972.
• * Narrownose chimaera, Harriotta raleighana Goode & Bean, 1895.

Narrownose chimaera, Harriotta raleighana

• Genus Neoharriotta
• * Neoharriotta carri Bullis & Carpenter, 1966.
• * Sicklefin chimaera, Neoharriotta pinnata (Schnakenbeck, 1931).
• * Neoharriotta pumila Didier & Stehmann, 1996.
• Genus Rhinochimaera
• * Rhinochimaera africana Compagno, Stehmann & Ebert, 1990.
• * Spearnose chimaera, Rhinochimaera atlantica Holt & Byrne, 1909.
• * Pacific spookfish, Rhinochimaera pacifica (Mitsukuri, 1895).

References

• ["Chimaeriformes"]. FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. January 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.

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