The Chimaeridae, or short-nosed chimaeras, are a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

cartilaginous fish Chondrichthyes (; ) is a class of jawed fish that contains the cartilaginous fish or chondrichthyans, which all have skeletons primarily composed of cartilage. They can be contrasted with the Osteichthyes or ''bony fish'', which have skeleto ...

. They resemble other

chimaeras Chimaeras are Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous fish in the order (biology), order Chimaeriformes (), known informally as ghost sharks, rat fish (not to be confused with rattails), spookfish, or rabbit fish; the last two names are also applied to B ...

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

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 and

rabbit fish ''Chimaera monstrosa'', Common name, commonly 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 fo ...

, 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 Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous fish in the order (biology), order Chimaeriformes (), known informally as ghost sharks, rat fish (not to be confused with rattails), spookfish, or rabbit fish; the last two names are also applied to B ...

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

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'', the starting point of modern zoologic ...

(Eocene-Recent) ** '' Chimaera argiloba''

Last A last is a mechanical form shaped like a human foot. It is used by shoemakers and cordwainers in the manufacture and repair of shoes. Lasts come in many styles and sizes, depending on the exact job they are designed for. Common variations ...

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, & Pogonoski, 2008 (whitefin chimaera) ** '' Chimaera bahamaensis'' Kemper, Ebert, Didier & Compagno, 2010 (Bahamas ghostshark) ** '' Chimaera carophila'' Kemper, Ebert, Naylor & Didier 2015 (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 con ...

'' 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. It is named for the American ichthyologist David Starr Jordan (1851–1931). Its natural habitat is open sea ...

'' 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 female ...

'' Didier, Last, & White, 2008 (longspine chimaera) ** '' Chimaera monstrosa'' Linnaeus, 1758 (Rabbitfish) ** '' Chimaera notafricana'' Kemper, Ebert, Compagno & Didier, 2010 (Cape chimaera) ** '' Chimaera obscura'' Didier, Last, & 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 stellata'' Teramura, Senou, & Hirase, 2024 (stellated chimaera) ** ''Chimaera supapae'' Ebert, Krajangdara, Fahmi, & Kemper, 2024 (Andaman shortnose 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 (biology), family Chimaeridae found in the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Oceans.Weigmann, S. (2016)Annotated checklist of the living sharks, batoids and chimaeras (Chond ...

Gill A gill () is a respiration organ, respiratory organ that many aquatic ecosystem, 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 r ...

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

Schroeder __NOTOC__ Schroeder is a North German (from Schröder) occupational name for a cloth cutter or tailor, from an agent derivative of Middle Low German , "to cut". The same term was occasionally used to denote a gristmiller as well as a shoemaker, wh ...

, 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 smooth slopes and tiny pebbles and grows to ...

'' Quaranta, Didier, Long & Ebert, 2006 ** '' Hydrolagus barbouri'' ( Garman, 1908) (ninespot chimaera) ** ''

Hydrolagus bemisi The pale ghost fish (''Hydrolagus bemisi'') is a shortnose chimaera of the family (biology), family Chimaeridae. It is Endemism, endemic to South America waters. Taxonomy This species was first described by Dominique A. Didier in 2001. Althou ...

'' 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. The ra ...

'' (

Lay Lay or LAY may refer to: Places *Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada * Lay, Loire, a French commune *Lay (river), France * Lay, Iran, a village * Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community * Lay Dam, Alaba ...

& 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'' ( 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'' 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'' 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'' ( Collett, 1904) (large-eyed rabbitfish) ** '' Hydrolagus mitsukurii'' (D. S. Jordan & Snyder, 1904) (spookfish) ** '' Hydrolagus novaezealandiae'' ( Fowler, 1911) (dark ghostshark) ** '' Hydrolagus ogilbyi'' ( Waite, 1898) (Ogilby's ghostshark) ** '' Hydrolagus pallidus''

Hardy Hardy may refer to: People * Hardy (surname) * Hardy (given name) * Hardy (singer), American singer-songwriter Places Antarctica * Mount Hardy, Enderby Land * Hardy Cove, Greenwich Island * Hardy Rocks, Biscoe Islands Australia * 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) * †'' Canadodus'' Popov, Johns & Suntok, 2020 Sooke Formation, Canada,

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

References

{{Authority control Cartilaginous fish families Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte

Species

See also

References