''Mirapinna esau'', the hairyfish, is a species of fish in the family

Cetomimidae Cetomimidae is a family of small, deep-sea beryciform ray-finned fish. They are among the most deep-living fish known, with some species recorded at depths in excess of . Females are known as flabby whalefishes, Males are known as bignose fish ...

only known from the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

near the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

. Formerly considered a member of the no-longer-recognized family Mirapinnidae, this species is the only known member of the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

''Mirapinna''.

Description

''Mirapinna esau'' grows to a length of total length (TL). Little is known of the fish beyond its appearance. Wheeler (1977) states that only one specimen was caught, near the sea surface, and that it was a

copepod Copepods (; meaning 'oar-feet') are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (living in the water column), some are benthos, benthic (living on the sedimen ...

feeder. The original specimen was captured north of the

at 47°20'North, 22°30'West.

Etymology

The generic name is from the Latin ''mirus'' (wonderful) and ''pinna'' (thorn), for the unusual fins possessed by this fish. The specific name is from the

Biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

figure

Esau Esau is the elder son of Isaac in the Hebrew Bible. He is mentioned in the Book of Genesis and by the minor prophet, prophets Obadiah and Malachi. The story of Jacob and Esau reflects the historical relationship between Israel and Edom, aiming ...

, who is stated to be a hairy man (Genesis 27:11).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q147805 Cetomimidae Monotypic ray-finned fish genera