Chimaera
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| Chimaeras Fossil range: Early Devonian-Recent[1] |
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Chimaeras are cartilaginous fish in the order Chimaeriformes. They are related to the sharks and rays, and are sometimes called ghost sharks, ratfish (not to be confused with the rattails), or rabbitfishes.
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[edit] Description and habits
Chimaeras live in temperate ocean floors down to 2,600 metres (8,500 ft) depth. They have elongated, soft bodies, with a bulky head and a single gill-opening. They grow up to 150 centimetres (4.9 ft) in adult body length, although some also have a lengthy tail. In many species, the snout is modified into an elongated sensory organ.[2]
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 venomous 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. However, unlike sharks, male chimaeras also have retractable sexual appendages on the forehead and in front of the pelvic fins.[2] They lay eggs in spindle-shaped leathery cases.[1]
They also differ from sharks in that their upper jaws are fused with their skulls and they have separate anal and urogenital openings. They lack the many sharp and replaceable teeth of sharks, having instead just three pairs of large permanent grinding tooth plates.[2]
[edit] Classification
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
- Elephant fish, Callorhinchus callorynchus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Cape elephantfish, Callorhinchus capensis (Duméril, 1865)
- Australian ghost shark, Callorhinchus milii Bory de Saint-Vincent, 1823
- Genus †Edaphodon-prehistoric
- †Edaphodon agassizi Buckland, 1835
- †Edaphodon antwerpiensis Leriche, 1926
- †Edaphodon bucklandi Agassiz, 1843
- †Edaphodon eyrensis Long, 1985
- †Edaphodon kawai Consoli, 2006
- †Edaphodon laqueatus Leidy, 1873
- †Edaphodon leptognathus - (has not been formally classified) Agassiz
- †Edaphodon minor
- †Edaphodon mirabilis - (has not been formally classified)
- †Edaphodon mirificus Leidy, 1856
- †Edaphodon sedgwicki
- †Edaphodon smocki Cope
- †Edaphodon stenobryus Cope
- †Edaphodon tripartitus Cope
Family Chimaeridae
- Genus Chimaera
- Chimaera argiloba
- Chimaera cubana Howell Rivero, 1936
- Chimaera fulva Southern Chimaera
- Chimaera jordani Jordan's ChimaeraTanaka, 1905
- Carpenter's chimaera, Chimaera lignaria Didier, 2002
- Chimaera macrospina Longspine Chimaera
- Chimaera monstrosa Rabbitfish Linnaeus, 1758
- Chimaera obscura Shortspine Chimaera
- Chimaera owstoni Owston's Chimaera Tanaka, 1905
- Chimaera panthera Leopard Chimaera Didier, 1998
- Chimaera pseudomonstrosa
- Silver chimaera, Chimaera phantasma Jordan & Snyder, 1900
- Chimaera sp. G Cape Chimaera
- Genus Hydrolagus
- Smalleyed rabbitfish, Hydrolagus affinis (de Brito Capello, 1868)
- African chimaera, Hydrolagus africanus (Gilchrist, 1922)
- Hydrolagus alberti Bigelow & Schroeder, 1951
- Hydrolagus alphus Quaranta et al., 2006.[3]
- 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)
- Hydrolagus homonycteris Black Ghost Shark
- Blackfin ghostshark, Hydrolagus lemures (Whitley, 1939)
- Hydrolagus macrophthalmus de Buen, 1959
- Hydrolagus marmoratus Marbled Ghost Shark
- Hydrolagus matallanasi Sotto & Vooren, 2004
- Hydrolagus mccoskeri
- 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
- Hydrolagus sp. D/G Giant Black Chimaera
- Hydrolagus sp. F Peruvian Ratfish
Family Rhinochimaeridae
- 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)
Family †Squalorajidae
- Genus Squaloraja Agassiz (1836)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Chimaeriformes". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. January 2009 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2009.
- ^ a b c Stevens, J. & Last, P.R. (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N.. ed. Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 69. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
- ^ Quaranta et al. (2006). "A new species of chimaeroid, Hydrolagus alphus sp. nov. (Chimaeriformes: Chimaeridae) from the Galapagos Islands". Zootaxa 1377: 33–45. http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2006f/z01377p045f.pdf.
- "Chimaeriformes". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. January 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
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