Rhinochimaera atlantica (Broadnose chimaera)

Holt & Byrne, 1909

Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Deuterostomia > Chordata > Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates)  > Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) > Chondrichthyes > Holocephalii > Chimaeriformes > Rhinochimaeridae

Rhinochimaera atlantica (Broadnose chimaera) [Illustration by Ann Hecht ©]

Identification

A whitish to light brown longnose chimaera with a long, narrow, moderately flattened, pointed snout, sharp-edged smooth tooth plates, narrow pectoral fins, no anal fin, and a caudal fin with a very short terminal filament and wide-spaced tubercles on its upper edge in adults and large juveniles.

Size

To 1.3 m TL.

Range

Virtually the entire area from Lu"deritz, Namibia to Natal but spottily distributed; elsewhere from the North Atlantic.

Habitat

Deep water on the slope, on or near the bottom at 549 to 1100 m.

Biology

Moderately common but little-known, occurs in aggregations of the same sex and size.

Human Impact

Probably occasionally caught by hake trawlers but not utilized.

Text by Leonard J.V. Compagno, David A. Ebert and Malcolm J. Smale