Holocephali (chimaeras) >
Chimaeriformes (Chimaeras) >
Chimaeridae (Shortnose chimaeras or ratfishes)
Etymology: Chimaera: Named for the mythological creature composed of parts of multiple animals, referring to their odd mix of characteristics. (See ETYFish); argiloba: argos (Gr.), white; lobos (Gr.), rounded projection, referring to distinct white posterior margin of first dorsal fin. (See ETYFish).
More on authors: Last, White & Pogonoski.
Issue
Close to Chimaera phantasma Jordan & Snyder, 1900. Specimens collected off New Caledonia and Indonesia could be conspecific (Ref. 76966).
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; bathydemersal; depth range 370 - 520 m (Ref. 76966). Deep-water; 18°S - 29°S, 113°E - 119°E (Ref. 76966)
Eastern Indian Ocean: off Northwest Australia. Questionably off Indonesia and New Caledonia.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 91.2 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 76966); 87.7 cm TL (female)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
This species is distinguished from its congeners by the following characters: snout moderately long; skin relatively thick, non-deciduous; color uniformly silvery greyish dorsally and laterally, paler ventrally; preopercular and oral lateral line canals usually not sharing a common branch; long dorsal spine, longer than first dorsal fin; structure of the CO1 gene (Ref. 76966).
Caught over the upper continental slope (Ref. 76966).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae
Last, P.R., W.T. White and J.J. Pogonoski, 2008. Chimaera argiloba sp. nov., a new species of chimaerid (Chimaeriformes: Chimaeridae) from Northern Australia. In Last, P.R., White, W.T. & Pogonoski, J.J. (eds.): Descriptions of New Australian Chondrichthyans. CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research Paper no. 22. (Ref. 76966)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Tools
Special reports
Download XML
Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 4.3 - 12.8, mean 6.6 °C (based on 14 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00282 (0.00118 - 0.00673), b=3.10 (2.89 - 3.31), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.7 ±0.6 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref.
120179): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Deepwater species with few large eggs.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): High vulnerability (56 of 100).