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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); obscura: Latin for dark, referring to dark brownish-to-black body coloration. (See ETYFish).
More on authors: Didier, Last & White.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; bathydemersal; depth range 450 - 1080 m (Ref. 76965). Subtropical

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Southwest Pacific: Australia.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 95.1 cm TL (female)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

This species is distinguished from its congeners by the following set of characters: skin thin and deciduous; color uniformly dark brownish to black; preopercular and oral lateral line canals either sharing a common branch or not; long dorsal spine, longer than first dorsal fin; structure of the CO1 gene (Ref. 76965).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Didier, D.A., P.R. Last and W.T. White, 2008. Three new species of the genus Chimaera Linnaeus (Chimaeriformes: Chimaeridae) from 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. 76965)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 28 November 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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Trophic ecology
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Ecology
Ecology

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Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 5.2 - 9, mean 6.9 °C (based on 64 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 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 (58 of 100).

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Chimaera obscura Didier, Last & White, 2008