The long-nosed chimera belongs to the rhinochimera or nosed chimera family of the chimera order. Representatives of this family are distinguished by a developed snout and complete pterygopodia in males.
The long-nosed chimera is one of the most deep sea fish in the squad, she is called the ghost shark. It was first caught by a fisherman off the coast of Canada.
External signs of a long-nosed chimera
The long-nosed chimera is 35 cm long in females and 25-30 cm in males. Maximum size is 120 cm. Females are larger than males. The color of the long-nosed chimera is a solid chocolate brown color.
Harriotta raleighana is distinguished by an elongated snout, shaped like an elongated triangle. A small mouth is located below. In front of the anterior dorsal fin is poisonous thorn, which the long-nosed chimera raises only in cases of danger. In the absence of a threat to life, the spike is removed into a special recess located on the back.
Second dorsal long and can face with the beginning of the caudal fin. The long-nosed chimera also has developed pectoral fins. Gill breathing, water washes the gills, and oxygen from the water enters the circulatory system.
The body of the long-nosed chimera is devoid of its scales and is covered with mucus that protects against the adverse effects of the environment. Big eyes allow light to be captured great depth. The long-nosed chimera is perfectly oriented in the water in conditions of absolute darkness and finds food.
Distribution of the long-nosed chimera
The long-nosed chimera has a wide-ranging, global distribution. It is kept in the deep waters of the continental lower part of the shelf and in the slopes of the continental stage in the southwestern waters of the Pacific and northern parts of the Atlantic Oceans. Found in Indian Ocean starting from South Australia.
Habitats of the long-nosed chimera
In a long-nosed chimera, adults and growing fry can occupy various places a habitat.
Most of the life of fish takes place in deep cold waters.
Usually long-nosed chimeras are caught in trawls during deep-sea scientific research or as by-catch during fisheries.
Reasons for the decline in the number of long-nosed chimeras
The increased productivity of the deep sea trawl fishery may pose a potential threat to the habitat and populations of the long-nosed chimera in the future. Currently, this species of fish is widely distributed and there are no immediate threats to the number of individuals.
The long-nosed chimera is classified as a species of Least Concern. However, to clarify the data, information on the volume of fisheries is needed, as well as control over the expansion of deep-sea fisheries. Nothing is known about population structure, although molecular evidence may support regional populations.
The long-nosed chimaera is caught as by-catch in deep sea bottom trawling.
An estimated catch of several thousand tons, carried out by 545 tugs between November 1998 and September 2000, long-nosed chimera account for<0,1 от общего улова, что составляет 8%.
Reproduction of the long-nosed chimera
The long-nosed chimera is an oviparous species, but nothing is known about the timing of spawning and reproduction, since too few fry come across. Fish are known to lay eggs 12 to 42 centimeters long, covered with a horn capsule. Fertilization is internal and occurs with the help of a special organ located on the body of the male, which is called the pterygopodium.
Details about the life of the long-nosed chimera are unknown. Larvae appear after 9-12 months. They are completely similar to adult fish. At the exit from the capsule, the embryos are 15 centimeters long. Compared with the size of the female, which reaches a length of one meter, this is a huge amount. The fry feed on a variety of benthic invertebrates and small fish species.
Age of onset of puberty, life expectancy, time of pregnancy (months), mean reproductive age are unknown.
Measures for the protection of the long-nosed chimera
Measures for the conservation of the long-nosed chimera have not been developed and there are no special management bodies for population control. Data from samples collected during deep sea trawling are useful in understanding the population structure and biology of this species.
Management plans (national or regional) need to be developed and implemented, for example within the FAO International Shark Conservation and Management Organization. Although the long-nosed chimera is related to sharks only by a common pedigree, nevertheless it is the rarest representative of chimeras that needs conservation measures. Conservation action is needed to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of all chimera species in the region.
Feeding the long-nosed chimera
The long-nosed chimera feeds on crabs, sea urchins, bivalves, brittle stars, and other invertebrates. Sometimes small fish become its prey.
The long-nosed chimera explores the seabed with a sensitive snout, looking for a variety of molluscs.
With powerful teeth that form a single plate, it is able to crush even the most durable shell.
bearded chimera - potentially dangerous to humans
Although the long-nosed chimera lives at such great depths that the likelihood of a fish colliding with a person is extremely low. In addition, this type of fish is rare compared to other types of chimeras, but still it is considered dangerous to humans.
Chimera gracefully moves thanks to the serpentine tail, which is half the length of the body, and large pectoral fins. Lifestyle of a long-nosed chimera
The long-nosed chimera leads a bottom lifestyle. The chimera swims fast enough, while it bends its thin tail in waves, and repels itself from the water with its huge pectoral fins. At the same time, the fish develops a very high speed, pursuing prey. The long-nosed chimera is one of the fastest inhabitants of the deep sea.
The meaning of the long-nosed chimera
The long-nosed chimera is not of particular commercial importance, since its share in the catch during deep-sea trawling is insignificant. Fish meat is eaten, but the most valuable are the liver, which contains useful substances, and fat, saturated with vitamin A.
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- Subclass: Holocephali = Whole-headed fish, one-headed
- Order: Chimaeriformes = Chimaeriformes
- Family: Callorhinchidae Garman, 1901 = Callorhynchus, step-nosed chimeras
- Species: Callorhinchus milii (Bory de Saint-Vincent, 1823) = Australian [Australian-New Zealand] Callorhynchus
Family: Callorhinchidae \u003d Callorhynchus, step-nosed chimeras
WHOLE HEAD FISH (solid-skull fish, Holocephali) - a subclass of cartilaginous fish, includes the only order of chimera-like fish, subdivided into three families. The body length of whole-headed fish is from 60 cm to two meters. They are distinguished by the presence of four pairs of gill slits and the absence of a spiracle. The skeleton is partially calcified. A characteristic feature of the whole-headed is the absence of vertebral bodies and the fusion of the upper jaw with the skull (hence the name). The body is naked, "skin teeth", formed by placoid scales, are located only on the jaws, there is no swim bladder, there is an arterial cone in the heart. Unlike elasmobranch fish, whole-headed fish lack a cloaca.
Whole-headed - exclusively marine, as a rule, deep-sea animals. These are predators whose main food is benthic invertebrates (crabs, sea urchins, gastropods and bivalves), as well as some fish. Fertilization is internal. The male copulatory organ, or pterygopodia, is a modified pelvic fin. Wholeheads reproduce by laying eggs enclosed in a special capsule with outgrowths. Wholeheads are thought to have descended from extinct sharklike ancestors and represent a lateral phylogenetic branch not related to bony fishes. They are known from the Upper Devonian, their heyday lasted until the Cretaceous.
CHIMEROY FISH
Chimaeriformes - a detachment of cartilaginous fish of a subclass of whole-headed fish, includes three families, about 30 species. The length of these fish is from 60 cm to 2 m, females are larger than males. The body is valky, slightly laterally compressed, gradually thinning towards the tail, which in some species ends in a long thread. In front of the first dorsal fin there is a poisonous spike that can be retracted into a special notch on the back. The second dorsal fin is very long, reaching the beginning of the caudal fin. The pectoral fins are large, fan-shaped, the pelvic fins are smaller. The mouth is small, lower, there is no spiracle, the protruding rostrum forms the so-called snout. In species of the family of chimeric fish, it is short and blunt, in representatives of the family of nosy chimeras it is elongated like a long peak, and in the family of callorhynchus it resembles a hoe in shape. Chimeras breathe with their mouths closed, since they pump water that communicates with the oral cavity. The naked body is covered with copious mucus.
These are deep sea fish that lead a bottom lifestyle. They are found at depths up to 2500 m in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, absent in the Arctic Ocean and in the waters of the Antarctic. At least the smaller species are gregarious. Chimaeriformes swim fairly quickly, undulating their tails and paddling the water with their pectoral fins, using their horizontally spaced pelvic fins as stabilizers. They are active at night, feed on benthic invertebrates (mollusks, crabs, brittle stars, sea urchins), less often - small fish.
Fertilization is internal; carried out with the help of special copulatory organs of the male - pterygopodia. Chimeras reproduce by laying eggs, each of which is enclosed in a horny capsule 12–42 cm long. After 9–12 months, fully formed fish emerge from the eggs. Chimaeriformes are of commercial importance on the Pacific coast of the USA, in Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, Japan and China. The fat from the liver is used as a medicine and lubricant, and the meat is used as food. Extinct representatives of the order are found from the Lower Jurassic, and modern genera from the Upper Cretaceous.
CALLORINHI
Callorhinchi (proboscis chimeras) (Callorhinchidae), a family of cartilaginous fish, a subclass of whole-headed, 1 genus, 3-4 species. Body length is about 1 m, weight - up to 10 kg. The color of the body is greenish-yellow, three black stripes stretch along the sides. The mucus covering the body has special light-refracting properties, which is why freshly caught fish have a bright silvery-iridescent tint. The anterior part of the snout is elongated into a kind of laterally compressed proboscis, the end of which with a transverse leaf-shaped lobe is sharply bent back. It probably serves both as a locator and as a shovel. With its help, fish soaring above the bottom can detect and dig out invertebrates buried in the ground. Tail without filiform appendage. The anal fin is short, separated from the caudal by a deep notch.
Distributed only in temperate and moderately cold waters of the southern hemisphere - off the coast of South America (from South Brazil and Peru to Tierra del Fuego), South Africa, South Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand. Usually they are caught at depths from 5 to 50 m. In the cold season, they go down to 200 m and deeper. Females lay egg capsules ranging in length from 17 to 42 cm. In New Zealand, Callorhinchus milii is an object of fishing and is used for food.
Nosed Chimeras (Rhinochimaeridae), a family of cartilaginous fishes of the subclass of whole-headed fishes, 3 genera, 6 species.
They have a strongly elongated, pointed snout. They are the deepest representatives of the order, as a result of which they are known from a very small number of finds. Almost nothing is known about their lifestyle and biology. Found in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Apparently they also live in the Indian Ocean, where their egg capsules have been found.
The chocolate-brown hakeli harriot (Harriotta haeckeli) reaches a length of 1.03 m. It is known from the North Atlantic from depths of 1800-2600 m.
In the genus of nosed chimeras, which gave the name to the whole family, two species are known. In the North Atlantic, the Atlantic nosy chimera (Rhinochimaera allantica) is found, and off the coast of Japan, the Pacific nosy chimera (Rhinochimaera pacifica) is found.
The deep waters of the mysterious oceans are inhabited by mysterious creatures. 400 million years ago, evolution appeared an unusual underwater inhabitant - a chimera fish.
This creature is sometimes called ghost sharks. And this fish got the name chimera for its appearance. The fact is that in Greek mythology there was a legend about a monstrous woman, whose entire body was formed from parts of different animals. Seeing a fish with a strange appearance, the ancient Greeks decided that its body did not at all look like an ordinary representative of fish - but as if it was also made up of parts of animals. That is why the chimera fish got its name.
This fish belongs to the cartilaginous, represents the chimera order, the chimera family.
Among the class of cartilaginous fish, chimeras appeared on our planet as the very first. They are considered distant relatives. Today, scientists have counted about 50 species of these unusual fish on our planet.
The appearance of the chimera fish
The body length of an adult reaches 1.5 meters. The skin of these fish is smooth, with multi-colored tints. In males, between the eyes on the head there is a bone outgrowth (thorn), which has a curved shape.
The tail of these fish is very long, it reaches a size equal to half the length of the entire body. A feature of the appearance of these representatives of the chimera family can be called large wing-shaped lateral fins. Straightening them, the chimera becomes something like a bird.
The colors of these fish are very diverse, but the predominant colors are light gray and black with frequent and large white patches over the entire surface. In the front of the body, near the dorsal fin, chimeras have poisonous outgrowths, they are very strong and sharp. Their animal uses for its own protection.
Where does the ghost shark live?
Representatives of chimeric fish can be found in the eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean - from Norway to Iceland, from the Mediterranean Sea to the southern coast of the African continent. In addition, these creatures live in the Barents Sea.
behavior in nature
These fish are inhabitants of deep waters. They can be found at a depth of more than 2.5 kilometers. They lead a rather secretive life. That is why scientists still cannot study these creatures in detail.
It is only known that these fish hunt in the dark, by touch. To attract prey, they use special devices of the oral apparatus - photophores. These "devices" emit a glow, and the victim itself swims into the light, right into the mouth of the chimera.
What is the basis of the diet of deep sea chimera fish?
These cartilaginous fish feed mainly on molluscs, echinoderms, and crustaceans. They can eat other fish that live at the same depths as the chimeras themselves as food. To eat armored and echinoderm animals with sharp spikes on the body, the chimera has sharp teeth that have decent strength and a strong grip.
How do chimeras breed their offspring?
These fish are dioecious creatures. After mating females with males, females lay eggs, which are placed in a special hard capsule.
The process of reproduction, just like the way of life of these fish, is currently poorly understood by scientists.
Natural enemies of chimeras
Due to their deep-sea lifestyle, chimera fish have virtually no enemies. But there is one caveat: young individuals of these fish are often eaten by their own relatives, only older. Such are they, these underwater predators!
Economic importance of chimeras
The meat of these fish is considered inedible, but people attribute miraculous properties of healing from many diseases to the fat extracted from the liver of these underwater inhabitants.
Attention, only TODAY!The most mysterious inhabitants of the ocean depths are chimera fish, or chimeras. Very little is known about their lifestyle, especially their reproductive biology.
Oceanologists literally bit by bit collected information about these creatures so that today you can get to know some of them.
Very little is known about chimeras. Deep-sea chimeras of the seas and oceans
The modern group, belonging to the cartilaginous order, has approximately 50 species of chimera-like fish. Most of them live at a depth of 500 meters or more, where it is extremely difficult, and sometimes simply impossible, to study their behavior. To date, it is known that:
- the length of these creatures can reach 1.5 meters;
- they feed on invertebrates and smaller fish;
- fish are dioecious;
- fish lay eggs.
- Chimera fish live exclusively in sea water.
Appearance and structure
The streamlined body of chimeras gradually narrows and ends in a long wriggling cord-like tail half the length of the body. It's called the scourger. Adults grow from 0.6 to 1.5 meters. It is possible that there are larger fish.
Adult chimera fish reach 1.5 meters The pectoral fins are large, pterygoid. It is they who give the characteristic appearance of chimeras and create the illusion of flight. The abdominal ones are much smaller in size and are located at the anus.
The fish swim slowly, the movements of the pectoral fins are undulating.
The lateral line is open and is a groove located on the sides of the head and trunk. With its help, chimeras perceive water vibrations and vibrations created by the movement of other inhabitants of the depths. The line is used for orientation in the external environment and during hunting. In some species, it consists of a part of special receptors that capture electrical vibrations.
Chimeras swim slowly The body is "naked", covered with mucus. The skeleton is made up of cartilage. The skull is connected to the jaws by one articulation and is called hyostylistic. On the sides there are two gill openings covered with skin folds. Fish breathe with their mouths closed, drawing in water through their nostrils. It enters the gills, which communicate with the oral cavity.
There are also two dorsal fins. The one closer to the head is set vertically, it has a short base and a large spike - in some it is poisonous. If necessary, it fits into a special "groove" on the back. The other is shorter with a long base and does not fold.
The mouth is low and full of creepy chewing plates. Males have pterygopodia - copulatory organs. With their help, seminal fluid is introduced into the cloaca of the female.
Once on land, chimera fish die very quickly. They do very poorly in aquarium conditions.
Fertilization and reproduction
In dioecious chimeras insemination occurs during mating. For all species of the chimera order, oviparous production is characteristic - laying eggs. The embryo develops and is released from the membranes outside the mother's body.
Up to 100 eggs can be in the ovaries of the female at the same time, but they mature and are laid in two.
Each chimera egg, like some other fish species, is enclosed in a capsule - a cartilaginous shell. It is equipped with a threadlike appendage. After leaving the body of the female, the egg falls to the bottom or gets hooked on the plants.
The development of the embryo lasts about 9-12 months. Interestingly, during development, special threads appear near the head - external gills. It is likely that with their help the embryo absorbs the yolk of the egg and receives oxygen. After birth, the threads disappear. The hatched fry resemble their parents in every way.
Chimeras reproduce by laying eggs. Cartilage shells are very light and consist of collagen threads. Empty capsules quite often fall into the nets of fishermen, they are washed ashore during storms and tides. People call such finds mermaid or devil's wallets.
Very little is known about mating games and the mating process, since it is very problematic to study this side of the life of chimeras at great depths.
Estimated Diet
It was traditionally believed that chimeras feed only on solid food - mollusks and crustaceans. This opinion was formed due to the structure of the jaw apparatus, which is able to crush the object of hunting with a force of 100 newtons.
Direct studies, although few, suggest that the diet of chimeras includes:
- polychaetes - polychaete worms;
- crabs;
- crayfish;
- lobsters;
- shrimps;
- small bottom fish.
Chimeras have cases of cannibalism There are known cases of cannibalism, when chimeras ate not only eggs, but also adult representatives of their small species.
Many representatives of chimaeriformes have special devices for attracting prey - photophores. They are located near the mouth and glow in the dark. The food itself floats directly into the predator's mouth.
There are practically no natural enemies due to the deep-sea lifestyle. Close relatives are sharks and rays.
The most famous representatives of chimeras
The genus Chimera consists of 6 species. Among them are the most studied. These include the European and Cuban chimeras, the Kollarinhovy and Rhinochimerovy family.
There is information about them in many encyclopedias, but they are scarce and full of assumptions.
European (Chimaera monstrosa) and Cuban (Ch. cubana)
Range - East Atlantic. Reaches a length of 1.5 meters. The back is red-brown, the sides are silvery with yellow-brown spots. Green eyes. The fins have a black-brown border around the edges.
Arial habitat of chimeras East Atlantic It occurs at a depth of 200-500 meters, off the coast of Morocco up to 700 meters. Solitary individuals come across in the network, but in the spring off the coast of Norway there are richer catches - up to several tens of pieces. Other names are chimera hare, sea rabbit or rat.
Eggs are laid throughout the year, with the exception of the autumn months.
The European chimera is not eaten. Fat is used to lubricate wounds.
The range of the Cuban Chimera is the coast of Cuba, the waters of Japan, the Yellow Sea and the Philippine Islands. Outwardly similar to the European, so it was previously taken for it. The depth of residence is 400-500 meters.
Chimeras are found at a depth of 200 m Genus Hydrolags (Hydrolagus)
It has 15-16 species. The range is the North Atlantic, Japan, the waters of Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, the Philippines, the Hawaiian Islands and North America.
The American hydrolag has been studied better than others. He often found along the American coast and lives at a depth of only 40-60 meters.
It is smaller than the European chimera and sometimes fills fishermen's nets completely. It breeds year-round, most intensively - in August-September.
Observations in the aquarium showed that the female throws capsules for about 30 hours. They do not separate immediately and hang on elastic threads for several days, dragging behind. Then they fall off and sink to the bottom.
Fish is not eaten, and the fat is used for technical lubrication of mechanical parts.
Chimeras are not used for food Nosed chimeras
They belong to the Rhinochimera family. The snout is elongated, pointed. Pterygopodia in males are entire. These are the deepest representatives - presumably they live at a depth of up to 2.5 km. They are known only from rare finds on the shore. Biology has not been studied.
Family Callorhynchaceae
The proboscis family is represented by only one genus - Kollarinhi. The front part of the muzzle is extended into a trunk, flattened on the sides. At the end is a leaf-shaped blade, bent back. Presumably, this organ serves as a kind of locator. It lives in the waters of the Southern Hemisphere.
The color is greenish-yellow, on the sides there are three black stripes. Tail without fine ending.
Off the coast of New Zealand, it is mined on an industrial scale and used for food. The taste is excellent, but if the meat is at least a little lie down without processing, the smell of ammonia appears.
Chimeras are still little studied, so the main discoveries are yet to come.
Appearance
The body of chimeras tapers towards the posterior end and ends with a long (up to half the length of the body) whip-like tail. The length of adults from the front end to the tip of the tail varies from 0.6 to 1.5 meters. The characteristic appearance of chimeras is given by large pterygoid pectoral fins. On the side of the head and torso there is an open groove of the lateral line.
Reproduction and development
Chimeras are dioecious. Like other cartilaginous fish, they are characterized by internal fertilization. All species are oviparous. Because most species live at great depths, data on the reproductive biology of this group is very limited.
Food
Traditionally, chimeras are thought to feed on very hard foods (such as shellfish). First of all, these ideas are associated with the structure of the jaw apparatus of chimeras, which is able to compress objects with a force exceeding 100 newtons. However, the few direct feeding studies suggest that the diet of chimaeras is not limited to organisms with hard integuments (mollusks and echinoderms), but also includes polychaetes, crustaceans, and even small demersal fish. In addition, cases of cannibalism are described: some chimeras are able to eat both adults of their own species and eggs.
Notes
List of sources
- Ebert D. A. (2003). The sharks, rays and chimaeras of California. University of California Press, 284 pp.
- Huber D. R., Dean M. N., Summers A. P. (2008). Hard prey, soft jaws and the growthy of feeding mechanics in the spotted ratfish Hydrolagus colliei. Interface, vol. 5, no. 25, p. 941-952
- Wilga C. D., Motta P. J., Sanford C. P. (2007). Evolution and ecology of feeding in elasmobranchs. Integrative and Comparative Biology, vol. 47, p. 55-69
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See what "Chimera (fish)" is in other dictionaries:
- (Greek). 1) in Greek mythology: a furious, fire-spewing monster that had a lion's head and chest, a goat's body, and a dragon's backside. 2) a genus of northern fish. seas, in form making up, as it were, a transition to reptiles. 3) in the hostel: a pipe dream, ... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
chimera- uh. chimere f. , gr. chimaira is a monster with a lion's head, a goat's body and a dragon's tail. 1. A sculptural image of a fantastic monster personifying vices (in the decoration of medieval Gothic temples, etc.). ALS 1. I came from ... ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language
See hope... Synonym dictionary
European Chimaera Chimaera monstrosa Scientific classification ... Wikipedia
To fight like a fish on ice, to fish in troubled waters, it's like a fish. Dictionary of Russian synonyms and expressions similar in meaning. under. ed. N. Abramova, M .: Russian dictionaries, 1999. fish fish, fish, fish, fish, fish, fish, fish, live bait, ... ... Synonym dictionary
Female, Greek a fictitious monster: a lion's front, a goat's middle, and a snake's backside. | Strange fish of the northern seas, transition to reptiles. | Fantasy, dream, absurdity, empty fiction. Chimerical, rhetorical, absurd, empty, absurd, invented without meaning ... Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary
Chimera- Chimera, s (mifol.) and chimera, s (sculptural image of a monster; an impossible dream, fantasy; fish; biol.) ... Russian spelling dictionary
Chimera- 1) in ancient Greek mythology, a monster with a fire-breathing lion's mouth, a dragon's tail and a goat's body; 2) an impossible dream, a bizarre fantasy; 3) sea fish; 4) a plant organism consisting of two genetically heterogeneous ... ... Theoretical aspects and foundations of the ecological problem: interpreter of words and idiomatic expressions
European Chimera ... Wikipedia
I Fish are aquatic vertebrates with variable body temperature; they breathe with gills, the limbs are of a non-five-fingered type, usually in the form of fins (See Fins). 2 classes: Cyclostomes and actually R. Actually R. (Pisces) include 7 subclasses: ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
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