![]() These animals shot to momentary fame when the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) set out to explore the depths around Hawaii and California, where a small remotely operated vehicle (ROV) captured the attention of a pointy-nosed blue chimaera ( Hydrolagus trolli), that seemed to repeatedly investigate the ROV. "Although they feed on things like small crustaceans, if we didn’t have chimaeras there could be negative impacts on the populations of other species," said Amber Reichert, a graduate student of the Pacific Shark Research Center. Yes, you read that correctly: while sharks have two "penises" known scientifically as "claspers", male chimaeras have retractable sex organs on their heads.Īnd like their relatives, the elasmobranchs (which include the sharks, stingrays and skates), chimaeras have an ecological importance. Speaking of growing, chimaeras don’t get pretty big (with the maximum reported size being 1.25 m/4 ft) and have a sex organ on their head that sharks lack. Another key dentition different is their teeth don’t fall out like a shark's and instead continue to grow. For one, chimaeras lack those rows of razor-sharp teeth like their shark cousins! Unlike many true sharks, they have tooth plates instead of individual teeth the upper jaw plates are sharp, while lower jaw plates are flat and used to crush the prey held in place by the upper jaw. It’s not too hard to distinguish between the ghost shark and true sharks. According to Greek mythology, chimeras are a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature composed of the parts of many animals. Chimeras are usually depicted as a lion, with the head of a goat arising from its back, and a snake's head tail.ĭeep sea chimaeras are a little bit less odd-looking. In the spirit of Halloween, one should know that there are fantastic creatures in mythology and folklore that also go by the name of "chimera," but spelled differently. They were separated from the rest of Chondrichthyes around 360 million years ago. They aren’t true sharks, even though nicknamed "ghost sharks." Other common names include "ratfish," "rabbitfish," "elephant fish," or "spookfish" and these mysterious animals belong to three families even though they are often lumped into one. The Callorhinchidae family is made up of the ploughnose chimaeras, the Chimaeridae family consists of the shortnose chimaeras, and the Rhinochimaeridae family of the longnose chimaeras. This International Ghost Shark Day (October 30), scientists who study them want to introduce you to them!Ĭhimaeras are a small group of cartilaginous fishes (collectively called Chondrichthyes or Chondrichthyans) that form the subclass Holocephali and are the sister group to sharks, skates, and rays. What could be more terrifying than 'ghosts,' 'sharks,' and 'the deep ocean' during Halloween for some people? Not the movie but the little we know about ghost sharks who live in the deep, also known as chimaeras (in the Chimaeriformes order). ![]()
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