Chimaera

Chimaera
Image:chimaera-fish.jpg
Ratfish
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Chondrichthyes
Order:Chimaeriformes
Families

Callorhynchidae
Rhinochimaeridae
Chimaeridae

Other meanings, based on a fantastic animal, are at Chimera.
TVR Chimaera is a British sports car.

Chimaera is the common name of the species in the families Callorhynchidae, Rhinochimaeridae and Chimaeridae which all are closely related to sharks; they are also called ghost sharks.

Chimaeras live in temperate ocean floors and grow to be up to 2 meters. As all members of the chondrichthyes class, chimaeras have a cartilage instead of a skeleton. The skin is smooth and lacks scales, and its color can range from black to brownish gray.

For defense, the chimaera has a poisonous spine located in front of its dorsal fin.

Chimaeras resemble sharks in some ways: they employ claspers for internal fertilization of females and they lay eggs with leathery cases. They differ from sharks in that their upper jaw is fused with the skull; they also have separate anal and urogenital openings.

Missing image
Chimaerapup.jpg
This Pacific Spookfish (Rhinochimaera pacifica) juvenile uses its snout to detect the electrical currents of its prey under the sand, much like a metal detector.
Missing image
Rhinochimaera1KP.jpg
de:Seekatzen

fr:Chimère (poisson) nl:Holocephali pl:Zrosłogłowe zh:银鲛目

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