Chimaera

This article is about the cartilaginous fish order. For the namesake genus, see Chimaera (genus). For the mythological beast, see Chimera (mythology). For other uses, see Chimera.
"Ghost shark" redirects here. For the film, see Ghost Shark.

Chimaeras
Temporal range: Early Carboniferous–Present
Hydrolagus colliei (Chimaeridae)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Holocephali
Order: Chimaeriformes
Obruchev, 1953
Subgroups

Chimaeras[1] are cartilaginous fish in the order Chimaeriformes (/kɪˈmɛrɪfɔːrmiːz/), known informally as ghost sharks, rat fish, spookfish, or rabbit fish; the last three names are not to be confused with rattails, Opisthoproctidae, or Siganidae, respectively.

At one time a "diverse and abundant" group (based on the fossil record), their closest living relatives are sharks and rays, though their last common ancestor with them lived nearly 400 million years ago.[2] Living species are largely confined to deep water.[3]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference FB was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Ancient And Bizarre Fish Discovered: New Species Of Ghostshark From California And Baja California". ScienceDaily. September 23, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
  3. ^ Peterson, Roger Tory; Eschmeyer, William N.; Herald, Earl S. (1 September 1999). A Field Guide to Pacific Coast Fishes: North America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 13. ISBN 0-618-00212-X. Retrieved 9 August 2015.