Chimaera monstrosa, Rabbit fish : fisheries

Chimaera monstrosa Linnaeus, 1758

Rabbit fish
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Chimaera monstrosa   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Chimaera monstrosa (Rabbit fish)
Chimaera monstrosa
Picture by Svensen, E.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

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); monstrosa: Latin for strange or grotesque, referring to its strange appearance, as if composed of parts of multiple animals (See ETYFish).
More on author: Linnaeus.

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

Marine; bathydemersal; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 40 - 1400 m (Ref. 104125), usually 300 - 500 m (Ref. 4443). Deep-water; 75°N - 27°N, 32°W - 35°E

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Northeast Atlantic (widespread), including the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Mediterranean Sea.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 45.9  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 150 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 35388); max. published weight: 2.5 kg (Ref. 4645)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics


Body shape (shape guide): elongated.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Bathydemersal to benthopelagic generally between 300 and 500 m depth. Found in the upper continental slope. Usually found in deeper waters in southern latitudes, while making a summer inshore migration up to 40-100 m in the northern areas. Sluggish, usually occurring in small groups. Feeds mainly on bottom-living invertebrates. The single dorsal spine is sharp and pointed, and although only mildly venomous can inflict a painful wound. Oviparous. Males have a clasper on the forehead that is probably used to hold on to the female during copulation. Egg capsules are about 17 cm long; young look alike adults and hatch when 10 cm long. Common by-catch when trawling for shrimps in the North Sea or Skaggerak.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Oviparous; egg-capsules slender, club-shaped with narrow lateral membranes and a horny filament at the long pointed end, 17 cm long and 3 cm wide; deposited mainly in spring and summer. The embryos developing in about 9-12 months and hatch at 10 cm length.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Krefft, G., 1990. Chimaeridae. p. 111-113. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 1. (Ref. 4443)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)

  Vulnerable (VU) (A2bd); Date assessed: 02 September 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 4690)





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FIRMS - Stock assessments | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 3.7 - 14.1, mean 7.9 °C (based on 179 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00257 (0.00156 - 0.00424), b=3.01 (2.87 - 3.15), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.5   ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 16.4 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 2 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Assuming Fec <100;).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High to very high vulnerability (68 of 100). 🛈
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Moderate vulnerability (38 of 100). 🛈
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Low.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 7.33 [2.04, 25.54] mg/100g; Iron = 0.33 [0.11, 0.85] mg/100g; Protein = 14.7 [9.9, 18.5] %; Omega3 = 0.239 [0.093, 0.622] g/100g; Selenium = 22 [6, 73] μg/100g; VitaminA = 5.79 [1.22, 27.56] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.326 [0.169, 0.636] mg/100g (wet weight);