Order Chimaeriformes (V. M

The European chimera (lat. Chimaera monstrosa) is a cartilaginous fish of the Chimaeridae family of the Chimaeriformes order. Like sharks and rays, its axial skeleton consists of a cartilaginous chord without segmental constrictions.

The meat of this fish has an unpleasant aftertaste, so its extraction has no industrial significance. It is caught mainly only for its very large liver, which is used in folk medicine for the treatment of diseases musculoskeletal system and sore throats.

It got its name in honor of the ancient monster Greek mythology with the body of a goat, the face of a lion and the tail of a snake.

The monster lived in the territory of what is now Turkey, spewed fire from its mouth and, like our dear Serpent-Gorynych, ate delicious captives from the Black Sea region.

The European chimera, despite its sharp, strong jaws, is not interested in humans and can only pose a danger to particularly stupid divers.

Distribution and behavior

This species is found in cool waters in the northeast Atlantic Ocean, in the south of the Adriatic and in the western part Mediterranean seas. In the north, the boundaries of the range are located off the southern coast of Iceland and Norway, and in the south, off the western coast of North Africa.

The European chimera also lives in the Azores and Great Britain. It is most often observed at depths from 100 to 500 m. Some individuals manage to descend to depths of up to 1500 m in search of food.

Fish prefer to be near the bottom in small schools.

Being very voracious predators, they tirelessly swim around their home area in search of prey. Large oar-like pectoral fins help them move quickly through the water.

The diet consists of sea ​​mollusks, echinoderms and crustaceans. The mouth opening located on the lower part of the snout allows chimeras to deftly pick up food directly from the surface of the bottom. To search for prey, electroreceptors are used, which in structure resemble similar receptors in a shark.

Features of morphology

Gill covers cover 4 gill slits. There are two small splashes on the crown of the head. There is no stomach. The digestive tract of the European chimera consists of a tubular rectum.

The jaws are armed with hard dental plates. There are 2 pairs of such plates in the upper jaw, and one in the lower jaw. They are highly durable and can easily crush the shells of sea creatures.

To protect themselves from predators, chimeras use a poisonous spine located on their back.

In summer they like to stay in shallow waters, and as winter approaches they move to deeper waters.

Reproduction

The reproduction of European chimeras has been studied relatively little due to their secretive bottom-dwelling lifestyle. Each female ovary contains up to a hundred eggs, but only the two largest eggs mature and are laid.

Each such egg is placed in a huge bottle-shaped yellow-brown horny capsule approximately 16-17 cm long and 2-3 cm wide.

At first it is attached to the body of the female, and then, with the help of a bundle of long and tenacious threads, it is attached to stones, algae or to the hulls of sunken ships in close proximity to the bottom.

The female lays 2 eggs as they mature. Development of embryos depending on conditions environment can last from 12 to 18 months. The newly born fry, about 11 cm long, are miniature copies of their parents. Immediately after birth, they begin to hunt on their own.

Description

The body length reaches 100-120 cm, and the weight is 2.5 kg. The elongated body is slightly compressed from the sides. The upper and lateral parts of the body are brown, and the ventral part is silvery with a gray tint. Light spots in the form of a marble pattern are visible on the sides.

A lateral line stretches along the middle of the body, branching on the head. The tail is very thin and long. The skin is devoid of scales and covered with a layer of mucus. Large pectoral fins are used as the main propulsion force.

The large head ends in a blunt snout. In males, a club-shaped frontal appendage grows on the head between the eyes. The first dorsal fin is short and high, and the second is long and low. A poisonous spine grows in front of the first dorsal fin.

The eyes with turquoise irises are located at the top of the head. There is a small mouth opening at the bottom of the snout.

The lifespan of the European chimera is about 30 years.

How different and unusual fish exist in nature, and what names have not been invented for them! For example, the chimera fish: the very name of this animal evokes not the most pleasant associations. And if you look at this inhabitant depths of the sea, then opinions may be divided. Some see a very cute and cute fish that looks like a soaring bird, while others see a monster. So who is she really, this mysterious sea ​​dweller, which is also called by another strange name - sea hare fish.

Very close relatives of the chimera are and: they are all cartilaginous fish and have a backbone made of cartilaginous tissue. Look at the photo of the chimera fish and try to find common features with sharks!

All the most interesting things about chimeras

When the name chimera is mentioned, it does not mean that there is only one single species. The genus Chimaera (lat. Chimaera) unites 6 species, of which the most famous is the European chimera (lat. Chimaera monstrosa) from the eastern Atlantic. There is a Cuban chimera (Chimaera cubana), which was first mistaken for European, but was later identified as independent species. It lives off the coast of Cuba at a depth of 400-500 meters. Other species of the genus Chimera are known from the waters of the eastern regions Pacific Ocean(Philippine Islands, Yellow Sea and Japanese Islands).

Place of chimeras in the fish system

The genus Chimera, of which the European chimera is a representative, is included in the family Chimaeridae, in which there is another genus with species that differ from the genus Chimera in the shape of the caudal fin.

All fish of the Chimaera family have a blunt snout. This is an important difference from other families of the order Chimaeriformes, among which there is the family. Nosed chimeras with a very elongated snout and a pointed one at the end. And the third family is the proboscis-snouted chimeras (Callorhynchaceae). They are distinguished by the elongated and bent down and back of the front end of the snout.

Below, in the photo, chimera fish are depicted in drawings, and you can see the differences in the structure of the snout in representatives of each family, which were mentioned above.

Representatives of the order Chimera: 1 - fam. Chimaeras; 2 - sem. Proboscis snouts (Callorhynchaceae) and fam. Nosed chimeras.

As already mentioned at the beginning of the article, the chimera fish is cartilaginous, and accordingly, belongs to the class “Cartilaginous fish,” which has two subclasses. Having a lot in common in the internal and external structure with elasmobranchs (sharks and rays), chimeras differ from them in that their upper jaw is completely fused with the skull. Therefore, they are classified into the subclass Whole-headed or Joint-skulled.

Appearance of chimaeras

All chimaeras have characteristic shape body: valval, slightly compressed from the sides and very thinning towards the tail. There are fish in the photo sea ​​hare(European chimera) this is clearly visible.

Other Features appearance representatives of chimaeras:

• There are two fins on the back, the first is tall and short, having a powerful spike in front, which together with it, if necessary, fits into a special groove in the back. The second is long and can stretch all the way to the base of the caudal fin and does not fold.
• The caudal fin is often shaped like a long cord.
• The pectoral fins are very well developed and each of them is shaped like a fan.
• The pelvic fins are smaller than the pectoral fins and are located next to the anus, being pushed back.
• At the base, all paired fins are equipped with fleshy blades, thin and flexible.
• The lower mouth (lower) of chimeras has a characteristic three-lobed upper lip.
• The gill openings located on the sides of the head are covered by a fold of skin supported by finger-like cartilages.
• The naked body, devoid of placoid scales, is covered a large number mucus.

Spine in the first dorsal fin of a European chimera.

European chimeras - beauties or beasts?

The European chimera has the Latin name Chimaera monstrosa, which evokes associations with some kind of monster. This fish has many names, one of the names that the chimera fish bears is the hare. This may be due to the large, slightly elongated pectoral fins and huge eyes. It is also called sea rabbit fish, apparently for the same reasons.

And among the Norwegians, the chimera is a royal fish. It is called so because of the thin bony growth curved backwards, which is located between the eyes of males.

A stylized image of a male chimera with a bony growth between its eyes.

The body length of the European chimera can be up to one or one and a half meters, and its tail is very long and thin, so another name has been assigned to it - the sea rat.

What color is the chimera?

Rudimentary spines are sometimes found on the bare skin of the European chimera. However, the skin looks smooth and soft and has a characteristic color:

• the back is in dark brown and golden shades in combination with brown and whitish, a dark brown stripe stretches along the upper part of the back;
• the ventral side of the body is light;
• on the back of the long dorsal fin, as well as on the tail and anus, a blackish-brown edging is noticeable.

Completes the color image of the chimera green the pupil against the background of the white iris of her huge eyes.

European chimera, photo by Roman Fedortsov, Murmansk, @rfedortsov_official_account

Distribution, lifestyle and movement

European chimera fish tropical waters does not occur. Its range is the eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean:

• IN northern waters– from the Strait of Gibraltar ( coastal waters Morocco) to the island of Iceland and the Scandinavian Peninsula with entry into the Barents Sea.
• Southern waters - near the coast of southern Africa (this information requires confirmation).

The sea hare fish spends most of its life at the bottom, so ichthyologists classify it as a bathydimersal (bottom deep-sea) fish. After all, the depth at which it can be found is from 40 to 1400 meters. But most often this species lives at relatively shallow depths: two hundred to five hundred meters (in the northernmost part of its range) and three hundred and fifty to seven hundred meters (in the waters off the coast of Morocco). By winter it comes to coastal waters, where off the coast of Norway (where the depth is from 90 to 180 meters) a number of individuals can be caught by trawls.

These fish are quite gentle and do not resist at all when caught. Once removed from the water, they die very quickly. Placed in an aquarium, they do not survive well.

Method of transportation

The chimera or sea rabbit fish is not a fast and high-speed swimmer, and it does not need it. See how gracefully she moves with the eel-like curve of her hindquarters and tail and the undulating strokes of her large pectoral fins, resembling wings. The pelvic fins are also involved in ensuring the swimming of the fish; they are located horizontally and act as movement stabilizers.

Being at the bottom, chimeras can “stand” on the ground, resting on almost all of their fins: the pectoral and ventral fins serve as four limbs, and the tail serves as additional support.

Nutrition issue

This part of the article is devoted to two questions:

• what does sea rabbit fish eat?
• Is it possible to eat chimera fish, that is, sea rabbit?

The diet of chimeras consists mainly of benthic invertebrates. Among them are mollusks, crustaceans (mainly crabs), echinoderms ( sea ​​urchins, brittle stars). Small fish were only occasionally found in their stomachs. When examining the contents digestive tract chimeras, it was discovered that they do not swallow food whole, but bite off small pieces of prey or crush it with strong dental plates.

Do people eat chimeras?

So, is it possible to eat chimera fish? There is no definitive answer to this question. Fishing for chimaeras is carried out off the Pacific coast of the United States; they are caught in Chile and Argentina, as well as in the waters of New Zealand and China. The volume of production is especially large in New Zealand, where representatives of the family Callorhynchidae (proboscis-snouted chimeras) are caught.

Only fresh callorhynchus meat, which has excellent taste, is suitable for food. However, if it sits for even a little bit, it begins to exude bad smell ammonia. For housewives, the chimera cartilaginous fish, which has no scales or hard bones, is, of course, very convenient to prepare.

Fat is extracted from the liver of chimeras, which has long been known as an excellent wound healing agent.

The current trend towards increasing the volume of production of the European chimera using deep-sea trawling for the purpose of production medicines from the liver oil of this fish led to the inclusion of this species in the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List. The chimera hare fish has protective status, as a species close to vulnerable.

Today's abundance seafood products so great that it is quite difficult to surprise their connoisseurs.

However, only recently has it become widely available mysterious fish, popularly called sea hare. Fans of culinary experiments will probably be interested in what this amazing creature and how it should be eaten.

What it looks like and where it is found

The true name of this fish sounds ominous - European chimera (Chimaera monstrosa). It belongs to chimera-like cartilaginous fish and is found in the waters of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, and is also found in the Barents Sea.

Did you know? The sea hare does not have a swim bladder, like a shark, so it is forced to constantly move to stay afloat.

Outwardly, this marine inhabitant does not look very attractive; his characteristic features- a large triangular head, a massive jaw and a long thread-like tail. This fish is called a hare because of some external similarity of its muzzle with a hare.

Some seafood sellers call it a sea rabbit, but this is erroneous, since the sea rabbit is a separate representative of the underwater kingdom, which is a mollusk.

Calorie content and chemical composition

Meat sea ​​chimera refers to low-calorie, dietary foods:

• the calorie content of 100 grams of sea hare fillet is only 116 kcal;
• the meat contains essential omega-3 fatty acids;
• Chimera fillet is rich in vitamins A, E and D.

Useful properties

Like any seafood, the European chimera has a lot of useful properties:

• first and most importantly, sea hare fillet is an ideal source of easily digestible protein, which is especially valuable for athletes and people involved in physical labor;
• the presence of fatty acids in meat has a beneficial effect on the condition of the skin, hair, nails, internal organs, in particular the liver, regulates cholesterol levels in the blood;

  Important! Few people know that the European chimera has a poisonous upper fin, so when cutting a carcass you need to be extremely careful, trying not to touch it and get hurt.

• vitamins A, E, D, present in the fillet of this fish, are useful for exhaustion and hypervitaminosis.

Contraindications and harm

Of course, like any other product, sea hare meat is not healthy for everyone and not always:

• First of all, you need to take into account that this fish most often feeds at the bottom of the reservoir - accordingly, it is possible that it ate carrion and toxic products;
• like most seafood, chimera is a highly allergenic food, so it is best avoided by allergy sufferers, children under 3 years of age and pregnant women.

How to cook in the oven

The sea hare is an infrequent guest on the shelves of shops and markets; more often it can be found in restaurants as an exquisite delicacy. Indeed, preparing a chimera without certain experience and secrets may end in failure.

Its meat is quite tough, but at the same time juicy, with proper preparation It has a mild fishy taste and a dense consistency. If the fish was not fresh or the fins were damaged when cutting the carcass, the finished fillet will taste bitter.
To avoid this, you need to buy seafood only in trusted places equipped with refrigerators. A fresh chimera should have clear eyes and red gills. There are quite a few recipes for preparing sea hare, but it must be taken into account that simply frying it in oil is not practical due to the specific nature of the meat.

You can best appreciate the taste of fish by baking it in the oven under various marinades and sauces that add juiciness and piquancy. Sea hare fillet turns out very tasty if you bake it under a double coat.

For this you will need:

• fish (1–2 medium carcasses);
• ground black pepper;
• spice mix for fish;
• greens;
• pickles(3–4 pieces of medium size);
• (3-4 cloves);
• (1 piece);
• (approximately 300 g);
• (1 glass);
• (2 tablespoons);
• fresh champignons (about 200 g);

The most mysterious inhabitants ocean depths- chimera-like fish, or chimeras. Very little is known about their lifestyle, especially their reproductive biology.

Oceanologists literally collected information about these creatures bit by bit, so that today we could get to know some of them.

Science knows very little about chimeras.

Deep-sea chimeras of the seas and oceans

The modern group, belonging to the cartilaginous order, includes 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. Today 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, writhing, cord-like tail half the length of the body. It is called whip-shaped. Adults grow from 0.6 to 1.5 meters. It is possible that there are fish and larger size.

Adult chimera fish reach 1.5 meters

The pectoral fins are large and wing-shaped. They are the ones who give chimeras their characteristic appearance and create the illusion of flight. The abdominal ones are much smaller in size and are located near the anus.

Fish swim slowly, the movements of the pectoral fins are wave-like.

The lateral line is open and is a groove located on the sides of the head and body. 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 external environment and during the hunt. In some species it consists of a part of special receptors that detect electrical vibrations.

Chimeras swim slowly

The body is “naked”, covered with mucus. The skeleton consists of cartilage tissue. The skull is connected to the jaws by one joint and is called hyostylous. 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 spine - 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 downward positioned and full of creepy chewing plates. Males have pterygopodia - copulatory organs. With their help, seminal fluid is introduced into the female's cloaca.

Once on land, chimera-like fish die very quickly. They take root extremely poorly in aquarium conditions.

Fertilization and reproduction

In dioecious chimeras insemination occurs during mating. All species of the order Chimaeras are characterized by oviparity - laying eggs. The embryo develops and is released from the membranes outside the mother's body.

The female’s ovaries can contain up to 100 eggs at a time, but they mature and lay two at a time.

Each egg of chimeras, like some other species of fish, is enclosed in a capsule - a cartilaginous shell. It is equipped with a thread-like appendage. After leaving the female's body, the egg falls to the bottom or gets caught on plants.

The development of the embryo lasts about 9-12 months. Interestingly, during development, special filaments appear at 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 are similar to their parents in everything.

Chimeras reproduce by laying eggs.

Cartilage shells are very light and consist of collagen threads. Empty capsules quite often end up in fishermen's nets and are washed ashore during storms and high tides. People call such finds mermaid or devil purses.

ABOUT mating games and the mating process, very little is known, since studying this side of the life of chimeras on great depth very problematic.

Estimated diet

Traditionally, it was 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 capable of crushing a hunted object with a force of 100 Newton.

Direct studies, although few in number, 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 chimaeras 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 chimaeras

The Chimera genus consists of 6 species. Among them are the most studied. These include the European and Cuban chimeras, the family Collarhynchidae and Rhinochimeraceae.

Information about them is in many encyclopedias, but they are scarce and full of assumptions.

European (Chimaera monstrosa) and Cuban (Ch. cubana)

Range: Eastern Atlantic. Reaches a length of 1.5 meters. The back is red-brown, the sides are silver with yellow-brown spots. Eyes are green. The fins have a black-brown border along the edges.

Chimera habitat: Eastern Atlantic

It is found at a depth of 200−500 meters, off the coast of Morocco up to 700 meters. Single individuals are caught in the network, but in the spring there are richer catches off the coast of Norway - up to several dozen pieces. Other names are chimera hare, sea rabbit or rat.

Eggs are laid all year round, with the exception of the autumn months.

The European chimera is not eaten. Fat is used to lubricate wounds.

The habitat 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 one, that’s why it was previously mistaken for it. The depth of residence is 400−500 meters.

Chimeras are found at a depth of 200 m

Genus Hydrolagus

There are 15-16 species. Habitat: North Atlantic, Japan, Australian waters, South Africa, New Zealand, Philippines, 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 completely fills fishermen's nets. It breeds all year round, most intensively in August-September.

Observations in the aquarium showed that the female marks capsules for approximately 30 hours. They do not separate immediately and hang on elastic threads for several days, dragging behind them. 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 as food.

Nosed chimeras

They belong to the Rhinochimeraceae family. The snout is elongated and pointed. Pterygopodia in males are entire. These are the deepest representatives - presumably they live at a depth of up to 2.5 km. Known only from rare finds on the shore. Biology has not been studied.

Family Callorhynchaceae

The proboscis family is represented by only one genus - Collarynchi. The front part of the muzzle is extended into a trunk, flattened on the sides. At the end there is a leaf-shaped blade, bent back. Presumably, this organ serves as a kind of locator. Lives in the waters of the Southern Hemisphere.

The color is greenish-yellow, with three black stripes on the sides. Tail without a thin ending.

Off the coast of New Zealand it is mined in industrial scale, used for food. Taste qualities excellent, but as soon as the meat sits for a little while without processing, the smell of ammonia appears.

Chimeras are still little studied, so major discoveries are yet to come.

The chimera shark is one of the prehistoric representatives of marine fauna. This individual has been caught more than once, so it does not seem mythical to scientists. What is surprising, however, is that such sharks lived in the seas four hundred million years ago.

These creatures are sometimes called ghosts. And the name is chimera this fish received for its appearance. The fact is that in Greek mythology there was a legend about a monster whose entire body was formed from parts of different animals. The mythological monster, the product of Typhon and Echidna, had the head and neck of a lion, its body was a goat in the middle, and a snake in the back. From the middle of the Chimera's spine grew a goat's head, and its tail ended with the head of a dragon. This is exactly how the Chimera is depicted in the famous bronze statue from Arezzo, which dates back to the 5th century. All three mouths of the monster spewed fire, destroying all living things around, and no one could approach it. The Chimera terrified people for a long time until it was killed by the handsome Bellerophon (other myths attribute this feat to Perseus), who took to the air on the winged horse Pegasus. Shooting from above with a bow, the young man showered the Chimera with a rain of lead-tipped arrows. As if in furnaces, the metal instantly melted from the fire and flooded all three of the Chimera’s mouths spewing flames, hastening the end of the demonic creature.

It was very difficult to imagine a chimera - it is not so easy to create a single beast from a lion, a goat and a snake. Over time, the awkward image of a living creature disappeared, but the word remained, denoting something unimaginable, impossible. A false idea, an unrealizable fantasy - this is the definition of a chimera modern dictionaries. Seeing a fish with a strange appearance, the ancient Greeks decided that its body did not at all resemble an ordinary fish, but that it was also made up of parts of different animals. This is where the name of this fish comes from.

Sea chimeras - deep sea fish, the oldest inhabitants among modern cartilaginous fish- distant relatives of modern sharks. Ancient fish with a curl of sharp teeth, like a hacksaw blade, was long considered a representative of the superorder of sharks, but a detailed study carried it out to a different group, but close to sharks. This group belongs to a genus called Helicoprion.

The genus Helicoprion was first described in 1899 from admittedly incomplete specimens, most of which were little more than a spiral cluster of teeth. Although some fossils also preserve hints of cartilage tissue, there was neither a cranium nor a postcranial skeleton. Therefore, scientists could not say anything about what this creature looked like. Some suggested, however, that it had a nose similar to the trunk of an elephant, in which, in fact, this mysterious toothy curl was located. Others placed the strange appendage either on the tail, or on the dorsal fins, or imagined it hanging from the lower jaw.

NEWEST X-RAY COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY ESPECIALLY GOOD surviving specimen found in 1950 in American state Idaho still points to the lower jaw. The specimen, which lived 270 million years ago, contains not only 117 teeth, but also the cartilage to which they were attached. Judging by the size and shape of the latter, the creature was approximately 4 m in length, and some Helicoprions grew to almost 8 m. The location of the tissues of the lower jaw of the animal, partially hidden by the rock and therefore inaccessible to the naked eye, definitely shows that Helicoprion is not a shark. It is proposed to classify this genus as a chimera, another order of cartilaginous fish.

All over the world this fish is called the most different names, which reflect its special appearance, including chimera, rabbit fish, leopard fish and elephant fish. Chimeras are sometimes called "ghost sharks." These fish live at very great depths, sometimes exceeding 2.5 km. About 400 million years ago, the common ancestors of modern sharks and chimeras split into two orders. Some preferred habitats near the surface. Others, on the contrary, chose great depths as their habitat and evolved over time to modern chimeras. Currently, science knows 50 species of these fish. Most do not rise to depths greater than 200 m, and only rabbitfish and ratfish have been seen at shallow depths.

Chimeras grow up to 1.5 m. It is noteworthy that the tail of these fish is very long, it reaches a size equal to half the length of the entire body. This type of deep sea fish has long nose and a terrible mouth. A distinctive feature of the appearance of these representatives of the chimaera family can be called large wing-shaped lateral fins. By straightening them, the chimera becomes like a bird. The skin of these fish is smooth, with multi-colored tints. In males, between the eyes on the head there is a bone growth (spike) that has a curved shape. The colors of these fish are very diverse, but the predominant colors are light gray and black with frequent and large white patches throughout the surface. In the front part of the body, near the dorsal fin, chimeras have poisonous outgrowths; they are very strong and sharp. The animal uses them for its own protection.

They lead a rather secretive lifestyle. That is why scientists still cannot study these creatures in detail. The habitat of chimeras makes them very difficult to study. Very little is known about their habits, reproduction, and hunting methods. The accumulated knowledge suggests that chimeras hunt in much the same way as other deep-sea fish. In complete darkness, what is important for successful hunting is not speed, but the ability to find prey literally by touch. Most deep sea creatures use photophores. These "devices" emit a glow that attracts prey directly into the chimera's mouth.

TO SEARCH FOR PREY, THESE CREATURES USE A CHARACTERISTIC OPEN, very sensitive lateral line, which is one of their distinctive features. It must be said that at depths of over 600 m there are quite a few enemies. large fish not so many, with the exception of particularly voracious large female Indiancanths. The greatest danger to young chimeras is their relatives; cannibalism is not a rare phenomenon for chimeras, although most of their diet consists of mollusks, echinoderms and crustaceans. Cases of eating other deep-sea fish have been recorded.

The chimera's nose, with which it digs the seabed, has special adapters that help it find delicacies hidden in silt, algae and darkness. Chimeras have very strong jaws. They have 3 pairs of hard teeth that can compress with great force, grinding hard shells mollusks and echinoderms. To compensate for the severe wear of the chimera's dental plates, they continuously grow throughout its life. The Chimera may be a slow and clumsy fish, but it is adept at searching for shellfish and other prey on the seabed.

Chimeras are found in all seas and oceans - in cold waters Northern Hemisphere and in warm ones - South. Some representatives of the order Chimera live and hunt in shallow seas; others prefer to stalk prey in deep waters. Nothing is known about the life expectancy of these strange animals.

Chimeras are often caught in nets, but in Europe this fish is considered inedible and is thrown away. However, in China and South Africa this is a delicacy, their meat is prepared in the most in different ways. In New Zealand, chimaeras are known as "silver trumpets" and are served fried with chips, while in Australia they are eaten as "white fillets". But we won’t argue about tastes.