Paddlenose chimaera

📖 Overview

Paddlenose chimaera (Rhinochimaera africana) is a ray-finned fish of the family Rhinochimaeridae. It inhabits marine (saltwater) waters in deep-water environments. This species can reach a maximum total length of 81.8 cm. It occurs at depths between 549 and 1450 metres. With a trophic level of 3.8, it is a mid-level predator. It is assessed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

🔬 Taxonomy

🐟 Physical Description

This species is distinguished by the following characters: elongate body with an elongate, broad and paddle-shaped pointed snout extending anterior to head (SNL 47.7% HDL), tapering to a slender tail; the junction of supraorbital and infraorbital canals on ventral side of snout is closer to the tip of the snout than to the nasal canal; ONC/TIO is greater than 1.4 (ONC/TIO= 1.64); TIO/SWF is less than 1.5 (TIO/SWF= 1.47); TIO/LNC is less than 3.0 (TIO/LNC= 2.75); tooth-plates are nearly smooth; eyes are relatively small (EYL 6.4% BDL), distinctly behind level of mouth; the first and second dorsal fins are separated by a relatively long interdorsal space (IDS 23.6% BDL) and not connected by a web of skin; caudal-fin axis weakly raised with the fin asymmetrical, the epaxial caudal-fin lobe narrower than hypaxial lobe; dorsal caudal tubercles 25; caudal filament vestigial; coloration uniformly dark brown across entire body, except the oronasal region which is abruptly paler than the body .: elongated; Cross section: angular.

🌀 Behaviour

Behavioural data for Paddlenose chimaera is currently being reviewed.

🦐 Diet

🥚 Reproduction

Oviparous .

🌍 Habitat & Distribution

Marine; bathydemersal; depth range 549 - 1450 m . Deep-water Southeast Atlantic: southern Africa and Mozambique Channel.

🌿 Ecology

📐 Morphometrics

🌡️ Water Parameters & Tolerance

🛡️ Conservation Assessment

📊 Population Risk & Fisheries

🐠 Related Species

🔍 Similar Species

🗺️ Global Occurrence Map

Occurrence records from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) - 2 records indexed .

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