Trawler Hauls Up Rare Monster
By CAM Staff
Part of the joy of fishing is that you never know what you’ll catch. But if you had one of these on the end of the line, you’d be hard-pressed not to cut it off upon first sight.
Newfoundland fisherman Scott Tanner told CBC News that even the old salts aboard the commercial trawler that netted this long-nose chimaera had never seen anything like it before.
In Greek mythology, a chimaera is a monster composed of the body parts of different animals. This fish certainly fits the billing with its long knifelike snout and extended fins that look like wings.
Chimaeras are a family of cartilaginous fish, distant cousins of sharks and rays, and they are rarely caught by either recreational or commercial fishermen because they generally inhabit depths of 3,000 feet and deeper. Depending on the species they are believed to reach lengths of 2 to more than 4 feet. According to CBC News, the long-nose chimaera is found off Nova Scotia and other parts of the Atlantic Ocean. It feeds on small shrimp and crabs, using numerous sensory nerve endings in its snout. It also has a mildly venomous spine on its dorsal fin.
When Tanner posted photos of the ghoulish-looking creature on his Facebook page, the Internet lit up, as it often does when strange wildlife appears. Sadly, very little is understood about the fish because it is out of the reach of most scientists.
The more squeamish among us might prefer that it just stayed down there in the depths.