Chimaera monstrosa

English: Arctic Chimaera
Rabbit Fish Sea Ape King of the Herrings Simia marina Galeus acanthias Clusii exoticus Chimaera monstrosa Chimere Arctique

Subject: Chimaeridae
Tag: Fish
Date 1877
Source/Photographer English: Couch, Jonathan (1877) History of the Fishes of the British Islands, London: George Bell & Sons
Artist Jonathan Couch (1789–1870)
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FMIB_46064_Arctic_Chimaera.jpeg


Chimaera monstrosa
- rabbit fish, rat fish

The rabbit fish or rat fish (Chimaera monstrosa) is a cartilaginous fish species that belongs to the family Chimaeridae. It is found in the northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. The rabbit fish is known for its characteristically large head and small, tapering body. With large eyes, nostrils, and tooth plates, the head gives them a rabbit-like appearance, hence the nickname “Rabbit fish”. The rabbit fishes can grow up to 1.5 meters long and weigh up to 2.5 kg. The rabbit fish feeds mainly on bottom-living invertebrates.

Order: Chimaeriformes
Family: Chimaeridae
Genus: Chimaera
Species: Chimaera monstrosa Linnaeus, 1758