A new species of chimaera or ghost shark has been discovered, apparently living exclusively in the deeper waters around Australia and New Zealand.
The discovery was made by scientists from the National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research (NIWA), a Crown Research Institute, and the species has now been described by NIWA Fisheries’ Dr Brit Finucci as Harriotta avia, the Australasian narrow-nosed spookfish.
The rare fish had been thought to be part of a single globally distributed species until research revealed it to be genetically and morphologically distinct from its cousins.
Specimens were collected for study during research surveys for Fisheries New Zealand in Chatham Rise, a Pacific area that stretches around 1,000km east near South Island.
Dedicated to grandmother
Dr Finucci gave the spookfish its scientific name in memory of her grandmother. “Avia means grandmother in Latin,” she said. “I wanted to give this nod to her because she proudly supported me through my career as a scientist.
“Chimaeras are also rather ancient relatives – the grandmas and grandpas – of fish and I thought the name was well-suited.”
Ghost sharks, aka ratfish, rabbitfish or elephantfish, are cartilaginous and closely related to sharks and rays. They have smooth, scale-free skin and use their beak-like teeth to feed off shrimp and molluscs.
“Harriotta avia is unique due to its elongated, narrow and depressed snout; long, slender trunk; large eyes and very long, broad pectoral fins,” said Dr Finucci. “It is a lovely chocolate brown colour.
“Ghost sharks like this one are largely confined to the ocean floor, living in depths of up to 2,600m. Their habitat makes them hard to study and monitor, meaning we don’t know a lot about their biology or threat status, but it makes discoveries like this even more exciting.”
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