When fishermen caught a strange looking creature in Canada’s Davis Strait, rumors of a sea monster or new fish species swept the web. It turns out that the creature was neither a sea monster or a new species, but just as amazing, interesting and extremely rare. The creature was a Long-nosed chimaera, or Rhinochimaeridae - a type of fish that is related to rays and sharks and has lived for millions of years.
Chimaeras live in depths below 3,000 feet and are rarely seen. Researcher Nigel Hussey said that he was only aware of one other long-nosed chimaera that had ever been caught and documented. Although the fish are rarely seen, it is not known whether or not there are large populations in deep ocean areas.
Hussey said, “Potentially, if we fish deeper… we could find that’s there’s actually quite a lot of them there. We just don’t know.”
Chimaeras have a strange, monstrous appearance because of their long nose and menacing mouth. The fish use these features to hunt in the deep, cold waters where they live. Luckily, humans don't have to worry about an encounter with Long-nosed Chimaeras, but it is not likely that they would be aggressive towards us anyways.
Because these creatures are so rarely seen and caught, little is known about them. Perhaps this recent capture will spark an interest among marine biologists and they will decide to start studying these elusive and magnificent creatures.