You can sponsor this page

Chimaera notafricana Kemper, Ebert, Compagno & Didier, 2010

Cape chimaera
Add your observation in Fish Watcher
Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Chimaera notafricana   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos and videos
Pictures | Google image
Image of Chimaera notafricana (Cape chimaera)
Chimaera notafricana
Male picture by Kemper, J.M.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Holocephali (chimaeras) > Chimaeriformes (Chimaeras) > Chimaeridae (Shortnose chimaeras or ratfishes)
Etymology: Chimaera: Named for the mythological creature composed of parts of multiple animals, referring to their odd mix of characteristics (See ETYFish)notafricana: notos (Gr.), south, referring to its known distribution off the western and southern coasts of southern Africa (See ETYFish).

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; bathydemersal; depth range 680 - 1000 m (Ref. 84536). Deep-water

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Southeast Atlantic: from off Lüderitz, Namibia, around the Cape of Good Hope and eastwards to Algoa Bay, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 83.7 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 84536); 93.0 cm TL (female)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

This species was assigned to the genus Chimaera based on the presence of an anal fin which is separate from the ventral caudal margin by a notch. It is distinguished from its congeners by a set of characters: uniform blackish brown color with dark bluish streaking and precaudal tail with longitudinal light and dark stripes; dorsal spine when depressed reaches beyond origin of second dorsal fin; large triangular pectoral fins, when depressed reaches just to pelvic-fin origin; caudal fin ventral margin ending very slightly posterior to caudal fin dorsal margin insertion; males with short pelvic claspers that are externally trifid, 12.1-12.3% BDL, not extending past distal tip of pelvic fins, divided for distal one-third of length; distance from anterior base of dorsal fin spine to center of supratemporal canal short, 6.5-14.8% HDL (Ref. 84536).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Kemper, J.M., D.A. Ebert, L.J.V. Compagno and D.A. Didier, 2010. Chimaera notafricana sp. nov. (Chondrichthyes: Chimaeriformes: Chimaeridae), a new species of chimaera from southern Africa. Zootaxa 2532:55-63. (Ref. 84536)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 02 September 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

Special reports

Download XML

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 3.9 - 8, mean 4.2 °C (based on 5 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00331 (0.00137 - 0.00798), b=3.07 (2.86 - 3.28), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.7   ±0.6 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Deepwater species with few large eggs.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (57 of 100).