The black ghostshark (Hydrolagus homonycteris) is a large (reaching up to 101 cm in length), uniformly dark brown to black coloured chimaera. Found off the continental slope and seamounts off south-eastern Australia between New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and Tasmania’s southern seamounts in 870-1450 metres (m), these deep sea chimaeras can also be seen off New Zealand waters, as deep as 500-1400 m. They have highly deciduous skin, which can make ID-ing them a hassle. But as their common name says, they are darkly coloured. The black ghostshark has slender, short claspers, and pre-pelvic claspers, but lack an anal fin. Like some chimaeras, they have a large head and large eyes, accompanied by a medium-sized snout. According to reports, their eyes are a bluish-black colour and their teeth as dark too! I’m sensing a “I am the dark!” theme here. While little else is known about these sharks, scientists do know that males mature at approximately 80 cm while females mature around 88 cm. The IUCN has currently assessed them as Least Concern (LC). ever heard of the chimaera?glossary
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AuthorTFUI Founder Melissa C. Marquez is author of all animal bios and "Behind the Fins" segments. SEE MELISSA'S TEDx TALK HERE:
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