Gulf chimaera

SEFSC Pascagoula Laboratory; Collection of Brandi Noble, NOAA/NMFS/SEFSC - NOAA photo library or NOAA Photo Library: fish4287

​Introducing Hydrolagus alberti, also known as the Gulf chimaera today on The Fins United Initiative! Now as you can imagine, as a deepwater chimaera species, there is insufficient information about them.  So don't expect us to know all about these animals just yet!

Now as we said earlier, they are a deepwater and have been seen as deep as 348 to 1,100 meters! Their full range isn't exactly known but it has been caught in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. This is rare, however, since they are so deep that they are outside the range of deepwater fisheries in the region. But that doesn't mean they are safe from capture in the future as bycatch in longline and trawl fisheries, especially as fisheries try to exploit deeper waters.

Scientists do not know much of their population structure or reproductive biology, but juveniles are usually what is caught and that indicates that the Gulf chimaera may segregate by size with adults staying in different habitats or greater depths than juveniles. The IUCN has assessed these animals as Data Deficient (DD).

WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT THIS ANIMAL?

GLOSSARY

• IUCN: International Union for Conservation of Nature.

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