# Scientists Discover a "Very Rare" Baby Ghost Shark

> New Zealand scientists have found a baby chimaera 1,200 metres down. We explain what makes the discovery unique and what it can reveal about the species.

- URL: https://langandtrip.com.ua/en/article/vcheni-vyiavyly-duzhe-ridkisnykh-dytynchat-khymery/
- Language: en
- Published: 2024-09-01
- Categories: Culture, Tours, New Zealand, Surfing & Diving, Animal Rides, Seas & Oceans

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Scientists in New Zealand have found a newly hatched chimaera that, they say, could add to what we know about this "mysterious" creature.

The chimaera was found at a depth of around 1,200 metres on the Chatham Rise, an area of ocean floor off the east coast of the South Island.

The "very rare" discovery was made during a recent survey, New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research said in a press release on Tuesday.

The deep-sea animal is a chimaera, scientifically known as a chimaera and also called a rat fish, ghost shark and rabbit fish, according to the Shark Trust. Chimaeras are close relatives of sharks and rays.

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They are cartilaginous fish, meaning their skeletons are made mostly of cartilage, and their embryos grow inside egg capsules laid on the seabed, feeding on egg yolk until they hatch.

Brit Finucci, a fisheries scientist who was part of the team that made the discovery, said in the press release that the chimaera was identified as newly hatched because its belly was still full of egg yolk.

"We actually don't know that much about chimaeras," Finucci said on Thursday. "What we do know comes mostly from adults. So it's very rare and unusual to find the young of many of these species, which is why I'm so excited."

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Finucci added that because most chimaeras live in deep water, they are "quite hard to reach," and said she hopes the new discovery will help fill in some "biological gaps."

The exact species of the chimaera the team found is still unknown, and Finucci said new chimaera species are still being discovered, so measurements and genetic samples will now be taken for identification.

"We need to work out what species we're dealing with," Finucci said, adding that chimaeras were the "oldest lineage" of cartilaginous fish. "We're not sure what we'll find, which is really exciting too."

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The specimen's age means researchers will now be able to compare it with what they know about adult chimaeras, taking into account differences in habitat, diet and appearance that, Finucci said, can occur between juveniles and adults.

"We're hoping it will give us more information about the biology and ecology," Finucci added. "From what we know about better-studied species, juveniles can be very different from adults."