Chimaera

This article is about the cartilaginous fish order. For the namesake genus, see Chimaera (genus). For the mythological beast, see Chimera (mythology). For other uses, see Chimera.

"Ghost shark" redirects here. For the film, see Ghost Shark.

Chimaeras Temporal range:
Hydrolagus colliei (Chimaeridae)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Holocephali
Order:	Chimaeriformes Obruchev, 1953
Subgroups
†Echinochimaera †Protochimaera †Squaloraja †Myriacanthoidei †Chimaeropsis †Myriacanthidae Chimaeroidei Callorhinchidae Chimaeridae Rhinochimaeridae

Chimaeras are cartilaginous fish in the order Chimaeriformes (/kɪˈmɛrɪfɔːrmiːz/), known informally as ghost sharks, rat fish (not to be confused with rattails), spookfish, or rabbit fish; the last two names are also applied, respectively, to the ray-finned fish groups of Opisthoproctidae and Siganidae.

At one time a "diverse and abundant" group (based on the fossil record), their closest living relatives are sharks and rays, though their last common ancestor with them lived nearly 400 million years ago. Living species (aside from plough-nose chimaeras) are largely confined to deep water.