Brown Chimaera

This species is distinguished by the following characters: a short, blunt snout and an anal fin separate from the ventral caudal margin by a notch; medium-bodied with a gently rounded snout; large eye; oral and preopercular lateral line canals usually share a short common branch off of the infraorbital canal; relatively short first dorsal fin and spine; second dorsal fin even along height, long caudal dorsal and ventral margins, short, trifurcate pelvic claspers, divided distally for approximately one-third of their length; body colour uniform pale-brown, mouth and ventral snout darker with brownish-purple fins and highly deciduous skin. Distinguished from its closest congeners, Chimaera fulva, C. macrospina, and C. obscura, by a combination of morphological characters (longer caudal dorsal margin, shorter pelvic claspers, shorter dorsal fin spine, shorter first dorsal fin, and longer caudal ventral margin) and coloration (Ref. 107024).

The depth range of occurrence of this species seems to follow the 1000 m depth contour around New Zealand, but may be an artifact of sampling. Size range for juvenile females 27.7-75.9 cm TL (18.2-37.6 body length) and males 41.0-83.5 cm TL (16.7-52.2 cm BDL); for adult females 85.5-103.5 cm TL (51.9-59.9 cm BDL) and males 74.0-97.5 cm TL (48.7-57.0 cm BDL) (Ref. 107024).