Ichthyologists have recently indicated that Jules Soto of Brazil has discovered and described a new fish, which he named Hydrolagus mattallansi. It has a snub nose, winglike side fins, a spiky back fin and stinger tail. Soto said the fish was first noted in the catch of a Spanish fishing boat fishing off the East coast of Brazil in 2001. He knew right away from pictures that it was different.

This group of fish evolved 400 million years ago during the Devonian Period and are one of the oldest species with descendents alive today. They are closely related to sharks and Skates. This particular species may have lurked undiscovered in deep waters for over 150 million years. It has relatives in other parts of the world but none in the water of Atlantic off the East coast of South America.

Soto, the curator of the Oceanography Museum at the Vale do Itajai University, and his team required two more years to located more specimens and to do the work required to prove a new species. The adults are 12 to 16 long and are found at depths of 1,300 to 2,000 feet. Like other members of this genus (Chimaera), they have cartilage-based bodies containing no bones. They do not swim using their tail fin like most fish. They use their large pectoral (on the side) fins instead to propel themselves through the water.

Scientists believe that Chimaera can sense the presence of other animals through changes in the magnetic field around it. Its very large eyes certainly can capture very small amounts of light, a necessity at the depths it inhabits. "Deep water fish have been little studied here and it's very difficult to get information about that environment. The sad thing is that environment is being devastated by industrial fishing so species new to science are likely disappearing even before they are discovered," said Adriano Lima, an ichthyologist at Rio de Janeiro's National Museum.

Little else is known about these ancient deep-sea dwellers at this time. For comparison, another species of the same genus, the spotted ratfish or Hydrolagus colliei is shown here. As you can see, its appearance is sufficiently different that we cannot expect to learn much about the new fish by studying this much better known species, especially because it lives in shallow waters.

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