Longspine Chimaera
Chimaera macrospina
- Usual depth1,003–1,255 m
- Water temperature15–27 °C
- Best monthsMarch, May, and August
- How commonRare
About this species
The longspine chimaera is a chimaera species in the family Chimaeridae. It is found off of the eastern and western coasts of Australia, and lives in tropical and temperate waters 435–1,300 meters deep. Males and females grow to a maximum total length of 93.9 and 103.4 centimeters, respectively, and are brown in color.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Longspine chimaera”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
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Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 2 records
- February: 6 records
- March: 12 records
- April: 5 records
- May: 20 records
- June: 4 records
- July: 1 records
- August: 18 records
- September: 9 records
- October: 9 records
- November: 4 records
- December: 6 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 1,003–1,255 m · Deepest record: 1,306.5 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 15–27 °C
Names and classification
- English
- Longspine Chimaera
Similar species
Australian Ghost SharkChimaera ogilbyi
Jordan's ChimaeraChimaera jordani
- Whitefin Chimaera
Chimaera argiloba
- Southern Chimaera
Chimaera fulva
- Carpenter’s Chimaera
Chimaera lignaria
- Shortspine Chimaera
Chimaera obscura
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 123 open-data records from 1983 to 2006.
- Species data updated November 1, 2026.
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