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Rabbit Fish | Daily Animal Facts

Animal profile

Rabbit Fish

Chimaera monstrosa

ChondrichthyesMuddy bottoms of the continental slope, typically between 300 and 1,000 metresNear Threatened

Field profile

The rabbit fish is the best-known European chimaera, a slope-dwelling fish with large iridescent eyes, a rabbit-like snout, a venomous dorsal spine and a long filamentous tail. It is taken frequently as bycatch in deepwater trawls.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2026-02-06

Rabbit Fish

Chimaeras parted from sharks around 400 million years ago

Holocephalans are the sister group to all sharks and rays, and the two lineages have been separate since the Devonian. Almost everything odd about a chimaera is a consequence of that long independent history.

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