This fish does not belong to the most popular marine inhabitants. It is quite rare and many, having heard the name, do not even understand what is at stake. We will try to eliminate this ignorance a little. Chimera fish belongs to the bottom and deep sea inhabitants of the deep sea. This applies to all its known varieties. It is distributed in all oceans and seas of the Southern and Northern Hemispheres. It feeds on small fish, crustaceans, mollusks and starfish. It has a length of up to one and a half meters.
general information
Chimera fish, despite being clumsy and slow, are great for finding prey at the bottom of the sea, such as mollusks. Some species of this underwater inhabitant are armed with a poisonous spine in the back, which is an unexpected and real surprise for sharks and other predators who dared to attack him.
Let's find out what a chimera is.
The fish, the photo of which is in front of you, looks very funny, but this is until you learn about its poisonous weapons. How does she look for herself a tasty treat in the dark, silt and algae? The chimera perfectly helps with this nose, digging the bottom of the sea and having special receptors for the search. She lives and hunts mostly in shallow seas, but there are representatives who prefer to search for prey in deep waters.
Chimera Features
- The chimera fish we are considering has several other names, which, to some extent, reflects the features of its appearance. For example, rabbit fish, shark ghost, elephant fish and leopard fish.
- Due to the fact that our fish has a lot of wear on the tooth plates, they grow continuously in it, throughout life.
- Much earlier, even in the myths of ancient Greece, the chimera was a cross between a dragon, a goat and a lion. Now this word means any extraordinary being, real or imagined.
- Our ghost is caught by sharks, most often by nets. In European countries, when they get into these networks, they throw him out, as they consider him inedible. But in some other states, such as China and the countries of South Africa, this is a delicacy, and its meat is cooked there in a variety of ways.
“Silver pipe” - the so-called chimera in New Zealand, is served on the table fried and with chips. And White Fillet is an Australian delicacy. Let's say you come across a chimera fish. Can I eat her? The answer is simple - of course you can.
Types of chimeras and their habitats
There are three main types of our fish:
- The chimera with a plow-shaped head belongs to the Callorhynchidae family, lives in shallow coastal water and, thanks to its sensitive, unusual shape, snout, successfully finds mollusks in the sandy bottom.
- With a blunt nose, belongs to the family Chimaeridae, lives in deeper and darker waters, up to 500 meters deep. Thanks to its hypersensitive eyes, the ghost of a shark quickly and easily sees starfish and other local inhabitants of seawater suitable for eating.
- The long-nosed chimera fish from the Rhinochimaeridae family lives even deeper and has a sensitive elongated snout that is designed to look for mollusks where there is no light at all.
The very chimera fish, the photo confirms this, is very beautiful, with silver spotted sides.
Chimera fish: how to cook in the oven
People from the camp, who decided that it is completely edible, claim that the dishes from the sea rabbit are very tasty. In addition, this delicacy can often be seen on store shelves now. There is one plus here - the chimera is being sold already cleaned in a creepy appearance. Here we are, at the end of our introductory article, we will tell you the recipe for cooking our fish with vegetables in the oven.
To do this, we need the following ingredients: one carcass of a sea rabbit, one carrot, one onion, fish seasonings, salt, half a lemon and a few tablespoons of vegetable oil.
Oven cooking process
We start cooking with vegetables, as they must first be stewed. We clean the carrots and rub on a coarse grater. Put the frying pan on the fire, pour a little vegetable oil and spread the vegetable. Next, peel the white onion, it is much more tender than usual to taste, cut into half rings and also put in the pan. Mix vegetables, salt, add a little water (a few tablespoons) and close the lid. Stir occasionally, simmer until cooked. It's time to take up the fish. We cut off the short fin available on the carcass with scissors. After that, cut it into small pieces. Pour seasonings and salt in a small saucer, mix them and rub each piece of fish with this mixture.
It will marinate while our vegetables are stewed. As soon as the onions and carrots are ready, we take the baking dish and transfer the vegetables to it. Pre-grease the baking sheet with oil is not necessary. Next, put slices of chimera fish on vegetables on top and squeeze the juice of half a lemon onto it. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees, send the form into it, and after 20 minutes the delicious dish is ready. It must be served hot with a side dish of rice or mashed potatoes. Enjoy your meal!