The Holocephali, or Chimeras 221 
elements which resemble outwardly, at least, the ‘anlagen’ 
of the payement teeth in cestraciont sharks.” 
Family Chimzride.—The existing Chimeras are known also 
as spookfishes, ratfishes, and elephant-fishes. These are divided 
by Garman into three families, and in the principal family, the 
Chimeride, the snout is blunt, the skin without plates, and 
the dorsal fin is provided with a long spine. The flat tritors 
Fig. 157.—Skeleton of Chimera monstrosa Linnezus. (After Dean.) 
vary in the different genera. The single genus represented 
among living fishes is Chimera, found in cold seas and in the 
oceanic depths. The best-known species, Chimera colliei, the 
elephant-fish, or chimera of California, abounds in shallow 
waters of ten to twenty fathoms from Sitka to San Diego. 
It is a harmless fish, useless except for the oil in its liver, and 
of special interest to anatomists as the only member of the 
family to be found when desired for dissection. This species 
was first found at Monterey by Mr. Collie, naturalist of Captain 
Beechey’s ship, the Blossom. It is brown in color, with whitish 
spots, and reaches a length of 2} feet. As a shallow-water 
form, with certain differences in the claspers and in the tail, 
Chimera colliei is sometimes placed in a distinct genus, Hydro- 
lagus. Other species inhabit much greater depths and have 
the tail produced into a long filament. Of these, Chimera 
monstrosa, the sea-cat of the north Atlantic, has been longer 
known than any other Chimera. Chimera ajffinis has been 
dredged in the Gulf Stream and off Portugal. Chimera phan- 
tasma and Chimera mitsukurii are frequently taken in Japan, 
