Species Spotted ratfish

Spotted ratfish

The spotted ratfish, Hydrolagus colliei, is a chimaera found in the north-eastern Pacific Ocean. Often seen by divers at night in the Pacific Northwest, this harmless shark relative gets its characteristic name from a pointed rat-like tail.

The ratfish lays leathery egg cases on the bottom of muddy or sandy areas which are often mistaken by divers as something inanimate. While mainly a deep-water species, it occurs at shallower depths in the northern part of its range. The generic name, Hydrolagus, comes from the Greek words "hydro", meaning water, and "lagus", meaning hare, and the specific name honors Alexander Collie, who was a ship surgeon and early naturalist. The ratfish is not typically eaten by humans and is not commercially caught.

The spotted ratfish can be found in the north-eastern Pacific Ocean. They can most commonly be found between the Pacific Northwest. The range of depths in which this fish is found extends from 0 to 3,000 feet (0 to 914 m) below sea level. Further north the spotted ratfish lives close to the shore. On the southern end of their range, they live in deeper waters.

Ratfish tend to move closer to shallow water during the spring and autumn, then to deeper water in summer and winter. Spotted ratfish can most commonly be found living near the bottom of sand, mud or rocky reefs of the ocean floor. Unlike most of its relatives which are entirely restricted to deep waters, the spotted ratfish has been held in public aquaria.

Like some sharks, spotted ratfish are oviparous. Their spawning season peaks during the spring to autumn months. During this time, the female releases up to two fertilized eggs into sand or mud areas of the seabed every 10 to 14 days. The extrusion process can last anywhere from 18 to 30 hours and the actual laying can last another four to six days. The egg sack is leather-like, five inches long, and has a filament connected to it which is used to attach it to the ocean floor when it is let go by the mother. It is not unheard of to see a female ratfish swimming around her newly laid eggs, in hopes of preventing predators from finding them. Development of the egg can take up to a year, which can be dangerous because the eggs are sometimes mistaken for inanimate objects by divers. When the young finally hatch, they are about 5.5 inches (14 cm) in length and grow, reaching 11.8 inches (30 cm) in length their first year.