Rat or Rabbit Fish
Most fishes with a skeleton of cartilage rather than bone belong to the rays and sharks (suborder Elsamobranchii) A small second group, the chimaeras of the suborder Holocephali, are strange-looking deep-sea fishes. The rat fish or rabbit fish (not to be confused with the warm-water rabbit fishes of the family Siganidae, sometimes kept in aquariums) is an example. It has a long whip-like tail, big staring eyes, large pectoral fins, and a large dorsal fin with a long spine behind the head. Its small mouth has lips and rabbit-like tooth plates. Around Iceland and Norway it migrates to shallow seas to breed, and is sometimes caught by fishermen.
Scientific name : Chimaera monstrosa
Classification : Subclass Holocephali.
Order : Chimaeriformes (chimaeras)
Family : Chimaeridae
Size : Up to about 1.5m (5ft) long
Distribution : Eastern and northern Atlantic; Mediterranean; possibly other oceans
Habitat : Deep temperate and cold waters, mainly at 300-500m (1000-1600ft)
Diet : Mainly bottom-living invertebrates
Reproduction : Spawns in spring; eggs in slender cases, 18cm (7in) long
Giant Manta Ray Fish
This is truly the giant among 1. rays, the biggest living species and one of the so-called devil rays. Apart from its size, it is distinguished by strange paddle-like fins or lobes projecting from the front of its body, with the eyes on either side. These lobes look threatening, but are merely scoops that the ray unfurls when feeding, to direct food into its large, rectangular mouth. Giant mantas feed mainly on plankton - floating organisms - and some schooling fish. In spite of their size, they sometimes leap out of the water; this may be part of their courtship ritual, which is known to involve one or more males chasing a female for up to 30 minutes before mating.
Scientific name : Manta birostris
Classification : Order Myliobatiformes (great rays); sometimes included in Rajiformes
Family : Myliobatidae; sometimes placed in separate family Mobulidae
Size : Up to 8m (26ft) wide and possibly up to 3 tonnes
Distribution : Worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas
Habitat : Surface waters, mainly near shores and reefs, but also in open ocean
Diet : Mainly plankton; some small and medium-sized fish
Reproduction : Ovoviviparous; one or two young; gestation period uncertain