Chimaera

**Chimaeras** are only available in Shrouded worlds, and along with whales are one of the only frenzy animals that cannot be automatically produced. They become available for purchase after researching Exploration provided you have at least 20 jellyfish. Their description is "Convince a chimaera to hunt in the darker depths for us."

## Career Paths

Chimaera jobs become available after researching Chimaera Mysticism. The positions are Chimaera Transmuter and Chimaera Explorer. Transmuters serve the same role as the auto-transmuter shark machine, but the machine produces as much as 20 chimaera transmuters while consuming half the sand and crystals. Explorer is a research position.

10 Jellyfish
10 Sharkonium
-5 Sand
 Chimaera Explorer | 1 Chimaera
30 Jellyfish
30 Crystals
+0.5 Jellyfish

## Laboratory Research

There are 2 chimaera-specific upgrades that can be researched, and 2 generic upgrades that affect chimaera income. The research listed below is available in every world and has an effect on chimaeras and their jobs:

Swim beyond the home seas to see what can be found!
 Ancestral Recall
The sharks and rays know we share some features among ourselves. Using the vague glimpses of dreams, let's piece together the puzzle.
Chimaera transmuter power x4
Chimaera explorer power x4

The following research is available only in Shrouded worlds:

We know the chimaeras, but we don't them very well. We need to adjust our thinking to understand their riddles.
* Induct chimaera transmuter
* Prepare chimaera explorer
* Abyssal Enigmas
 Abyssal Enigmas
The chimaeras have returned from the deeper oceans with artifacts they can't explain. We need to work together to understand them.
Chimaera transmuter power x2
Chimaera explorer power x2
2K Jellyfish

## Story

Warning: This section includes speculation, as canon answers don't yet exist.

```
The chimaeras are ancient kin of the shark kind, reunited through wild coincidence.
What peerless wonders have they found in the dark?
```

The chimaeras live in the deep ocean, well below the seabed that's explored first. They're adapted for those dark waters, and aren't big fans of especially bright lights. They don't know everything about the depths of their world, though, and the explorers find entirely new regions and objects they'd never seen before. Of course, the sharks aren't any better off, whether they've been through the Gateway or not. You can only expect so much from sea creatures.

The unseen voice in the Gateway hints that you've met the chimaera before, and that the Shrouded world may in fact be your home world, changed since you left it. This suggests the possibility that the chimaeras may be an evolutionary offshoot of your own (shark) species.

It isn't clear what could have happened to transform the clear blue waters of your home into the dark mysterious sea of the Shrouded world. However, both Shrouded and Abandoned worlds are described as "murky" and "dark". It may be that after you build purifiers and sea scourers in the Abandoned world it becomes the Shrouded world, able to support more life but still murky from chemicals you aren't able to clean up.

## Species List

The following is a list of every species mentioned in the log when single chimaeras are purchased:

* cape elephantfish
* australian ghost shark
* whitefin chimaera
* bahamas ghost shark
* southern chimaera
* longspine chimaera
* cape chimaera
* shortspine chimaera
* leopard chimaera
* pale ghost shark
* spotted ratfish
* philippine chimaera
* black ghostshark
* blackfin ghostshark
* marbled ghostshark
* striped rabbitfish
* large-eyed rabbitfish
* spookfish
* purple chimaera
* pointy-nosed blue chimaera
* giant black chimaera
* smallspine spookfish
* pacific longnose chimaera
* dwarf sicklefin chimaera
* sicklefin chimaera
* paddle-nose chimaera
* straightnose rabbitfish

## Trivia

While the term "chimaera" may be better known to mean the fire-breathing hybrid monster of greek mythology, it is in fact a variety of fish as well. They are also known as ghost sharks, rat fish, spookfish or rabbitfish, and sharks really are their closest living relatives. Both animals belong to the Chondrichthyes class, which also contains rays, skates and sawfish. The chimaera shown on the main game tab once 5 chimaera have been purchased is likely a *Chimaera monstrosa*, or rabbit fish.

1. ↑ Artifacts: Chimaera Migrator
2. ↑ Laboratory: Abyssal Enigmas
3. ↑ Shrouded World: Ending messages
4. ↑ Shrouded World
5. ↑ Abandoned World
6. ↑ Wikipedia: Chimaera