Whitefin chimaera
The whitefin chimaera ("Chimaera argiloba") is a species of fish in the family Chimaeridae. It is found in the Indian Ocean to the NW of Australia, with a restricted distribution. "Chimaera argiloba" inhabits marine waters from a depth range of 370–520 m. It is abundant within its range. Classification/species. The "Chimaera argiloba", more commonly known as the Whitefin chimaera, comes from the genus "Chimaera", which in Latin translates to 'marine monster'. The species name, "argiloba", is in reference to the Greek meaning for 'white', and "loba", a Latin word, refers to a 'rounded projection'. This full species  name is derived from the unique posterior part of the first dorsal fin, which is both white and rounded, extending outwards. Differences from other species in "Chimaera" genus. The genus "Chimaera" includes ten nominal species presented by Carl Linnaeus, which include "Chimaera obscura", "C. cubana", "C. panthera", "C. fulva", "C. lignaria", "C. jordani", "C. macrospina", "C. monstrosa", "C. owstoni", and "C. phantasma". "C. argiloba" shares the most similarities to "C. phantasma", a species most commonly found in the northwestern Pacific. These two species only have slight disparities in morphologies and color. "C. argiloba" is different from "C. panther" and "C.  owstoni" in their color schemes and pattern distributions. Where "C. argiloba" is uniformly grey-silver, the other two species have a standout dark pattern. Additionally, "C. lignaria" have a lavender blue color scheme, and "C. macrospina", "C. fulva", "C. jordani", and "C. obscura" all have dark brown exteriors. Characteristics. The genus "Chimaera" is part of the larger family Chimaeridae, which also includes the genus "Hydrolagus". This genus differs from "Chimaera" in that these species do not have anal fins. "Chimaera argiloba" possess a medium length snout, ranging from 13.7-17.3 cm. From a dorso-ventral view, the snout is narrowly  pointed, but is broadly pointed from a lateral point of view. On average, the whitefin chimaera has a horizontal head length of 10.7 cm, and a vertical height of 0.68 times the horizontal head length. In total, "C. argiloba" has a body length of 40 cm and a total length of more than 90 cm. Another prominent characteristic is its large gill opening that is separated with a posterior flap that protrudes from the head base, and is interconnected with the back of the gill cover by a short tube. Color-wise, "C. argiloba" is grey-silver, both laterally and  dorsally. On its ventral side, the color has a slightly paler hue compared to the rest of its body. Distribution. "Chimaera argiloba" is most commonly found in northwestern Australia in the Indian Ocean. This particular species does not have a broad distribution, but there have been known findings off the shores of North Caledonia and Indonesia. "C. argiloba" reside in waters at a depth of 370 meters, and even going deeper ranging to depths of 520 meters. Threats. "C. argiloba" is not widely used for commercial distribution purposes, but is subjected to other minor threats. One arising threat is the  capture of this species by fisheries originally set on teleost fish and prawns off the coast of northwestern Australia. Companies such as the North West Slope Trawl Fishery and Commonwealth Western Deepwater Trawl Fishery operate around these areas where the Whitefin chimaera reside. They implement trawl gear that go to depths greater than 300 m, having the potential to inadvertently catch "C. argioloba". However, these two fisheries have relatively low activity, and when they do catch these species, the whitefin chimaera are kept alive and usually released back into the waters.