Rare deep-sea fish found in Nainamadama sea

By Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama  

A rare species of deep-sea fish has been caught by a group of fishermen engaged in fishing in the sea off Nainamadama.  
The fish had been netted by a multi-day trawler belonging to the Wellamankaraya Fishery Harbour in Nainamadama.  

The harbour manager said this was the first time that they saw a rare fish like this, and it was kept aside at the harbour. This species of fish  is not edible.  

According to the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA), the fish species is known as Rabbitfish (Rhinochimaera atlantica - Broadnose Chimaera) and is found near Canada, Colombia, France, Gambia, Iceland, Mauritania, Mexico, Namibia, Senegal, South Africa, Suriname and the United States. Its natural habitat is the open sea.  
This fish is the least-concern species in the family Longnose chimaeras and lives more than 1,500 metres deep in temperate oceans.  

The NARA said this type of fish was found after a survey conducted by them in 2018.  

An individual fish can grow up to 140 cm. 

-The harbour manager said this was the first time that they saw a rare fish like this, and it was kept aside at the harbour