Spotted ratfish: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the spotted ratfish lives – recorded in 2 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Hydrolagus colliei
Group	Rays, skates & chimaeras
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	2 countries
Continents	North America
Class	Cartilaginous fish
Order	Chimaeriformes
Family	Chimaeridae

Where does the spotted ratfish live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the spotted ratfish in 2 countries and territories across North America.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the spotted ratfish endangered?

The spotted ratfish’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the spotted ratfish?

The spotted ratfish (Hydrolagus colliei) is a cartilaginous fish in the order Chimaeriformes and the family Chimaeridae, genus Hydrolagus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the 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 cartilaginous fish 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 ὕδωρ, meaning water, and λαγώς/λαγῶς, meaning hare, and the specific name honors Alexander Collie, who was a ship's surgeon and early naturalist who dissected the first specimen to be described during the voyage of HMS Blossom in the Pacific from 1825-28. The spotted ratfish is common in much of its range, not typically eaten by humans, and is not commercially caught.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Spotted ratfish (revision 1370048459), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q1262285 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).