Smallspine spookfish

The smallspine spookfish (Harriotta haeckeli) is a species of fish in the family Rhinochimaeridae with a rather disjunct population. Its natural habitat is open seas.

Smallspine spookfish
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Holocephali
Order:	Chimaeriformes
Family:	Rhinochimaeridae
Genus:	Harriotta
Species:	H. haeckeli
Binomial name
Harriotta haeckeli Karrer, 1972[2]

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Christine Karrer in 1972.^[3] It has been hypothesised that some records of H. raleighana might refer to H. haeckeli.^[4]

This species is named in honor of both the research vessel Ernst Haeckel, from which type was collected, and to the eminent zoologist Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919) for whom the ship was named.^[3][5]

Description

H. haeckeli is a small species compared to others in its genus and is coloured pale brown with darker shading on its underside.^[4]

Distribution

This species can be found off western Greenland, the Canary Islands, northeastern North America, Namibia, the southeastern Indian Ocean, Tasmania and southwestern New Zealand.^[4] It normally lives at depths greater than 1100 m.^[1]

Conservation status

This species is threatened by habitat loss.^[1] However, in June 2018 the New Zealand Department of Conservation classified the smallspine spookfish as "Not Threatened" under the New Zealand Threat Classification System.^[6] The IUCN has classified this species as of Least Concern.^[1]