The freak from the deep: Long-nosed fish that lives 3,000ft below the ocean is caught for only the second time ever

The long-nosed chimaera was snagged by fishermen in the Davis Strait of Canada's extreme northerly province of Nunavut

It is only the second of its kind ever documented in the area near the Hudson Strait

Long-nosed chimaeras are believed to live in abyssal depths below 3,000 feet and are distance cousins of sharks and rays

An extremely weird looking fish was snagged recently in the frigid artic waters off northern Canada and after some confused speculation about what it even is, researchers have identified it as the super rare long-nosed chimaera.



The spooky, deep sea fish has a long nose, menacing mouth, and a venomous spine atop its gelatinous grey body and was caught near the northernmost province of Nunavut in Davis Straight.



Researchers, who at first believed the odd fish was the similarly freakish goblin shark, say the long-nosed chimaera likely makes its home at depths not often visited by humans.

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Snagged: This rare and bizarre fish-called a long-nosed chimaera--was caught in the chilly waters off the northern coast of Canada by Nunavut fishermen in the Davis Strait

‘Potentially, if we fish deeper, maybe between 1,000 and 2,000 metres (3,000 to 6,000 feet), we could find that's there's actually quite a lot of them there,’ University of Windsor researcher Nigel Hussey told CBC. ‘We just don’t know.’

Hussey, who is credited with finally identifying the fish, says the mystery comes from the strange creature’s rarity.

‘Only one of these fish has previously been documented from the Hudson Strait,’ Hussey said.



Rarity: Rarely ever seen, the long-nosed chimaera is an oddity among oddities. All chimaeras are poorly understood, but the long-nose, with its whip-like tail and long snout, is especially so

Just two: The fish was caught in the Davis Strait off Canada's most northerly province of Nunavut. It was only the second such specimen ever identified from the waters

Guess again: It was initially thought to be one of these equally odd, and also rare, creatures called a goblin shark. But chimaeras aren't sharks, they come from a distinct lineage that branched off from their cousins the sharks some 400 million years ago





Like all chimaeras, the long-nosed species is a distant relative of sharks and rays.

The long-nosed chimaera has a whip-like tail and can grow to around three feet long.



A photo of the Davis Straight specimen, thanks largely to its sheer weirdness, has gone viral since it was posted online after being caught by a Nunavut fishing boat.