deep-sea chimaera with a trunk-like snout

Size
Length: 60–100 cm, Weight: 5–10 kg
Lifespan
10–15 years
Diet
Small crustaceans, worms and molluscs. Lives on sandy and muddy bottoms from 20 to 200 metres depth. A deep sand forager, using its trunk-like snout to probe for prey. Named for its long, trunk-like snout.
Habitat
Sandy and muddy bottoms from 20 metres down to 200 metres. Migrates into shallow bays in spring to spawn, which is when most anglers accidentally hook one.
Range
Around the North and South Islands on sandy and muddy bottoms from 20 to 200 metres depth. Most common in deeper water off the east coast of both islands. Native to New Zealand and southern Australia.
Endemism
Native
Main Threats
Commercial bottom trawling is the primary threat, with bycatch in flatfish and deepwater fisheries. Habitat loss from bottom trawling damaging sandy habitats. Climate change affecting water temperature poses additional risks.
Population
Not Threatened, though slow-growing and late to mature. Strange appearance means they are often released by anglers who are unsure what they have caught, which has helped populations stay stable.
Conservation Status
Not Threatened
The platypus of the sea. The elephantfish is not a true fish in the way most people think. It is a chimaera, a distant ancient relative of sharks that split off the family tree nearly 400 million years ago. The lineage is old. The divergence is deep. It has a rabbit-like face with a fleshy trunk-like snout that hangs down over the mouth. This appendage is used to root around in the sand for crabs and shellfish. That is how it got the name. A face that raises questions. The appearance is unsettling. The body is a strange mix of fish and shark. Smooth scale-less skin feels like wet leather. A long whip-like tail trails behind. A venomous spine sits on the front of the first dorsal fin. Get poked by that spine and the memory will last. The pain is sharp. Males have a bizarre club-like structure on their foreheads that they use to hold onto females during mating. Evolution went weird with this one. Evolution was not trying to be elegant. The design is functional but odd. The fillets are the secret weapon. Despite the ugly face and the weird body, the meat is absolutely delicious. It is firm, white, sweet and completely boneless. It is often sold as ghost shark or silver trumpeter to make it sound more appealing. A fish that needs a marketing department. The rebranding is necessary. The flavour is undeniable. To catch an elephantfish is to catch a living fossil. It is a weird, ancient, rubbery-faced creature that tastes like a million dollars. The fish that confuses everyone. The one that looks like a science experiment but eats like a dream. The contrast is stark. The surprise is total. The line goes tight. The reel screams. Something strange comes up from the deep, with a trunk and a spine and a face only a mother could love. Then the fillets hit the pan, and suddenly the face does not matter anymore. The aesthetic judgment shifts. The culinary value takes precedence. Evolution rarely revises the draft. But it does taste good. The survival strategy is obscure. The gastronomic reward is clear.