Chimera
[from the Middle English chimere, Chimera, from Old French, from Latin chimaera, from Greek khimaira, chimera, she-goat. See ghei- in Indo-European
Roots.]
An organism, organ, or part consisting of two or more tissues of different genetic composition, produced as a result of organ transplant,
grafting, or genetic engineering.
A substance, such as an antibody, created from the proteins or genes or two different species.
An individual who has received a transplant of genetically and immunologically different tissue.
A fanciful mental illusion or fabrication.
Source: Dictionary.com
The fish sort of fits into two definitions. Looking like it is a combination of two creatures, and being a crazy dream
.
It is also worth noting that what you are showing there is a Chimera pup. Sort of a weird, larval non-developed state. Here is a mature one, from what
I can find:
external image
This one looks more like the deepsea variety:
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More:
If I had to guess, I would say the "beak" is a fat storage that the pups are born with, much like tadpoles keeping and using up their tails when
they change into frogs. The fact that the babies are called "pups" also suggests to me that these fish are live-born like whales, although they seem
a bit small for that.
The fact that it loses it's nose just makes it even cooler though
. And I would say it is probably the cutest of the deepsea fish, (besides the
red one there), probably one of the few that doesn't have a mouth three times the size of it's body, or teeth coming out the wah-zoo. It seems to be
a non-deepwater fish that is in the process of evolving into a deepwater fish.
[edit on 10-11-2005 by Yarcofin]