OCCURRENCE AND DETAILED MORPHOMETRIC MEASUREMENTS OF RABBITFISH (Chimaera monstrosa Linnaeus, 1758) FROM THE GÖKÇEADA ISLAND (North Aegean Sea).

Chimaeras belonging to the holocephali class have a wide depth distribution from batidemersal to benthopelagic, but they are mostly found at depths of 300-500 m. In this study the rabbitfish (Chimaera monstrosa, Linnaeus 1758) 100-400 m depths were collected from commercial trawlers around the Gökçeada Island between February 2019 and February 2020. For the purpose of the study, three females and one male individual measuring 11.4 – 41.5 cm in body length and weighing 5.82-228 g. After sampling, individuals were brought to the laboratory by paying attention to cold storage conditions in order to record their detailed measurements. For the morphometric measurements of the fish, a height measuring board with ±1 mm precision, a precision balance with ±0.01 g precision for weight measurements and a 1 mm precision caliper were used. This study reports the most detailed morphometric measurements of the species Chimaera monstrosa ever around the Gökçeada Island (North Aegean Sea).