Spotted Ratfish (Hydrolagus colliei)

While diving at Cat Rock at Anacapa Island last week I ran across this Spotted Ratfish hanging out at 20 feet. These fish are known to live 1600-3000 feet down so I was pretty excited to see one. This fish is a member of Class Chondrichthyes in the subclass Holocephali. They share many characteristics with sharks but have some big differences too. They are also known as Chimaeras and are extremely cool fish. Sorry for the shakyness of the video. I was low on air and was kind of freaking out about how cool