Spotted ratfish
Hydrolagus colliei (Lay & Bennett, 1839)
The spotted ratfish (Hydrolagus colliei) is a fish in the family Chimaeridae, order Chimaeriformes and class Holocephali. It is also called the ratfish or white-spotted ratfish, and its scientific name carries the authority (Lay & Bennett, 1839).
Quick facts about the spotted ratfish
On the IUCN Red List it is assessed globally as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the spotted ratfish
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the spotted ratfish live?
Not recorded
What is the spotted ratfish?
The spotted ratfish (Hydrolagus colliei) is a chimaera found in the north-eastern Pacific Ocean. Often seen by divers at night in the Pacific Northwest, this cartilaginous fish gets its characteristic name from a pointed rat-like tail. The ratfish lays leathery egg cases on the bottom of muddy or sandy areas, which are often mistaken by divers as something inanimate. While mainly a deep-water species, it occurs at shallower depths in the northern part of its range. The generic name, Hydrolagus, comes from the Greek words ὕδωρ, meaning water, and λαγώς/λαγῶς, meaning hare, and the specific name honors Alexander Collie, who was a ship's surgeon and early naturalist who dissected the first specimen to be described during the voyage of HMS Blossom in the Pacific from 1825-28. The spotted ratfish is common in much of its range, not typically eaten by humans, and is not commercially caught.
From the Wikipedia article “Spotted ratfish” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spotted_ratfish&oldid=1370048459), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the spotted ratfish endangered?
The spotted ratfish is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the spotted ratfish classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classHolocephali
- orderChimaeriformes
- familyChimaeridae
- genusHydrolagus
- SpeciesHydrolagus colliei (Lay & Bennett, 1839)
Synonyms Chimaera colliei, Chimaera media, Chimaera neglecta, Hydrolagus media
Other names and names in other languages (15)
- RatfishEnglish
- White-spotted ratfishEnglish
- White-spotted ratfishEnglish
- chiméra běloskvrnnáCzech
- Gefleckte SeeratteGerman
- Gefleckte Pazifische ChimäreGerman
- quimera manchadaSpanish
- helmisillikuningasFinnish
- chimère d'AmériqueFrench
- chimère d’AmériqueFrench
- Chimaera elefanteItalian
- ZeeratDutch
- chimera amerykańskaPolish
- Quimera-americanaPortuguese
- Американский гидролагRussian
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistITISWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the spotted ratfish
Other species in the same genus Hydrolagus.
Abyssal Ghostshark
Hydrolagus trolli
Large-eyed chimaera
Hydrolagus mirabilis
Mitsukuri's chimaera
Hydrolagus mitsukurii
Atlantic chimaera
Hydrolagus affinis
African chimaera
Hydrolagus africanus
Gulf chimaera
Hydrolagus alberti
CompareSpotted ratfish vs Abyssal GhostsharkSpotted ratfish vs Large-eyed chimaeraSpotted ratfish vs Mitsukuri's chimaeraSpotted ratfish vs Atlantic chimaera
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the spotted ratfish?
The spotted ratfish is a fish in the family Chimaeridae, part of the order Chimaeriformes and class Holocephali.
What is the scientific name of the spotted ratfish?
Its scientific name is Hydrolagus colliei, placed in the genus Hydrolagus.
Is the spotted ratfish endangered?
No. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List in a global assessment, which is not a threatened category.
What other names does the spotted ratfish have?
It is also called the ratfish and the white-spotted ratfish.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Spotted ratfish (Hydrolagus colliei). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/spotted-ratfish
“Spotted ratfish (Hydrolagus colliei).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/spotted-ratfish.
@misc{spotted_ratfish_2026,
title = {Spotted ratfish (Hydrolagus colliei)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/spotted-ratfish},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}