Callorhynchidae

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Callorhynchidae (elephant fish, plownose chimaera; subclass Holocephali, order Chimaeriformes) A small family of marine fish related distantly to the sharks and rays. They possess a cartilaginous skeleton and the club-shaped body terminates in a flexible process above the mouth resembling the trunk of an elephant, especially in the males. Unlike sharks, the elephant fish have a movable gill cover over the gill openings, and no spiracle. The males possess copulatory claspers on the ventral fins and the females produce eggs that are protected by a horny case. Fertilization is internal. The few species known are found in the southern hemisphere.

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