Chimera fish. Hare! But not a simple one, but a water one. Deep-sea chimeras of the seas and oceans

This fish is not one of the most popular sea ​​creatures. It is quite rare and many, having heard the name, will not even understand what we are talking about. Let's try to eliminate this ignorance a little. Chimera fish belong to the benthic and deep-sea inhabitants of the deep sea. This applies to all its known varieties. It is distributed in all oceans and seas of the Southern and Northern Hemispheres. Feeds small fish, crustaceans, mollusks and starfish. It has a length of up to one and a half meters.

general information

The chimera fish, although clumsy and slow, is well suited for searching for prey on the seabed, such as shellfish. Some species of this underwater inhabitant are armed with a poisonous dorsal spine, which is an unexpected and real surprise for sharks and other predators who dare to attack it.

Let's find out what a chimera is.
The fish, the photo of which is in front of you, looks very funny, but that is until you learn about its poisonous weapon. How does she look for a tasty treat in the darkness, silt and algae? The chimera is superbly helped in this by its nose, which digs the bottom of the sea and has special receptors for searching. She lives and hunts mostly in shallow seas, but there are representatives who prefer to search for prey in deep waters.

Features of the chimera


“Silver trumpet” is the name of the chimera in New Zealand, served fried and with chips. And “White fillet” is an Australian delicacy. Let's say you come across a chimera fish. Is it possible to eat it? The answer is simple - of course, you can.

Types of chimeras and their habitats

There are three main types of our fish:

  1. The chimera with a plow-shaped head belongs to the family Callorhynchidae, lives in shallow coastal waters and, thanks to its sensitive, unusually shaped snout, successfully finds mollusks in the sandy bottom.
  2. Blunt-nosed, belongs to the family Chimaeridae, lives in deeper and darker waters, up to 500 meters deep. Thanks to its hypersensitive eyes, the ghost shark quickly and easily spots starfish and other local inhabitants of sea waters suitable for eating.
  3. The long-nosed chimera fish from the family Rhinochimaeridae lives at even greater depths and has a sensitive elongated snout, which is designed to search for mollusks where there is no light at all.

The chimera fish itself, as the photo confirms, is very beautiful, with silvery spotted sides.

Chimera fish: how to cook in the oven

People from the camp that decided that it is quite edible claim that sea rabbit dishes are very tasty. In addition, you can often see this delicacy on store shelves. There is one plus here - the creepy-looking chimera is sold already cleaned. So, at the end of our introductory article, we will tell you the recipe for preparing our fish with vegetables in the oven.

For this we will need the following ingredients: one sea rabbit carcass, one carrot, one onion, fish seasonings, salt, half a lemon and a few tablespoons of vegetable oil.

The process of preparing a chimera in the oven

Let's start cooking with vegetables, since they need to be stewed first. Peel the carrots and grate them on a coarse grater. Place the frying pan on the fire, pour a little vegetable oil and lay out the vegetable. Next, we peel it to taste much more tender than usual, cut it into half rings and also put it in the frying pan. Mix the vegetables, add salt, add a little water (a few tablespoons) and cover with a lid. Stirring from time to time, simmer until fully cooked. It's time to get your hands on the fish. We cut off the short fin on the carcass with scissors. After that, cut it into small pieces. Pour seasonings and salt into a small saucer, mix them and rub each piece of fish with this mixture.

It will marinate while our vegetables are stewing. As soon as the onions and carrots are ready, take a baking dish and transfer the vegetables into it. There is no need to pre-grease the baking sheet with oil. Next, place pieces of chimera fish on top of the vegetables and squeeze the juice of half a lemon onto it. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees, place the mold in it, and after 20 minutes delicious dish ready. It should be served hot with a side dish of rice or mashed potatoes. Bon appetit!

The most mysterious inhabitants of the ocean depths are chimera-like fish, or chimeras. Very little is known about their lifestyle, especially their reproductive biology.

Oceanologists literally collected information about these creatures bit by bit so that today we could get to know some of them.

Science knows very little about chimeras.

Deep-sea chimeras of the seas and oceans

The modern group, belonging to the cartilaginous order, includes approximately 50 species of chimera-like fish. Most of them live at a depth of 500 meters or more, where it is extremely difficult and sometimes simply impossible to study their behavior. Today it is known that:

  • the length of these creatures can reach 1.5 meters;
  • they feed on invertebrates and smaller fish;
  • fish are dioecious;
  • fish lay eggs.
  • Chimera fish live exclusively in sea water.

Appearance and structure

The streamlined body of chimeras gradually narrows and ends in a long, writhing, cord-like tail half the length of the body. It is called whip-shaped. Adults grow from 0.6 to 1.5 meters. It is possible that there are larger fish.


Adult chimera fish reach 1.5 meters

The pectoral fins are large and wing-shaped. They are the ones who give chimeras their characteristic appearance and create the illusion of flight. The abdominal ones are much smaller in size and are located near the anus.

Fish swim slowly, the movements of the pectoral fins are wave-like.

The lateral line is open and is a groove located on the sides of the head and body. With its help, chimeras perceive water vibrations and vibrations created by the movement of other inhabitants of the depths. The line is used for orientation external environment and during the hunt. In some species it consists of a part of special receptors that detect electrical vibrations.


Chimeras swim slowly

The body is “naked”, covered with mucus. The skeleton consists of cartilage tissue. The skull is connected to the jaws by one joint and is called hyostylous. On the sides there are two gill openings covered with skin folds. Fish breathe with their mouths closed, drawing in water through their nostrils. It enters the gills, which communicate with the oral cavity.

There are also two dorsal fins. The one closer to the head is set vertically, it has a short base and a large spine - in some it is poisonous. If necessary, it fits into a special “groove” on the back. The other is shorter with a long base and does not fold.

The mouth is downward positioned and full of creepy chewing plates. Males have pterygopodia - copulatory organs. With their help, seminal fluid is introduced into the female's cloaca.

Once on land, chimera-like fish die very quickly. They take root extremely poorly in aquarium conditions.

Fertilization and reproduction

In dioecious chimeras insemination occurs during mating. All species of the order Chimaeras are characterized by oviparity - laying eggs. The embryo develops and is released from the membranes outside the mother's body.

The female’s ovaries can contain up to 100 eggs at a time, but they mature and lay two at a time.

Each egg of chimeras, like some other species of fish, is enclosed in a capsule - a cartilaginous shell. It is equipped with a thread-like appendage. After leaving the female's body, the egg falls to the bottom or gets caught on plants.

The development of the embryo lasts about 9-12 months. Interestingly, during development, special filaments appear at the head - external gills. It is likely that with their help the embryo absorbs the yolk of the egg and receives oxygen. After birth, the threads disappear. The hatched fry are similar to their parents in everything.

Chimeras reproduce by laying eggs.

Cartilage shells are very light and consist of collagen threads. Empty capsules quite often end up in fishermen's nets and are washed ashore during storms and high tides. People call such finds mermaid or devil purses.

Very little is known about mating games and the mating process, since studying this side of the life of chimeras at great depths is very problematic.

Estimated diet

Traditionally, it was believed that chimeras feed only on solid food - mollusks and crustaceans. This opinion was formed due to the structure of the jaw apparatus, which is capable of crushing a hunted object with a force of 100 Newton.

Direct studies, although few in number, suggest that the diet of chimeras includes:

  • polychaetes - polychaete worms;
  • crabs;
  • crayfish;
  • lobsters;
  • shrimps;
  • small bottom fish.

Chimeras have cases of cannibalism

There are known cases of cannibalism when chimeras ate not only eggs, but also adult representatives of their small species.

Many representatives of chimaeras have special devices for attracting prey - photophores. They are located near the mouth and glow in the dark. The food itself floats directly into the predator’s mouth.

There are practically no natural enemies due to the deep-sea lifestyle. Close relatives are sharks and rays.

The most famous representatives of chimaeras

The Chimera genus consists of 6 species. Among them are the most studied. These include the European and Cuban chimeras, the family Collarhynchidae and Rhinochimeraceae.

Information about them is in many encyclopedias, but they are scanty and full of assumptions.

European (Chimaera monstrosa) and Cuban (Ch. cubana)

Range: Eastern Atlantic. Reaches a length of 1.5 meters. The back is red-brown, the sides are silver with yellow-brown spots. Eyes are green. The fins have a black-brown border along the edges.


Chimera habitat: Eastern Atlantic

It is found at a depth of 200−500 meters, off the coast of Morocco up to 700 meters. Single individuals are caught in the network, but in the spring there are richer catches off the coast of Norway - up to several dozen pieces. Other names are chimera hare, sea rabbit or rat.

Eggs are laid all year round, with the exception of the autumn months.

The European chimera is not eaten. Fat is used to lubricate wounds.

The habitat of the Cuban Chimera is the coast of Cuba, the waters of Japan, the Yellow Sea and the Philippine Islands. Outwardly similar to the European one, that’s why it was previously mistaken for it. The depth of residence is 400−500 meters.


Chimeras are found at a depth of 200 m

Genus Hydrolagus

There are 15-16 species. Habitat: North Atlantic, Japan, Australian waters, South Africa, New Zealand, Philippines, Hawaii and North America.

The American hydrolag has been studied better than others. He often found along the American coast and lives at a depth of only 40−60 meters.

It is smaller than the European chimera and sometimes completely fills fishermen's nets. It reproduces all year round, most intensively in August-September.

Observations in the aquarium showed that the female marks capsules for approximately 30 hours. They do not separate immediately and hang on elastic threads for several days, dragging behind them. Then they fall off and sink to the bottom.

Fish is not eaten, and the fat is used for technical lubrication of mechanical parts.


Chimeras are not used as food.

Nosed chimeras

They belong to the Rhinochimeraceae family. The snout is elongated and pointed. Pterygopodia in males are entire. These are the deepest representatives - presumably they live at a depth of up to 2.5 km. Known only from rare finds on the shore. Biology has not been studied.

Family Callorhynchaceae

The proboscis family is represented by only one genus - Collarynchi. The front part of the muzzle is extended into a trunk, flattened on the sides. At the end there is a leaf-shaped blade, bent back. Presumably, this organ serves as a kind of locator. Lives in the waters of the Southern Hemisphere.

The color is greenish-yellow, with three black stripes on the sides. Tail without a thin ending.

Off the coast of New Zealand it is mined on an industrial scale and used for food. The taste is excellent, but as soon as the meat sits for a little while without processing, the smell of ammonia appears.

Chimeras are still little studied, so major discoveries are yet to come.

The deep waters of the mysterious oceans are inhabited by mysterious creatures. 400 million years ago, an unusual underwater inhabitant appeared - the chimera fish.

This creature is sometimes called a ghost shark. And this fish received the name chimera for its appearance. The point is that in Greek mythology There was a legend about a monstrous woman whose entire body was formed from parts of various animals. Seeing a fish with a strange appearance, the ancient Greeks decided that its body was not at all like an ordinary fish - but as if it was also made up of animal parts. That is why the chimera fish got its name.

This fish belongs to the cartilaginous fish, represents the order Chimera, family Chimaera.

Among the class of cartilaginous fish, chimeras were the very first to appear on our planet. They are considered distant relatives. Today, scientists have counted about 50 species of these unusual fish on our planet.

Appearance of chimera fish

The body length of an adult reaches 1.5 meters. The skin of these fish is smooth, with multi-colored tints. In males, between the eyes on the head there is a bone growth (spike) that has a curved shape.

The tail of these fish is very long, reaching a size equal to half the length of the entire body. A distinctive feature of the appearance of these representatives of the chimaera family can be called large wing-shaped lateral fins. By straightening them, the chimera becomes somewhat similar to a bird.


The colors of these fish are very diverse, but the predominant colors are light gray and black with frequent and large white patches throughout the surface. In the front part of the body, near the dorsal fin, chimeras have poisonous outgrowths; they are very strong and sharp. The animal uses them for its own protection.

Where does the “ghost shark” live?

Representatives of chimera fish can be found in the eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean - from Norway to Iceland, from Mediterranean Sea to the southern coast of the African continent. In addition, these creatures live in the Barents Sea.

Behavior in nature

These fish are inhabitants of deep waters. They can be found at depths of over 2.5 kilometers. They lead a rather secretive lifestyle. That is why scientists still cannot study these creatures in detail.

It is only known that these fish hunt in the dark, by touch. To attract prey, they use special devices of the oral apparatus - photophores. These “devices” emit a glow, and the victim itself floats towards the light, right into the mouth of the chimera.


What constitutes the basis of the diet of deep-sea chimera fish?

These cartilaginous fish feed mainly on mollusks, echinoderms, and crustaceans. They can eat other fish that live at the same depths as the chimeras themselves. To eat armored and echinoderm animals that have sharp spines on their bodies, the chimera has sharp teeth that have decent strength and a strong grip.

How do chimeras breed their offspring?

These fish are dioecious creatures. After females mate with males, females lay eggs, which are placed in a special hard capsule.


The reproduction process, just like the lifestyle of these fish, is currently poorly studied by scientists.

Natural enemies of chimeras

Due to their deep-sea lifestyle, chimera fish have virtually no enemies. But there is one caveat: young individuals of these fish are often eaten by their own relatives, only older in age. That's what they are, these underwater predators!

Range and habitat

The European chimera lives in the North Atlantic and adjacent seas of the Arctic Ocean. Distributed off the coast of Norway, Iceland, Ireland, Great Britain, France, Italy, Portugal, Morocco, the Azores and Madeira, in the Mediterranean Sea. Evidence of the presence of this species in South African waters requires confirmation. This marine bathydemersal oceanodromous fish is found at depths ranging from 40 to 1400 m. In the north it most often lives at depths of 200-500 m, and in the south - 350-700 m. In winter it approaches the shores; at this time, the European chimera is found in the Norwegian fiords at a depth of 90-180 m.

Appearance

The head is thick with a rounded snout. The eyes are large. The mouth is lower, small, transverse. There are 4 large beak-shaped dental plates on the upper jaw and 2 on the lower jaw. The body is elongated, becoming very thin at the rear. The narrow, whip-like tail ends in a long thread. The pectoral fins are very large. The first dorsal fin is high and short, with a strong long spine at the anterior edge; the second dorsal fin in the form of a low border that reaches the beginning of the caudal fin. The anal fin is small. There is a system of sensory channels on the head. The skin is bare and soft, occasionally covered with rudimentary spines. The color of the dorsal surface is dark brown with a reddish tint, the sides are covered with spots, the ventral side is light. The caudal, anal and posterior part of the second dorsal fin have a blackish-brown edge. The length of adult chimeras reaches 1.5 m, and the maximum recorded weight is 2.5 kg.

Males have a thin bony growth bent in front between the eyes. The skin is smooth and has a variety of colors.

Biology

Lays eggs enclosed in a horny capsule. Reproduction all year round. Up to 200 eggs develop in the ovaries of females. The female lays two eggs several times without repeated fertilization. Before laying, the female carries the eggs attached to the bronchial openings of the oviducts. Then she lays them on the bottom at fairly large depths, sometimes up to 400 m. The diameter of the yolk is 26 mm. The capsule has a fin-like edge up to 4 mm high. The lower end of the capsule is cylindrical in shape, the upper one has the appearance of a narrow thread-like appendage, which serves to attach the egg. The capsule length is 163-77 mm, width is about 25 mm. The length of the appendage is 30-40 mm. The capsule is shiny brown to olive green. The eggs take about a year to develop. Newborns hatch fully formed. Juveniles are rarely seen. There are known cases of capture off the Faroe Islands at a depth of 1000 m and off Ireland at a depth of 600 m. Juveniles are 11 cm long. Males are generally smaller than females.

The European chimera is a benthophage. Its diet consists mainly of invertebrates: crustaceans, mollusks, worms and echinoderms. Sometimes there is fish in the stomach.

Human interaction

At the beginning of the 20th century, fish had no commercial value: the meat was considered inedible, but sometimes the fat extracted from their liver was used in medicine or as a lubricant. Eggs were considered a delicacy. In Norway, healing agents were attributed to the chimera's liver. The meat is tough, but in some countries it is eaten.

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Notes

  1. Reshetnikov Yu. S., Kotlyar A. N., Rass T. S., Shatunovsky M. I. Five-language dictionary of animal names. Fish. Latin, Russian, English, German, French. / under the general editorship of academician. V. E. Sokolova. - M.: Rus. lang., 1989. - P. 49. - 12,500 copies. - ISBN 5-200-00237-0.
  2. FishBase (English)
  3. Commercial fish of Russia. In two volumes / Ed. O. F. Gritsenko, A. N. Kotlyar and B. N. Kotenev. - M.: publishing house VNIRO, 2006. - T. 1. - P. 58. - 624 p. - ISBN 5-85382-229-2.
  4. // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
  5. (English) (PDF). ICES (2005). Retrieved January 24, 2013. .
  6. (English) (PDF). ICES (2006). Retrieved January 24, 2013. .
  7. : information on the IUCN Red List website (English)

Links

  • : information on the IUCN Red List website (English)
  • European chimeraWorld Register of Marine Species) (English) December 29, 2009
  • in the FishBase database (English)
  • on "The Marine Fauna Gallery of Norway" (English)
  • in the encyclopedia "Animal Life"
  • Species in the World Register marine species (World Register of Marine Species) (English)

An excerpt characterizing the European chimera

Konovnitsyn immediately realized that the news brought was of great importance and that there was no time to delay. Whether it was good or bad, he did not think or ask himself. He wasn't interested. He looked at the whole matter of war not with his mind, not with reasoning, but with something else. There was a deep, unspoken conviction in his soul that everything would be fine; but that you don’t need to believe this, and especially don’t say this, but just do your job. And he did this work, giving it all his strength.
Pyotr Petrovich Konovnitsyn, just like Dokhturov, only as if out of decency was included in the list of so-called heroes of the 12th year - the Barclays, Raevskys, Ermolovs, Platovs, Miloradovichs, just like Dokhturov, enjoyed the reputation of a person of very limited abilities and information, and, like Dokhturov, Konovnitsyn never made plans for battles, but was always where it was most difficult; he always slept with the door open since he was appointed general on duty, ordering everyone sent to wake him up, he was always under fire during the battle, so Kutuzov reproached him for this and was afraid to send him, and was, like Dokhturov, alone one of those inconspicuous gears that, without rattling or making noise, constitute the most essential part of the machine.
Coming out of the hut into the damp, dark night, Konovnitsyn frowned, partly from the intensifying headache, partly from the unpleasant thought that came into his head about how this whole nest of staff, influential people would now be agitated at this news, especially Bennigsen, who was after Tarutin at knifepoint with Kutuzov; how they will propose, argue, order, cancel. And this premonition was unpleasant for him, although he knew that he could not live without it.
Indeed, Tol, to whom he went to tell the new news, immediately began to express his thoughts to the general who lived with him, and Konovnitsyn, who listened silently and tiredly, reminded him that he needed to go to His Serene Highness.

Kutuzov, like all old people, slept little at night. He often dozed off unexpectedly during the day; but at night, without undressing, lying on his bed, he mostly did not sleep and thought.
So he lay now on his bed, leaning his heavy, large, disfigured head on his plump arm, and thought, with one eye open, peering into the darkness.
Since Bennigsen, who corresponded with the sovereign and had the most power in the headquarters, avoided him, Kutuzov was calmer in the sense that he and his troops would not be forced to again participate in useless offensive actions. The lesson of the Tarutino battle and its eve, painfully memorable for Kutuzov, should also have had an effect, he thought.
“They must understand that we can only lose by acting offensively. Patience and time, these are my heroes!” – thought Kutuzov. He knew not to pick an apple while it was green. It will fall on its own when it is ripe, but if you pick it green, you will spoil the apple and the tree, and you will set your teeth on edge. He, as an experienced hunter, knew that the animal was wounded, wounded as only the entire Russian force could wound, but whether it was fatal or not was a question that had not yet been clarified. Now, according to the dispatches of Lauriston and Berthelemy and according to the reports of the partisans, Kutuzov almost knew that he was mortally wounded. But more evidence was needed, we had to wait.
“They want to run and see how they killed him. Wait and see. All maneuvers, all attacks! - he thought. - For what? Everyone will excel. There's definitely something fun about fighting. They are like children from whom you can’t get any sense, as was the case, because everyone wants to prove how they can fight. That's not the point now.
And what skillful maneuvers all these offer me! It seems to them that when they invented two or three accidents (he remembered the general plan from St. Petersburg), they invented them all. And they all have no number!”
The unresolved question of whether the wound inflicted in Borodino was fatal or not fatal had been hanging over Kutuzov’s head for a whole month. On the one hand, the French occupied Moscow. On the other hand, undoubtedly with his whole being Kutuzov felt that that terrible blow, in which he, together with all the Russian people, strained all his strength, should have been fatal. But in any case, proof was needed, and he had been waiting for it for a month, and the more time passed, the more impatient he became. Lying on his bed on his sleepless nights, he did the very thing that these young generals did, the very thing for which he reproached them. He came up with all possible contingencies in which this certain, already accomplished death of Napoleon would be expressed. He came up with these contingencies in the same way as young people, but with the only difference that he did not base anything on these assumptions and that he saw not two or three, but thousands. The further he thought, the more of them appeared. He came up with all kinds of movements of the Napoleonic army, all or parts of it - towards St. Petersburg, against it, bypassing it, he came up with (which he was most afraid of) and the chance that Napoleon would fight against him with his own weapons, that he would remain in Moscow , waiting for him. Kutuzov even dreamed up the movement of Napoleon’s army back to Medyn and Yukhnov, but one thing he could not foresee was what happened, that crazy, convulsive rushing of Napoleon’s army during the first eleven days of his speech from Moscow - the throwing that made it possible something that Kutuzov still did not dare to think about even then: the complete extermination of the French. Dorokhov's reports about Broussier's division, news from the partisans about the disasters of Napoleon's army, rumors about preparations for departure from Moscow - everything confirmed the assumption that the French army was defeated and was about to flee; but these were only assumptions that seemed important to young people, but not to Kutuzov. With his sixty years of experience, he knew what weight should be attributed to rumors, he knew how capable people who want something are of grouping all the news so that they seem to confirm what they want, and he knew how in this case they willingly miss everything that contradicts. And the more Kutuzov wanted this, the less he allowed himself to believe it. This question occupied all his mental strength. Everything else was for him just the usual fulfillment of life. Such habitual fulfillment and subordination of life were his conversations with staff, letters to m me Stael, which he wrote from Tarutin, reading novels, distributing awards, correspondence with St. Petersburg, etc. n. But the death of the French, foreseen by him alone, was his spiritual, only desire.

Today, the abundance of seafood products is so great that it is quite difficult to surprise their connoisseurs.

However, only recently has a mysterious fish, popularly called a sea hare, appeared on the wider market. Fans of culinary experiments will probably be interested in what kind of amazing creature this is and how it should be eaten.

What it looks like and where it is found

The true name of this fish sounds ominous - European chimera (Chimaera monstrosa). She belongs to the chimera cartilaginous fish and is found in the waters of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, and is also found in the Barents Sea.

Did you know? The sea hare does not have a swim bladder, like a shark, so it is forced to constantly move to stay afloat.

Outwardly, this marine inhabitant does not look very attractive; his character traits- a large triangular head, a massive jaw and a long thread-like tail. This fish is called a hare because of some external similarity of its muzzle with a hare.

Some seafood sellers call it a sea rabbit, but this is erroneous, since the sea rabbit is a separate representative of the underwater kingdom, which is a mollusk.

Calorie content and chemical composition

Marine chimera meat is a low-calorie dietary food:

  • the calorie content of 100 grams of sea hare fillet is only 116 kcal;
  • the meat contains essential omega-3 fatty acids;
  • Chimera fillet is rich in vitamins A, E and D.

Beneficial features

Like any seafood, the European chimera has a lot of useful properties:

  • first and most importantly, sea hare fillet is an ideal source of easily digestible protein, which is especially valuable for athletes and people involved in physical labor;
  • the presence of fatty acids in meat has a beneficial effect on the condition of the skin, hair, nails, internal organs, in particular the liver, regulates cholesterol levels in the blood;

    Important! Few people know that the European chimera has a poisonous upper fin, so when cutting up a carcass you need to be extremely careful, trying not to touch it and get hurt.

  • vitamins A, E, D, present in the fillet of this fish, are useful for exhaustion and hypervitaminosis.

Contraindications and harm

Of course, like any other product, sea hare meat is not healthy for everyone and not always:

  • First of all, you need to take into account that this fish most often feeds at the bottom of the reservoir - accordingly, it is possible that it ate carrion and toxic products;
  • like most seafood, chimera is a highly allergenic food, so it is best avoided by allergy sufferers, children under 3 years of age and pregnant women.

How to cook in the oven

The sea hare is an infrequent guest on the shelves of shops and markets; more often it can be found in restaurants as an exquisite delicacy. Indeed, preparing a chimera without certain experience and secrets may end in failure.

Its meat is quite tough, but at the same time juicy; when cooked correctly, it has a faint fishy taste and a dense consistency. If the fish was not fresh or the fins were damaged when cutting the carcass, the finished fillet will taste bitter.
To avoid this, you need to buy seafood only in trusted places equipped with refrigerators. A fresh chimera should have clear eyes and red gills. There are quite a few recipes for preparing sea hare, but it must be taken into account that simply frying it in oil is not practical due to the specific nature of the meat.

You can best appreciate the taste of fish by baking it in the oven under various marinades and sauces that add juiciness and piquancy. Sea hare fillet turns out very tasty if you bake it under a double coat.

For this you will need:

  • fish (1–2 medium carcasses);
  • ground black pepper;
  • spice mix for fish;
  • greenery ;
  • salted cucumbers(3–4 pieces of medium size);
  • (3-4 cloves);
  • (1 PC.);
  • (approximately 300 g);
  • (1 glass);
  • (2 tablespoons);
  • fresh champignons (about 200 g);