Cape Elephantfish

Fascinating facts about the Cape Elephantfish

• A single Cape elephantfish can grow up to 120 cm (3.94 ft) and weigh as much as 5 kg (11 lb), with females generally larger than males. Their two dorsal fins sit far apart, and the first bears a long, serrated venomous spine that’s free for three-quarters of its length. This armature makes them one of the few chimaeras that can actually injure predators with their spines, turning a slow-moving bottom dweller into a surprisingly dangerous bite.
• Male Cape elephantfish develop claspers averaging 8.9 cm (3.5 in) long and a frontal tenaculum covered in denticles that harden at sexual maturity. During mating, these structures let the male grasp the female firmly, ensuring fertilization in the dim, murky waters where they live.
• Egg cases are about 18 cm (7.1 in) long, leathery, oval, with a frilled edge, a smooth side and a hairy side. They are usually laid in sand, making them less vulnerable to predation by gastropods.
• Cape elephantfish can be found down to 399 m (1,309 ft), but they become rarer with depth and prefer cold, murky bays with soft substrate. Juveniles hug the shoreline while adults move farther offshore, illustrating a clear life-stage shift in habitat use. This depth-related distribution explains why they are the only chimaera in the southeastern Atlantic that regularly ventures into shallow waters, exposing them to both predators and fisheries.
• Fisheries off the Cape land between 700 and 900 tons of Cape elephantfish each year, and unlike other chondrichthyans, they are not released when caught in beach-seine nets. Their schooling by sex and reliance on shallow nurseries mean a single trawl can wipe out a large portion of one gender, threatening population stability. This vulnerability underscores how even abundant-looking species can teeter on the edge of collapse when targeted by modern fishing practices.

At a glance

About the Cape Elephantfish

The Cape elephantfish (Callorhinchus capensis) glides through the cold, murky bays of South Africa’s continental shelf, its silver-to-bronze body brushed with a faint yellow hue. Adults range from 45 to 120 cm (1.48–3.94 ft) and weigh 3–5 kg, females typically outsize the males. A dark mid-back band is bisected by two widely spaced dorsal fins; the first bears a long, serrated, venomous spine that projects free for three-quarters of its length, while the second, slightly longer, trails behind the pelvic fins. Its heterocercal tail, with the vertebral column extending into the upper lobe, and enlarged pectoral fins betray a life spent hovering near the soft substrate, a classic deep-water, slow-moving adaptation. The most striking feature is its proboscis – a flat, cartilage-based snout ending in a narrow, curved tip capped by a three-times-as-long-as-broad skin flap, used to probe the sand for prey. At night, this nocturnal hunter uses the proboscis to uncover bivalves such as Phaxas decipens, crustaceans, occasional gastropods like Nassarius speciosus, polychaetes, and even the Southern African anchovy (Engraulis capensis). A surprising twist lies in its reproductive arsenal: males sport an 8.9 cm (3.5 in) claspers and a frontal tenaculum covered in denticles, while females develop a nidamental gland and a translucent, green semen plug that softens as the eggs mature, each leathery case measuring about 18 cm (7.1 in) with a frilled edge.

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