Icefish | |
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Chionodraco hamatus | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Perciformes |
Suborder: | Notothenioidei |
Family: | Channichthyidae T. N. Gill, 1861[1] |
Genera | |
The crocodile icefish or white-blooded fish comprise a family (Channichthyidae) of notothenioid fish found in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. They are the only known vertebrates to lack hemoglobin in their blood as adults.[2] Icefish populations are known to reside in the Atlantic and Indian sectors of the Southern Ocean, as well as the continental shelf waters surrounding Antarctica.[3] Water temperatures in these regions remain relatively stable, generally ranging from −1.8 to 2 °C (28.8 to 35.6 °F).[4] One icefish, Champsocephalus esox, is distributed north of the Antarctic Polar Frontal Zone.[3] At least 16 species of crocodile icefish are currently recognized,[2] although eight additional species have been proposed for the icefish genus Channichthys.[5]
In February 2021, scientists discovered and documented a breeding colony of Neopagetopsis ionah icefish estimated to have 60 million active nests across an area of approximately 92 square miles at the bottom of the Weddell Sea in Antarctica.[6] The majority of nests were occupied by one adult fish guarding an approximated estimate of 1,735 eggs in each nest.[7]
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