OSTEICHTHYES: PERCIFORMES: CHANNICHTHYIDAE: Chaenocephalus

Chaenocephalus aceratus Lönnberg, 1906

Scotia Sea ice fish

Photo & text by Dr. Robert Sprackland and Geoffrey N Swinney.  

 
Specimen photographed at the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh. 

Range: Pan-Antarctic seas, between eastern South America and South Africa.

Diagnosis:

Description:

Natural History: One of many fish made famous for its physiological ability to survive in sub-freezing water. This is due to an unusual glycoprotein in the bloodstream that resists freezing and allows the fish to thrive in supercooled environments. (Glycoprotein are molecular combinations of proteins and sugars.)

Reproduction:

Taxonomy & Relationships:

Variation:

Additional Comments: Genes from this and other species of sub-freezing waters have been incorporated into commercially grown food plants--notably in tomatoes--to allow crops to be more frost resistant. Such genetic engineering serves again to demonstrate how similar all life forms are to each other, and the universal nature of DNA.

Type Specimen: NRM SYD 1904508.3001.

 Literature: