Blackfin Icefish Gallery

Acanthodraco dewitti. Is a species of Antarctic dragonfish native to the Southern Ocean including th Date: 18-Sep-15

Blackfin icefish, Chaenocephalus aceratus, swimming close to seabed. Unlike other vertebrates, fish of the Antarctic icefish family (Channichthyidae) do not use haemoglobin to transport oxygen around their bodies; instead, the small amount of oxygen that simply dissolves in blood plasma is utilized. Has totally transparent blood like clear water. It fails to express the major adult α-globin, α1, due to the same 5 truncation of the gene, and have lost the β-globin gene entirely. It is believed they benefit from loss of reliance on haemoglobin-containing erythrocytes for oxygen transport by having less viscous, more easily pumped blood. They compensate for this loss by having lower metabolic rates, larger gills, scaleless skin that can contribute more to gas exchange, wider capillaries and significantly increased blood volume and cardiac output. From Antarctic Peninsula. The ocean temperature in these regions usually remains within a few degrees of the freezing point of seawater, -2 °C (28 °F). Consequently, the blackfin icefish is a stenothermal ectotherm, meaning it has a narrow thermal tolerance range and a low upper thermal limit. The Southern Ocean has a high oxygen content, which allows the blackfin icefish to survive without haemoglobin

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