Icefish (family Channichthyidae, suborder Nothothenioidei) are a group of Antarctic fish that have evolved unique phenotypes in order to adapt to the environment in which they live. Besides the lack of haemoglobin and the drastic reduction in the number of erythrocyte-like cells, another striking feature of the icefish is that their liver is devoid of metallothionein. These cysteine-rich heavy-...

Seasonal changes in the diel feeding patterns of the zooplanktivorous icefish (Neosalanx taihuensis), which is an endemic species of China, were studied in the large, shallow eutrophic Lake Chaohu of China during the autumn of 2002 and summer of 2003. The results of the diel feeding rhythm indicate that icefish is a visual particulate feeder. There were large differences in diet composition and...

Seasonal changes in the diel feeding patterns of the zooplanktivorous icefish (Neosalanx taihuensis), which is an endemic species of China, were studied in the large, shallow eutrophic Lake Chaohu of China during the autumn of 2002 and summer of 2003. The results of the diel feeding rhythm indicate that icefish is a visual particulate feeder. There were large differences in diet composition and...

Antarctic notothenioids radiated over millions of years in subzero waters, evolving peculiar features, such as antifreeze glycoproteins and absence of heat shock response. Icefish, family Channichthyidae, also lack oxygen-binding proteins and display extreme modifications, including high mitochondrial densities in aerobic tissues. A genomic expansion accompanying the evolution of these fish was...

Stock dynamics and demographic parameters of a family of annual icefishes (Salangidae) were investigated in Lake Nanyi in eastern China before and after construction of irrigation infrastructure. After hydroregulation, two of four icefish species, a migratory species (Hemisalanx brachyrostralis) and a previously rare species (Neosalanx tangkahkeii) were absent from survey samples. The relative ...

Background Chinese clearhead icefish, Protosalanx hyalocranius , is a representative icefish species with economic importance and special appearance. Due to its great economic value in China, the fish was introduced into Lake Dianchi and several other lakes from the Lake Taihu half a century ago. Similar to the Sinocyclocheilus cavefish, the clearhead icefish has certain cavefish-like traits, s...

Climatic variations are known to engender life-history diversification of species and populations at large spatial scales. However, the extent to which microgeographic variations in climate (e.g., those occurring within a single large ecosystem) can also drive life-history divergence is generally poorly documented. We exploited a spatial gradient in water temperatures at three sites across a la...

Six of the 16 known species of Antarctic icefish (family Channichthyidae) have lost the ability to express cardiac myoglobin (Mb) via at least four independent events during radiation of these species. We report here that the lesion in Chaenocephalus aceratus Mb is a duplicated TATAAAA element that blocks transcription. This lesion is distinct from those of other icefish species that do not exp...

Aging Antarctic icefish is difficult because of their lack scales and poorly calcified bones. Icefish ages must therefore be estimated from otoliths. We describe a method reading daily micro-increments in connection with shape, size mass analyses the otoliths South Georgia Pseudochaenichthys georgianus . Changes otolith morphology correlate fish age group. The micro-increment analysis capable e...

Some say it could have been a global cooling event brought on by falling greenhouse-gas levels. Others argue that it was the drifting continents, which opened up Drake Passage and kick-started frigid, circumpolar currents. Whatever the reason, to the fish that lived on the Antarctic shelf about 34 million years ago, all that mattered was that it was getting cold, very cold. As the water tempera...