Fish of the Month

Ice fish – “White-Blooded Crocodile Fish”

On December 1, 1927, zoologist Ditlef Rustad pulled ashore on Bouvet Island, 1,750 kilometers off the coast of Antarctica, as part of a Norwegian expedition to claim the remote, wind-whipped island as a whaling outpost. Later that month, casting nets into the frigid waters, Rustad hauled up a very strange-looking fish. It had no scales and was very pale, even translucent in parts. Behind its protruding, crocodile-like jaw, he saw gills that were milky instead of the usual crimson. And when Rustad cut open the fish, he saw that its blood was transparent, like ice water. “Blod farvelöst,” he wrote in his notebook—“colorless blood.”

In a 1954 Nature paper, biochemist Johan Ruud confirmed that Chaenocephalus aceratus lacked red blood cells and hemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen around the body and gives blood its red color. “It was a shocking discovery,” says William Detrich of Northeastern University, who has spent most of his career studying C. aceratus and the other 15 recognized species in the family Channichthyidae, or the Antarctic icefishes. “Among the 50,000 or so species of known vertebrates, these fish are the only examples that lack both hemoglobin and red blood cells.”

COLORLESS BLOOD: Now known as Chaenocephalus aceratus, or the blackfin icefish, Rustad’s catch is one of 16 recognized species of Antarctic icefish—the only vertebrates known to lack hemoglobin and red blood cells. Thanks to the extremely high oxygen content of the Southern Ocean, the icefish appear to have survived the loss of globin genes long enough to make compensatory adaptations.PRIVATE COLLECTION, LIV S. SCHJERVE

Instead, icefish rely on oxygen dissolved in their plasma, which can transport only 10 percent as much oxygen as the hemoglobin-filled blood of most fish. Presumably to compensate, they developed much larger hearts and blood vessels, far denser capillary beds, and a much higher volume of blood. But “the icefish went through a period where they weren’t particularly well adapted,” Detrich notes. Indeed, they likely only survived the initial loss of hemoglobin as a result of the extremely high oxygen levels in the waters of the Southern Ocean—and the fact that they had so few competitors or predators.

Comparing icefish DNA with that of red-blooded fishes in 2006, Detrich identified the remnants of the two globin genes required to make hemoglobin. Since these genes were not entirely necessary for the survival of the icefish in their oxygen-rich sanctuary, Detrich hypothesizes, mutations could accumulate that rendered the genes nonfunctional without killing the fish. “Evolution is a tinkerer,” Detrich says. “It works with what’s available, and if what’s available isn’t needed, it gets thrown out.”

Though it is not the only example of this fundamental rule, the bizarre white-blooded fish hauled up by Rustad in 1927 is surely among the most extreme cases—a stark illustration of how even genes thought to be absolutely essential for vertebrate life can, in the right conditions, be allowed to perish. 

https://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/34797/title/-White-Blooded–Icefish–1927/

Date Night & Shopping Days

The Swim School will be hosting a Date Night once a month and Mom’s Day out Shopping in December.  Drop your kids off for a night or afternoon of swimming, pizza and movies.  Bring your swim suit & towel for swimming and a pillow & blanket for the movie.  Reservation Required.

Date Nights:

November 7th from 6:00p – 10:00p

Mom’s Day out Shopping

December 6th from 10:00a – 2:00p

December 13th from 10:00a – 2:00p

Cost

$35 for members and $45 for non members

Additional Siblings will receive $10 off

Spearfishing Clinic

There is really nothing better than fresh fish. Learn the in’s and out’s of spearfishing with an expert Spear-fisherman, Bill Merritt.Oil_Rigs

Class session will be held on Saturday, September 27th from Noon – 3pm at Gigglin’ Marlin.

Dives will be held on Sunday, September 28th from 10am – 2pm at Lake 288.

Gear not included.

Enroll Now

Equipment Specialist

equipment specialsit

Don’t miss a dive due to minor issues with your scuba diving equipment. Whether it’s a missing o-ring, wetsuit tear or a broken fin strap, the PADI Equipment Specialist course teaches you to manage basic repairs and adjustments. You’ll also learn more about how your gear works, making you more comfortable with it and better prepared to take care of your investment.

You’ll learn about routine care and maintenance procedures as well as scuba equipment storage recommendations. Your instructor, Bill Merritt will show you how to overcome some common equipment problems and offer equipment configuration suggestions.

If you’re at least 10 years old and certified as a PADI (Junior) Scuba Diver or higher, you can enroll in the Equipment Specialist course.

Aeris Jetpack

*No Baggage Fees

*No Expensive Dive Bags

*No Airline Lost Gear

AERIS JETPACK

Travel Simplified