Scientists have discovered a fish that hibernates: the Antarctic cod.
It was already known that the Antarctic cod had special "antifreeze" in its veins that allows it to live in near-freezing waters.
It was already known that the Antarctic cod had special "antifreeze" in its veins that allows it to live in near-freezing waters.
It was known that the fish, which became isolated from its northern cousins 30 million years ago, lives in life's slow lane, with extremely slow rates of growth, metabolism and swimming activity.
Now scientists have discovered that it can slow even these processes down in winter by entering a dormant state while sitting on the bottom.
The fish throws a seasonal "switch" between a high gear in which it maximises feeding and growth in summer and a low one where it maximises the energy used during the long, Antarctic winter.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/03/05/eacod105.xml
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/03/researchers-fin.html
1 comment:
Nice. I'm a big fan of cryptozoology, as well bizarre animals in general.
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