crocodile icefish

crocodile icefish
Chionodraco hamatus
systematics
acanthomorphata Acanthopteryx (Acanthopterygii) Perch relatives (Percomorphaceae) order : Perciformes (Perciformes) Subordination : Antarctic fish (Notothenioidei) family : crocodile icefish
Scientific name
Channichthyidae
Gil , 1861

Crocodile icefish (Channichthyidae ( Gr .: channe , -es = anchovy , ichthys = fish)) live only in the Southern Ocean , on the shelf of Antarctica and southern South America .

features

They are 25 to 72 cm long predatory fish that have a large, spiked head and a flattened, pike-like snout. The mouth cannot be protruded (not protractile). The soft, gelatinous body is scaleless. Their gill membranes have grown together. The pelvic fins are broad or long. Crocodile icefish have 22 to 31 vertebrae. Your ribs are not ossified.

Their blood and gills are almost colorless. They lack the red blood cells and thus the hemoglobin , the muscles lack the myoglobin . Breathing oxygen is physically bound in the blood plasma . Survival is secured by the extremely cold, very oxygen-rich water, additional skin respiration and a very large blood volume.

genera and species

Chaenocephalus aceratus

Cryodraco atkinsoni

Juvenile Icefish

Neopagetopsis ionah

• Genus Chaenocephalus
  • Scotia Sea icefish ( Chaenocephalus aceratus ( Lönnberg , 1906))
• Genus Chaenodraco
  • Spiny icefish ( Chaenodraco wilsoni Regan, 1914)
• Genus Champsocephalus
  • Champsocephalus esox (Günther, 1861)
  • Banded icefish ( Champsocephalus gunnari Lönnberg, 1905)
• Genus Channichthys
  • Channichthys panticapaei Shandikov, 1995
  • Channichthys rhinoceratus Richardson, 1844
  • Channichthys rugosus Regan, 1913
  • Channichthys velifer Meisner, 1974
• Genus Chionobathyscus
  • Chionobathyscus dewitti Andriashev & Neyelov, 1978
• Genus Chionodraco
  • Chionodraco hamatus (Lonnberg, 1905)
  • Chionodraco myersi DeWitt & Tyler, 1960
  • Chionodraco rastrospinosus DeWitt & Hureau, 1979
• Genus Cryodraco
  • Cryodraco antarcticus Dollo, 1900
  • Cryodraco atkinsoni Regan, 1914
  • Cryodraco Pappenheimi Regan, 1913
• Genus Dacodraco
  • Dacodraco hunteri Waite, 1916
• Genus Neopagetopsis
  • Neopagetopsis ionah Nybelin, 1947
• Genus Pagetopsis
  • Pagetopsis macropterus (Boulenger, 1907)
  • Pagetopsis maculatus Barsukov & Permitin, 1958
• Genus Pseudochaenichthys
  • Pseudochaenichthys georgianus Norman, 1937

literature

• Joseph S Nelson : Fishes of the World. John Wiley & Sons, 2006, ISBN 0-471-25031-7 .
• Kurt Fiedler: Textbook of Special Zoology, Volume II, Part 2: Fishes . Gustav Fischer Verlag Jena, 1991, ISBN 3-334-00339-6 .

web links

Commons : Crocodile Icefish  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Crocodile Icefish at Fishbase.org