This article is about icefishes in the family Channichthyidae. For icefishes in the family Salangidae, please see Noodlefish.

The icefishes (or white-blooded fishes) are a family (Channichthyidae) of perciform fish found in the cold waters around Antarctica and southern South America. Scientific classification or biological classification refers to how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Families many, see text The Perciformes, also called the Percomorphi or Acanthopteri, include about 40% of all fish and are the largest order of vertebrates. ... Atlantic herring, Clupea harengus, the most abundant fish species in the world. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ...

Antarctic icefish larvae
(click on the image for a larger version)

Their blood is transparent because they have no haemoglobin and no or only defunct erythrocytes. Their metabolism relies only on the oxygen dissolved in the liquid blood, which is believed to be absorbed directly through the skin from the water. This works because water can dissolve the most oxygen when it is coldest. Also, their muscles (except the heart muscle) lack myoglobin. These extraordinary properties seem to be an adaption to the extreme cold of their habitat. (Note that water temperature can drop below 0 °C (the freezing point of freshwater) in the Antarctic sea, but, on the other hand, stays rather constant.) Icefish Photo Credit: Kils Location: Antarctica High Resolution copyrighted version: http://www. ... Icefish Photo Credit: Kils Location: Antarctica High Resolution copyrighted version: http://www. ... Red blood cells (erythrocytes) are present in the blood and help carry oxygen to the rest of the cells in the body Blood is a circulating tissue composed of fluid plasma and cells (red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets). ... 3-dimensional structure of hemoglobin Hemoglobin or haemoglobin is the iron-containing oxygen-transport metalloprotein in the red cells of the blood in mammals and other animals. ... Human red blood cells Red blood cells are the most common type of blood cell and are the vertebrate bodys principal means of delivering oxygen to body tissues via the blood. ... General Name, Symbol, Number Oxygen, O, 8 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 16 (VIA), 2, p Density, Hardness 1. ... Myocardium is the muscular tissue of the heart. ... Myoglobin 3D structure. ...

Icefish feed on krill, copepods, and other fish. Binomial name Euphausia superba Dana, 1850 Krill is the Norwegian word for whale food. ... Orders Calanoida Cyclopoida Gelyelloida Harpacticoida Misophrioida Monstrilloida Mormonilloida Platycopioida Poecilostomatoida Siphonostomatoida Copepods are small, aquatic animals living in the sea and nearly every freshwater habitat, a form of plankton, specifically zooplankton, some copepods are parasitic. ...

External links

• Fishbase info for Channichthyidae (http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/FamilySummary.cfm?ID=384) (Note: They are called crocodile icefish here, but only icefish elsewhere.)
• A story about the use of the icefish for medical research (http://www.scienceblog.com/community/older/2001/C/200113692.html)