Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 06/12/2013 - 06:53
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Biology of Antarctic Fishes 2013

Hi Paula, Spent some time catching up on your journal. The video of your chaenocephalus aceratus was intriguing. Several shots show them supporting themselves with ventral fins. Do they have any special adaptations for this? What about for locomotion? Damon

Thu, 06/13/2013 - 17:41

Paula Dell

Hey Damon,Was wondering why I hadn't heard from you. You are absolutely right
about resting on their ventral side fins - called pelvic fins. They are
benthic and mostly sit at the bottom (they have no swim bladder) and
wait for their prey. If you look close you will see they are pretty long
and have a little bend at the bottom, like little stems. They have
really strong pectoral fins. They swim with those as do the other
icefish. It's called labriform locomotion. I'm going to do a journal on
this stuff as it's pretty cool. Nice to hear from you. I gotta be quick
as I have very limited internet when I'm on the ship. Should be back on
station Saturday.
Paula