Por David Doubilet
Antarctic icefishes have translucent bodies and blood
The blood of an icefish isn’t red. Instead, its blood runs white.
Kristin O’Brien is a biologist at University of Alaska Fairbanks, who studies an unusual family of fishes called icefishes. They’re found only in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica. They are unique because they are the only vertebrates in the world that lack the oxygen-binding protein hemoglobin, which is the protein that transports oxygen throughout the body and gives blood its red color. In other words, the blood of an icefish isn’t red. Instead, its blood runs a cloudy white. “I think these animals are among the most fascinating creatures on Earth,” Dr. O’Brien said
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
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1. X-Ray Image of a Winghead Shark:
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2. X-Ray Image of a Long-Spined Porcupine Fish:
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3. X-Ray Image of a Monterey Skate:
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CREDIT: © Sandra Raredon / Smithsonian Institution4. X-Ray Image of a Longnose Butterflyfish:An X-ray image of a longnose butterflyfish, Forcipiger longirostris, helps scientists study the fish’s complex bone structure.
CREDIT: Sandra J. Raredon / Smithsonian Institution
