What’s Jonah’s icefish?

Jonah’s icefish is an antarctic deep water fish. The name Jonah refers to the Old Testament whale story, alluding to how this type of icefish was discovered (in the stomach of a whale). Icefish absorb the oxygen-rich Antarctic waters through their skin. They thrive in temperatures just above freezing temperatures with massive hearts and transparent blood because they lack hemoglobin and red blood cells.

What is the largest fish breeding colony ever discovered?

A breeding colony of Jonah’s icefish (Neopagetopsis ionah) globally unprecedented in scale has been discovered in the southern Weddell Sea, Antarctica. In a paper published Jan. 13, 2022, in Current Biology, scientists estimated the colony of Jonah’s icefish stretches across 92 square miles (240 square km), totaling 60 million active nests — the largest fish breeding colony ever discovered.