The Only Vertebrate with Clear Blood: The Antarctic Icefish
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v11i4.3213Keywords:
animal sciences, cellular and molecular biology, genetics, systematics and evolution, physiologyAbstract
Today, the Channichthyidae are regarded to be one of the greatest anomalies in scientific history. As the only vertebrates to have clear blood, the Antarctic Icefish have abandoned a way of life that once supported its ancestors in the past, and one that supports animals in the present. The event that triggered this anomaly was the deletion of the β-globin subunit of the hemoglobin gene, rendering the gene to be completely obsolete. In addition to the loss of the hemoglobin gene, the myoglobin gene was also lost in all of the icefish species. Because Icefish could no longer transport oxygen through their blood, they lost their scales and adapted by diffusing oxygen into their blood plasma through their enlarged gills instead. The Icefish also have antifreeze proteins that bind to ice crystals to hinder their growth. It is in this manner that they are able to survive in the frigid waters of the Antarctic.
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