Rare Ice Fish with Transparent Blood
The Japanese aquarium, The Tokyo Sea Life Park, has revealed its latest exhibit, a rare ‘ice fish’ believed to be the only one in captivity in the world. Ice fish are unique due to their astonishingly clear blood. The fish have no scales, and their blood contains no hemoglobin, the substance that makes blood red. The ice fish is sometimes called a bloodless or white-blooded fish, because it lost its ability to make hemoglobin during its evolution. This makes the fish a medical curiosity.
Currently researchers are baffled by their lack of the key chemical - although they believe the fish can live without hemoglobin because they have unusually large hearts and use blood plasma to circulate oxygen throughout their bodies.
The species Chionodraco hamatus, one of the Antarctic’s ice fish, can withstand temperatures that freeze the blood of all other types of fish.
Neato~