Fish that live in the cold waters of the Southern Ocean are smaller than their counterparts that live in warmer waters.

Why ?

Scientists from the University of Plymouth and the British Antarctic Survey provide an explanation in their study published on Tuesday and relayed by the

Huffington Post

.

Antarctica is home to around 20,000 species.

In their study, the researchers focused on two typical cold-water fish: the Antarctic spiny bullfish (Harpagifer antarcticus) and the shanny (Lipophyrs pholis), also known as the common blenny.

They realized that during their lifetime, these two fish had adapted to extreme water temperatures by limiting protein production.

BAS and @PlymUni scientists have shown that Antarctic fish have lost the ability to grow at the same rate as their warm water cousins ​​🐟 Find out why this highlights the urgent need to protect delicate ecosystems against global warming on the BAS website: https:// t.co/z6HJMn6ftv pic.twitter.com/kk8oOiPKnE

— British Antarctic Survey (@BAS_News) March 10, 2022

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less greedy fish

According to scientists, these fish eat 20% less food than their warm-water cousins.

Their protein production is also less efficient, while their organisms degrade them as much as other fish.

Result: their growth is considerably reduced.

Antarctic fish grow half as fast as their counterparts in temperate waters, the researchers explain.

And even if they found themselves in a more temperate environment, their growth would not be modified.

They simply adapted to this environment.

As a consequence of this adaptation, species living in icy waters would not tolerate too high a rise in temperature.

“Antarctic fish are highly thermally constrained and cannot live long-term at temperatures much higher than they currently experience,” says Keiron Fraser, lead author of the study.

Another problem that these species could encounter in the event of changes in water temperature: predators in temperate waters could come and hunt them.

Smaller than them, they would become easy prey.

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  • Planet

  • Ocean

  • Animals

  • Global warming

  • Antarctic

  • Fish

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