| Antarctic silverfish | |
|---|---|
| |
| Conservation status | |
 Least Concern (IUCN 3.1) | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Nototheniidae |
| Genus: | Pleuragramma Boulenger, 1902 |
| Species: | P. antarctica |
| Binomial name | |
| Pleuragramma antarctica Boulenger, 1902 | |
The Antarctic silverfish (Pleuragramma antarctica), or Antarctic herring, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Nototheniidae, the notothens or cod icefishes. It is native to the Southern Ocean and the only truly pelagic fish in the waters near Antarctica. It is a keystone species in the ecosystem of the Southern Ocean.
While widely distributed around the Antarctic, the species appears to have largely disappeared from the western side of the northern Antarctic Peninsula, based on a 2010 research cruise funded by the National Science Foundation under the US Antarctic Program.
Taxonomy
The Antarctic silverfish was first formally described in 1902 by the Belgian-born British zoologist George Albert Boulenger with the type locality given as Victoria Land in Antarctica. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Pleuagramma which was also described by Boulenger. Some authorities place this taxon in the subfamily Pleuragrammatinae, but the 5th edition of Fishes of the World does not include subfamilies in the Nototheniidae. The genus name is a compound of pleuro meaning "side" with a which means "without" and gramma meaning "line", an allusion to the absence of a lateral line.
Description
Antarctic silverfish usually grow to about 15 cm (5.9 in) in length, with a maximum of 25 cm (9.8 in). The maximum reported weight of this species is 200 g. Antarctic silverfish have a maximum reported age of 20 years. When alive, they are pink with a silver tint, but turn silver only after death. All the fins are pale. The dorsal side is slightly darker. This Antarctic marine fish is one of several in the region that produce antifreeze glycopeptides as an adaptation against the extreme cold of Antarctic waters.
Ecology
The postlarvae, 8–17 mm (0.31–0.67 in) in size, feed on eggs of calanoids (Calanoida), sea snails Limacina and tintinnids (Tintinnida). The postlarvae live at depths of up to 135 metres (443 ft). Juveniles feed on copepods (Copepoda), mostly on Oncaea curvata and can be found at depths of 50 to 400 m (160–1,310 ft), while adults can be found at depths 0–728 m (0–2,388 ft). As their size increases, so does the size of their prey items. Mature females may spawn for the first time at 7–9 years of age.
Antarctic silverfish are the most abundant pelagic fish species in the High Antarctic shelf waters of the Southern Ocean and are important high-caloric prey species for high-trophic animals such as Adelie penguins, marine flying birds and Weddell seals.
References
- Gon, O.; Vacchi, M. (2010). "Pleuragramma antarcticum". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T154785A4633007. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T154785A4633007.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Pleuragramma antarctica". FishBase. February 2009 version.
- Bottaro M., Oliveri D., Ghigliotti L., Pisano E., Ferrando S. & Vacchi M. (2009). "Born among the ice: first morphological observations on two developmental stages of the Antarctic silverfish Pleuragramma antarcticum, a key species of the Southern Ocean". Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 19(2); 249-259. doi:10.1007/s11160-009-9106-5.
- "Climate change may be to blame for disappearance of Antarctic silverfish". The Antarctic Sun.
- Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Pleuragramma". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
- Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Nototheniidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
- H.H. Dewitt; P.C. Heemstra; and O. Gon (1990). "Nototheniidae Notothens". In O. Gon and P.C. Heemstra (eds.). Fishes of the Southern Ocean. South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity. ISBN 9780868102115.
- J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. p. 465. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6. Archived from the original on 2019-04-08. Retrieved 2021-09-19.
- Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (12 April 2021). "Order Perciformes: Suborder Notothenoididei: Families Bovichtidae, Pseaudaphritidae, Elegopinidae, Nototheniidae, Harpagiferidae, Artedidraconidae, Bathydraconidae, Channichthyidae and Percophidae". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
- A. P. Wohrmann (1995). "Antifreeze glycopeptides in the high-Antarctic Silverfish Pleurogramma antarcticum (Notothenioidei)". Comp. Biochem. Physiol. C. 111 (1): 121–9. doi:10.1016/0742-8413(95)00007-T. PMID 7656179.
- ^ Granata, A.; Zagami, G.; Vacchi, M.; Guglielmo, L. (2009). "Summer and spring trophic niche of larval and juvenile Pleuragramma antarcticum in the Western Ross Sea, Antarctica". Polar Biology. 32 (3): 369–382. doi:10.1007/s00300-008-0551-8. S2CID 8212285.
- Carlig, E., Di Blasi, D., Ghigliotti, L. et al. Diversified feeding strategies of Pleuragramma antarctica (Nototheniidae) in the Southern Ocean. Polar Biol 42, 2045–2054 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-019-02579-0
- Cecilia O'Leary (2016). "The many faced monster of a rapidly changing Antarctic ecosystem and its influence on Antarctic silverfish". Habiata Section. American Fisheries Society.