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The Southern Ocean that surrounds Antarctica is one of the coldest on earth and hovers freezing temperatures year-round. What fish can live in such a frigid environment? In this short scientific graphic novel, What cool fish live in icy Antarctica?, Isabel Lopez, John Postlethwait and Thomas Desvignes present the history of Antarctica and how it became the icy continent. These glacial conditions prevented most fish species from living there, but one group, the notothenioids, evolved a way to survive and even thrive in the ice-cold Antarctic waters. They diversified from the surface to the dark depths of the ocean, from being just a few centimeters long to extremely large, and in many other surprising ways. And among them, the white-blooded icefishes are also certainly some of the strangest fish on the planet! But today, Antarctica is changing fast, raising concerns about the survival of these unique fish.
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A mysterious disease in Antarctic fish
While conducting research in Antarctica in 2018, scientists were surprised to capture many specimens of two species of fish that had massive skin tumors. In this short graphic novel, “A mysterious disease in Antarctic fish“, Chloe DaMommio, John Postlethwait, and Thomas Desvignes take us on a scientific expedition to Antarctica aboard the US Antarctic Research Vessel Laurence M. Gould to capture those diseased fish, set sail to the isolated Palmer Station to sample them, then back to their laboratory in the States to identify the origin of this mysterious disease and its effects on the fish. The graphic novel is available in English, Spanish, French, German, and Danish!
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- Award ID(s):
- 2232891
- PAR ID:
- 10615179
- Publisher / Repository:
- zenodo
- Date Published:
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- Antarctica Antarctic fish X-cell fish disease fish tumors fish parasites
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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