Massive Fish Nest Colony

 

J ALFRED WEGENER INSTITUTE, PS124 OFOBS TEAM

Off the coast of Antarctica, icefish congregate in a deep breeding colony. Some 60 million nests of Jonah’s icefish (Neopagetopsis ionah) stretch across at least 240 square kilometers of seafloor. 

Jonah’s icefish create circular nests with hard rock centers where the fish can lay over 1,000 eggs. Nest-building species of fish were known to gather in the hundreds. Many fish create nests, from freshwater cichlids to artistically inclined pufferfish, but an abundant food supply and a zone of warm water have drawn the exceptionally large group of Jonah's Icefish.

Deep sea biologist Autun Purser of the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven, Germany, and colleagues discovered the massive colony in 2021 while on a research cruise in the Weddell Sea, located between the Antarctic Peninsula and the main continent.

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