A major discovery in maritime biology amazes the scientific community, and upsets the classification of animals. There is a species of fish capable of warming its blood!
A warm-blooded fish. This is the astonishing discovery made by a group of researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the institution specializing in marine biology in the United States. In a study published in the journal Science, they explain that the salmon of the gods, also known as the opah or moon lamprey, is the first warm-blooded fish ever to be identified.
For all connoisseurs of animal biology, this discovery is quite surprising. Indeed, to categorize the opah as a warm-blooded animal, is to say that it shares a very important characteristic with mammals and birds.
Elevated body temperature
Concretely, this implies that the fish is able to maintain a body temperature higher than that of its environment, which gives it a particular evolutionary advantage. Indeed, the animal lives in the depths of the ocean, where the water temperature is so cold that the fish and crustaceans that live there evolve slowly.
Being able to raise its body temperature about 5 degrees above that of the water in which it swims, allows it to move faster than these prey. The opah is therefore a formidable hunter, which easily survives in cold and deep water, reproduces quickly, and is found all over the world.
Fins and gills
But how does he warm up? Scientists explain that it is thanks to a particular anatomy, distinct from other fish, that the opah manages to warm its blood. Its fins are indeed able to beat quickly and unlike other fish, the arrangement of its blood vessels prevent the blood from cooling through the gills.
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