| Bald notothen | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Nototheniidae |
| Genus: | Pagothenia |
| Species: | P. borchgrevinki |
| Binomial name | |
| Pagothenia borchgrevinki Boulenger, 1902 |
|
The bald notothen (Pagothenia borchgrevinki) is a cryopelagic fish of the Southern Ocean. Antifreeze proteins in its blood prevent it freezing in the sub-zero water temperatures of Antarctica. It is found in the Weddell Sea, the Ross Sea, the Davis Sea, in Vincennes Bay, and around the Budd Coast, the Antarctic Peninsula, South Orkneys and South Shetland Islands.
Growing to a maximum length of about 28 centimetres (11 in), it is yellow with dark spots and irregular crossbars. Its dorsal and caudal fins may occasionally also be spotted.
It spends most of its time foraging on the undersurface of the ice at depths to 550 metres (1,800 ft) where it feeds on sympagic copepods and krill. It is preyed upon by the Ploughfish, Gymnodraco acuticeps, the Antarctic Cod, Dissostichus mawsoni as well as the Emperor Penguin, Aptenodytes forsteri.