Mikhail V. Nazarkin is an ichthyologist, or fish specialist, at the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Recently, the senior researcher — who has contributed to over 150 scientific publications — was poring over the academy’s archive collections in St. Petersburg, Russia, when he stumbled across his latest discovery.
Nazarkin was looking at collections from a 1989 research expedition off the coast of Eastern Antarctica when “two unusual” fish prompted him to take a closer look.
Through radiography, he was able to conclude that the specimens belonged to a new species of eelpout — a coldwater ray-finned fish.
And now, the peculiar fish, which sat in St. Petersburg’s for nearly four decades, has finally been added to the scientific record.
“The new species has low number of vertebrae [less than 100] and can be distinguished from other congeners by the ventrolateral configuration of its lateral line,” Nazarkin wrote in the new study, which was published in the scientific journal “Polar Biology” on September 6.
“This character is rare among eelpouts and inherent only for few species of another genus, Lycodes. The new species is the sixth representative of Ophthalmolycus found in the Antarctic.”
Inspired by the location where it was discovered, Nazarkin named the new species Ophthalmolycus kosmonautis, or Cosmonauts Sea eelpout.
According to the International Institute for Law of the Sea Studies, the section of the Southern Ocean near Antarctica has been recognized as the “Cosmonauts Sea” since 1962 under the Soviet Union and Russian Federation, but it is still unnamed in the eyes of “leading geographic authorities and atlases.”
That section of the Southern Ocean — which extends 270,000 square miles — was named after a Soviet Antarctic Expedition in honor of “the world’s first cosmonauts and the beginning of crewed space exploration era.”
Cosmonauts Sea eelpouts, which are roughly 7 inches in length, have “large” eyes, “thin” upper lips, and a row of several “large” sensory pores on the underside of their throat.
“All the pores on the head of these, and many other fishes, are connected to canals inside the bones of the head,” Nazarkin told the Miami Herald via email.
“These canals contain receptors sensitive to mechanical vibrations of water. This system helps fish navigate in space and perceive the movements of other objects.”
“Due to their rarity, little is known about lifestyle features of these fishes,” Nazarkin said. “They are bottom dwellers which feed on small benthic invertebrates.”
Benthic invertebrates are spineless aquatic animals, including worms, snails, clams, and crustaceans. By eating these organisms, bottom dwellers like the Cosmonauts Sea eelpouts can sequester carbon and keep it off the ocean floor.
In his study, Nazarkin encouraged further research into the genus as a whole.
“Little is known about the biology of these fishes,” the ichthyologist wrote, noting that the unique brown fish occupies a wide range of depths — from 73 meters to over 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) — along the bottom of the freezing arctic waters.
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Header image via Alfred-Wegener-Institut / Christian R. Rohleder, DWD
