Antarctic silverfish

Antarctic silverfish
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Nototheniidae
Genus: Pleuragramma
Boulenger, 1902
Species:
P. antarctica
Binomial name
Pleuragramma antarctica
Boulenger, 1902

The Antarctic silverfish (Pleuragramma antarctica), or Antarctic herring, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Nototheniidae, the notothens or cod icefishes. It is native to the Southern Ocean and the only truly pelagic fish in the waters near Antarctica.[2] It is a keystone species in the ecosystem of the Southern Ocean.[3]

While widely distributed around the Antarctic, the species appears to have largely disappeared from the western side of the northern Antarctic Peninsula, based on a 2010 research cruise funded by the National Science Foundation under the US Antarctic Program.[4]

  1. ^ Gon, O.; Vacchi, M. (2010). "Pleuragramma antarcticum". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T154785A4633007. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T154785A4633007.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference FishBase was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Bottaro M., Oliveri D., Ghigliotti L., Pisano E., Ferrando S. & Vacchi M. (2009). "Born among the ice: first morphological observations on two developmental stages of the Antarctic silverfish Pleuragramma antarcticum, a key species of the Southern Ocean". Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 19(2); 249-259. doi:10.1007/s11160-009-9106-5.
  4. ^ "Climate change may be to blame for disappearance of Antarctic silverfish". The Antarctic Sun.