Just a few years before the discovery of the Mediterranean picarel colony, another massive "fish metropolis" was found, this time in the southern Weddell Sea (Antarctica). It was built by Neopagetopsis ionah, Jonah's icefish. And once again, the scale is absolutely crazy... 🧪 🌊 🦑 🌿
2/ An estimated area of 240 km2, for a total of ∼60 million active nests, each nest containing one adult and about 1 700 eggs. This represents a total fish biomass of >60,000 tons...
3/ According to the authors of the original study, it's "the most spatially expansive continuous fish breeding colony discovered to date globally at any depth", thriving in relatively warmer local conditions (up to 2°C, not bad for the Antarctic !)
4/ This colony is so vast it shapes the entire local ecosystems, influencing local food webs, biogeochemical cycles and serving as a key feeding ground for Weddell Seals. This remarkable discovery should now advocate for the creation of a Marine Protected Area in this part of the Southern Ocean 🌊
5/ Original description of the colony was published in @currentbiology.bsky.social and can be found here : www.cell.com/current-biol...