Scientists are using an Antarctic fish to research heart problems, says Newswise.
The Yellowbelly rockcod, Notothenia coriiceps, lives in subzero conditions and has evolved a special form of biological antifreeze to prevent it from freezing solid. This very relaxed fish has a heart rate of just 10 bpm.
Researchers at the British Antarctic Survey and the University of Birmingham hope to gain important medical knowledge through investigating how the fish evolved to live in such an extreme environment.
Interestingly, nototheniods, like N. coriiceps, have independently evolved remarkably similar antifreeze glycoproteins (AFGPs) to gadid fishes in the Artic.