Cod puts itself on ice

A species of Antarctic cod puts itself on ice to survive the winter by hibernating, researchers at the University of Birmingham along with the British Antarctic survey have discovered.

The cod Notothenia coriiceps adopts a winter survival strategy to combat the sub-zero water temperatures.

Researchers already knew that Antarctic fish lower their metabolic rate to cope with the cold but the research shows that the cod and depress the process further in winter. 

For more details see the University of Birmingham.  

See the ideasforlife.tv video on how studying the Antarctic cods’ metabolism is helping heart research.