Fish without blood, with long goatees, and others resembling an eel-cod cross are among startling new finds in the Ross Sea in Antarctica.
For Museum of New Zealand fish collection manager Andrew Stewart and colleagues, fish hooked on Antarctic toothfish longlines are a biological treasure trove.
"We are finding several groups of
fishes where there are problems with their identification," he said.
A Fisheries Ministry-led 41-day voyage in the western Ross Sea last year found several species that had never been seen before, a Government report on biodiversity conservation said last week.
As well, three New Zealand Antarctic toothfish longline vessels active in the Ross Sea sent strange species to ministry and Te Papa scientists.
Mr Stewart said the Antarctic fauna was like "nothing you would see around New Zealand in some of the shapes and forms".
Ice cod, also known as Donald Duck fishes because of their beak-like snouts, lack blood cells. The cold water is so oxygen-rich the fish can absorb oxygen directly into their blood plasma.
The report says the Ross seabed is rich in bottom fauna such as sponges and bryozoans, or aquatic invertebrates.
But a New Zealand state of the environment report prepared for the Ross Sea last year says bottom fauna in McMurdo Sound is affected by raw sewage and rubbish, mainly from the American McMurdo Station.
Sewage treatment plants planned for McMurdo Station and New Zealand's nearby Scott Base are expected to open next summer.
- NZPA
nzherald.co.nz/environment
