Growth of an Antarctic Fish at Freezing Temperatures

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Abstract
Scales from 178 Trematomus bernacchii, a common McMurdo Sound nototheniid living throughout the year under sea ice at or near -1.9[degree]C, are observed to have rings which can be interpreted as annuli. Age of the fish can be determined if allowance is made for no annul us during first year when scales are not yet formed and for no easily recognizable annulus at the outer edge of the scale at the end of the current growing season. Older and larger fish appear to have grown more slowly during their early years than do faster growing younger fish on the basis of scale radius measurements. Females survive longer and grow larger than males. Older fish have decreasing survival rates. Weight on length regressions for the 2 sexes are nearly alike. The relatively high growth rate of this sp. is discussed with reference to food supply, cold adaptation, and temperature-metabolism coefficients.

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