News

Scientists have discovered the first known warm-blooded fish, the moonfish.

Although the moonfish, or the opah, has been known to scientists for decades, but it wasn’t until recent research that an NOAA team discovered it to be “the first fully warm-blooded fish that circulates heated blood throughout its body much like mammals and birds, giving it a competitive advantage in the cold ocean depths.”

According to the research, the fish’s frequent fin-flapping heats the blood and boosts the metabolism, giving the opah a predatory advantage in colder waters. The moonfish’s gill structure allows for counter-current heat exchange, whereby warm blood at the fish’s core replaces the cold water at the surface of the gills.

More information can be found in the NOAA news release.