Warm Blooded Moonfish Have Similarities to Swordfish
Living deep in the ocean will most likely make you slow and sluggish, but not for the opah, or moonfish. They can hold up against tuna and swordfish despite living 305 meters down. The moonfish doesn’t have to go to surface in order to warm their bodies before they can go after prey. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have figured out the answer.
“Before this discovery I was under the impression this was a slow moving fish, like most other fish in cold environments,” says Nicholas Wegner, lead author of the study published in Science. “But because it can warm its body, it turns out to be a very active predator that chases down agile prey like squid and can migrate long distances.”
