Nick Wegner, who is a fish biologist caught a fish named OPAH during a research survey off the California Coast. The research discovered a fish who circulated the war blood all over its body much like mammals and birds. The silvery fish leaves hundreds of feet beneath the surface in chilly, dimly lit waters and is of the size of a large automobile tire and also is known from oceans around the world. This warm blooded fish known as OPAH swims by rapidly flapping its large, red pectoral fins like wings inside the water, giving a great advantage in the cold ocean depths, has been reported by the team from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries (NOAA Fisheries).
The OPAH is known as high-performance predator that swims faster, reacts more quickly and sees more sharply due to its potentiality and feature to circulate the warm blood throughout its body. This is said by fisheries biologist Nicholas Wegner, lead author of the paper. He also said that OPAH is a very active predator which chases an agile prey like squid and can also migrate to long distances. Also, one thing unique was noticed in this fish was that Blood vessels that carry warm blood inside the fish’s gills wind around the one’s which after absorbing oxygen from water carries the cold blood back to the core of the body.
This type of design in engineering is known as Counter- current heat exchange which resembles a car radiator that conserves heat. This unique feature of counter-current heat exchange which resembles a radiator within the gills allows nearly the OPAH’s entire body to maintain an elevated temperature even in the highly cold region under the water. This is why the fish can swim hundreds of feet under the water even in the chilly depth, and circulate the warm blood throughout its body. Such type of discoveries will also help many researchers and scientist to understand the role species play in the marine ecosystem.
