deepwater notothen or scaly rockcod Trematomus loennbergii

Trematomus loennbergii is found throughout Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula at depths from 0 to 1,191 meters [1,2,3,4]. T. loennbergii is light brown or reddish and has four to five irregular crossbards from back to below midside [1,3].



Trematomus loennbergii can be up to 33 centimeters long, and is common up to twenty centimeters [1,3,7].

T. loennbergii often leaves the bottom in order to feed on prey in the water column [1]. T. loennbergii feeds on algae, amphipods (including Orchomene plebs, Epimeria spp., and Eusirus perdentatus), isopods, shrimp (Chorismus antarcticus, Notocrangon antarcticus), polychaetes (including Barrukia cristata), fish, and fish eggs [1,5,6,7].

Taxonomic Note: Some use the genus Pseudotrematomus [1,8,9]

1: Fishes of the Southern Ocean. O Gon & PC Heemstra, eds. Grahamstown, South Africa : JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology, 1990. pp. 322-323; 2: Antarctic Science 11(3):293-304, 1999; 3: FAO Species Identification Sheets for Fishery Purposes : Southern Ocean (Fishing Areas 48, 58 and 88) (CCAMLR Convention Area). W Fischer & JC Hureau, eds. Rome : Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 1985; 4: Tethys 6(3):631-653, 1974; 5: Polar Biology 17(1):62-68, 1997; 6: Ross Sea Ecology : Italiantartide Expeditions (1987- 1995). FM Faranda, L Guglielmo, A Ianora, eds. Berlin : Springer, 2000. pp. 551- 561; 7: Ross Sea Ecology : Italiantartide Expeditions (1987-1995). FM Faranda, L Guglielmo, A Ianora, eds. Berlin : Springer, 2000. pp. 457-468; 8: History and Atlas of the Fishes of the Antarctic Ocean. RG Miller. Carson City, Nev. : Foresta Institute for Ocean and Mountain Studies, 1993; 9: Biologiia Shel’fovykh zon Mirovogo Okeana : tezisy dokladov Vtoroi vsesoiuznoi konferentsii po morskoi biologii, Vladivostok, sentiabr’ 1982 g. AI Kafanov & TS Veniaminson, eds. Vladivostok : DVNTS AN SSSR, 1982. Volume 2, pp. 9-10

Text ©Peter Brueggeman. Photographs ©Peter Brueggeman. Photograph may not be used in any form without the express written permission of Peter Brueggeman.