name: Alaska Blackfish

flavor_db_name_variants: alaska blackfish

source: foodb

status: draft

food_db_id: Alaska blackfish

id: 302

name_scientific: Dallia pectoralis

description: The Alaska blackfish, Dallia pectoralis, is a fish that grows to 7 inches in length. It is elongate and cylindrical, with a dark olive-brown coloration. Four to six dark blotches run vertically along the sides, and the belly is white. The fins have reddish-brown speckles. Once thought to be an herbivore, its primary diet is midges and mosquito insect larvae. Alaska blackfish are found in swamps, ponds, lakes, and streams with vegetation for cover, in tundra and forested locations not far inland. Their range includes Alaska and the Bering Sea islands. Alaska Natives once ate these fish and fed them to their dogs, catching them in the fall and freezing them for use over winter. The hardiness of the Alaska blackfish is of mythical proportions, including tales of reviving fish after they are frozen solid. The fish survive the cold winters by moving to a depth of 7–8 metres when the surface becomes solid ice. Large gills protected by gill covers help them to survive the winters where the water temperatures drop to 0 °C . Though the Alaskan blackfish can be supercooled for short periods at temperatures as low as −20 °C) in controlled environments without contact with ice crystals, no Alaska blackfish has ever survived for even as much as an hour under these freezing conditions. Freezing any part of the body results in necrosis.

itis_id: 162159

wikipedia_id: Alaska blackfish

picture_file_name: 305.jpg

picture_content_type: image/jpeg

picture_file_size: 134297

picture_updated_at: 2012-04-20T09:43:38.000Z

legacy_id: 332

food_group: Aquatic foods

food_subgroup: Fishes

food_type: Type 1

created_at: 2011-02-09T00:37:31.000Z

updated_at: 2019-05-14T18:04:22.000Z

creator_id: null

updater_id: null

export_to_afcdb: false

category: specific

ncbi_taxonomy_id: 75939

export_to_foodb: true

public_id: FOOD00302