CRYO: Nature's little cryonauts
Jeff Fabijanic (jeff@primordialsoft.com)
Tue, 3 Aug 1999 10:41:08 -0400
Aaron Davidson wrote:
>Does anyone know how common such types of hibernation are in the animal
>kingdom?
On several occasions, one or two of the koi in my rooftop pond have escaped
capture and relocation to the indoor tank when the weather turned cold.
During a January thaw a couple years ago, I took the opportunity of the
first >40 degree weather in a couple months to clean up the deck a bit.
After I took out the 2-3 inch thick slab of ice left in the bottom of a
mostly emptied 45 gallon container a small fish gave a little spasm in the
melting goop. "Lucky" is still alive and kicking. Checking out books on koi
(aka carp, aka japanese goldfish), it seems as though surviving complete
freezing/thawing is a recognized and common ability of these animals, even
large specimens weighing several pounds.
| Jeffrey Fabijanic "Long as you're not afraid,
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