Do you want to learn about how very large populations evolve? Do you think barnacles are super cool? Come check out my talk on Saturday morning's Population Genomics session at #Evol2025!

Lastly, we reconstructed the antifreeze glycoprotein (afgp) locus. We find 16 afgp copies in T. borchgrevinki, the most observed in a notothenioid genome to date. This large copy numbers correlates with its low blood freezing point, and reflects the unique cryopelagic nature of this species.
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This chromosomal fusion seems relatively recent, since the structure of the two ancestral "halves" remain mostly intact. When looking at the distribution of repeats along the genome, the fused chromosome still reflects the distinct repeat distribution of the two ancestral chromosome "halves".
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We find evidence structural variation specific to this species. A previously known example is a chromosomal fusion. T.borchgrevinki has 23 haploid chroms, compared to the 24 commonly found in #notothenioids. There are a few other translocation and inversions that we describe for the first time.
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We generated a chromosome-level genome assembly for the bald notothen, which we compared to other #notothenioid genomes. Using conserved synteny, we generally find 1-to-1 correspondence between *most* chromosomes, both to basal, non-Antarctic species, and to highly-derived icefishes. However...
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This #Antarctic #notothenioid fish is one of the most extreme examples of cold specialization! It is the only cryopelagic species living on one of the coldest environments on the planet. It has the lowest recorded blood freezing point, as well as the lowest thermal upper limit known in fishes.
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