A robot found more than 1,000 Antarctic rockfish nests in clusters in the Weddell Sea in 2019. Researchers say the layout suggests fish in central nests gain safety in numbers; expedition data are also being used to support a proposed marine protected area, still under review.
A remotely operated vehicle, nicknamed Lassie, filmed the nests during an expedition aboard the SA Agulhas II, which was searching for Ernest Shackleton’s lost ship Endurance. The nests were made by Lindbergichthys nudifrons; each fish cleared a patch of sediment and guarded its eggs.
Researchers also reported larger or possibly more robust fish at the cluster edges or in solitary nests, and described the overall pattern as social nesting. The findings were reported in Frontiers in Marine Science.
