The Antarctic silverfish is a small schooling fish of silvery color. It lives in very cold seas around Antarctica and serves as an important food for penguins, seals and whales.
The Antarctic silverfish differs from related fish in that it spends its entire life in the water column and has a special blood composition that does not freeze in severe cold. It is important for nature because it transfers energy from plankton to large predators.
Legendary longevity: over 100 years. Galapagos tortoises, Greenland sharks, ocean quahogs celebrate with family once every 4 years
Immature form that undergoes metamorphosis before adulthood.
Offspring
Worker
Elders
Bro
birth time
Pelagic Ocean
mysids
Taxons
carnivore
if born as {name}
Dogs, dolphins, lynx hang out for 9-25 years and party on their birthday three times a year
m
Map
will celebrate their {n} birthday
g
age
t
When your next jubilee falls in {name} life years
Human
birth date
no permanent shelter
Close
plankton
was
days
Career from 7 to 15 months. Dwarf hamsters, voles, field crickets celebrate their birthday twice a month
Marine world
marine pelagic
marine epipelagic
The basics
How old you would be if you lived as {name}
Antarctic and other krill
Theoretical maximum lifespan estimated from the Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) mathematical model. This value reflects a biological potential derived from metabolic parameters, not from direct observation — real recorded lifespans are often significantly shorter.
My weight?
demersal biotope of coastal marine waters
marine mesopelagic
Non-stop carnival: they only live a few days. Mayflies, rotifers, midges celebrate their birthday more than twice a day
adult
Maturity
primary food sources
Fins count
Potential Habitat
About health
marine bathypelagic
marine coastal
When your next birthday would fall if you lived as {name}
d
In husbandry
On the go from 1.3 to 3.5 years. Forest mice, anoles, rainbow fish party on their birthday once a month
Repro interval
results
Polar sea
Mass
Mosquitoes, fruit flies, small crustaceans hustle for up to 7 months and throw a birthday party every week
Gestation
Body size
Colors
Sex
{name} birthday
Upcoming jubilees
Gremllins
mo
No results found
all seas and oceans
Trophic type
Filters
On the map
all life stages
Female ♀
the coldest and iciest edge, almost always snow and ice
Body color
Upcoming birthdays
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
Potential habitat modelled from GBIF occurrence data. Map © Zveriki.com, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Truly long lives: 40-100 years. Bowhead whales, albatrosses, giant tortoises recall their birthday at most once a year
Lifespan
birth year
Maturity
Age (juvenile)
Age (from birth to death)
sq mm
yr
Age (embryo)
Wanderers
How similar?
copepods
far from shore, deep water, large whales and sharks live here
Jubilee = every 10th birthday
Male ♂
until the celebration
marine coastal demersal
age as {name}
How do they breed?
On the go from 3.5 to 6 years. Hedgehogs, crows, lizards treat themselves to birthday snacks 6 times a year
What if eaten?
Neither
Earliest developmental stage inside an egg or womb.
Business sausages
the twilight zone of the sea, 200–1000 meters depth
zoo-plankton
world of Antarctica
Lifespan average
What do they eat?
Where do they live?
Marine world
from birth to death
cyclops and other small copepod crustaceans
early young
What do they look like?
Maturity
emergence (insects)
end of lifespan
Gills color
Freshwater
How do they live?
fertilization / egg laying
How do they behave?
birth / hatching
metamorphosis / end of larval stage
end of acceleration
the upper illuminated layer of the sea, 0–200 meters
Share
Duration
Find a pet...
Mature, fully developed individual capable of reproduction.
Fins color
saline marine habitat
This is me
Gamers
Mysids — small planktonic crustaceans
world of Antarctica
Pets
How are they built?
marine
mm
Theoretical lifespan
ml
Stars
Link copied
the coldest and iciest edge, almost always snow and ice
coastal marine zone — shelf, neritic zone
My age?
wk
My size?
sea almost always covered with thick ice, very cold all year round
{name} jubilee
Asexual
swap
cm
zooplankton feeding, animal plankton — small crustaceans and larvae
Old-timers
Find an animal or breed...
turns
Rabbits, falcons, red-eared turtles hang out for 6-9 years and party on their birthday four times a year
Rascals
Where do they take shelter?
celebrated their {n} birthday
Lateral line color
When you would have been born if you lived as {name}
after fast growth and adult
Litter size
Daddies
the dark depths of the sea, below 1000 meters
Lifespan maximum
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
How to care for them?
Living from 25 to 40 years. Orangutans, bald eagles, African elephants celebrate their birthday twice a year
from development to end of fast growth
krill
°C
Not specified
Hermaphrodite ⚥
pelagic zone — open water far from shore and seabed
Where are they found?
all seas and oceans
Species lacks any fixed or lasting shelter structure.
embryo
Orange
38 to 65 grams, 15 – 40 centimeters
all rivers and lakes
Length
kg
Observations
◉{N} more on tap