Perhaps the most well-known and intensely studied trait is the ability of these fish to produce a sort of antifreeze protein that binds to ice crystals in the body to prevent them from growing. Otherwise, the fish would quickly freeze and die in seawater as cold as minus 1.8 degrees Celsius.
The sheer size of Antarctic toothfish, which can tip the scale at nearly 150 kilograms, makes it an ideal candidate for researchers who need tissue and blood samples for various analyses, some studies delving deep into the organism’s cell biology, as they attempt to learn more about how mawsoni and its cousins function in the world's coldest waters.