### Identification The Alaska Blackfish (*Dallia pectoralis*) looks like a relic from a prehistoric age. This small, stout fish typically reaches 7 to 8 inches, though giants may hit 13 inches. Its body is cylindrical and "velvety," cloaked in dark olive-brown or charcoal scales with irregular black mottling. Look for its most distinctive field marks: the dorsal and anal fins are set remarkably far back, nearly mirroring each other just before the rounded tail. However, its namesake feature is the pair of massive, fan-like pectoral fins—composed of 30 or more rays—which it uses to "walk" or scuttle across the muddy bottom.
### Habitat & Range This is a creature of the far north, found across the tundra of Alaska, the Bering Sea islands, and northeastern Siberia. It thrives where other fish perish: in stagnant, weed-choked ponds, sphagnum bogs, and slow-moving muskeg sloughs. It prefers shallow, heavily vegetated waters with thick layers of organic muck.
### Behaviour Observing a Blackfish is a lesson in patience. They are primarily benthic (bottom-dwelling) and sluggish, spending hours motionless among the weeds. Because they inhabit oxygen-depleted waters, they have evolved a modified esophagus that acts as a primitive lung, allowing them to gulp atmospheric air at the surface. During the brutal Arctic winter, they retreat into deep, unfrozen holes or bury themselves in damp moss to survive.
### Diet An opportunistic predator, the Blackfish is the "vacuum cleaner" of the tundra floor. It forages by snapping up aquatic insect larvae—particularly midges and mosquitoes—as well as tiny crustaceans, snails, and the occasional smaller fish.
### Fascinating Fact The Alaska Blackfish is the subject of incredible (and mostly true) survival lore. Early naturalists reported that these fish could be frozen solid in ice for weeks, only to "come back to life" when thawed. While they cannot survive total cellular freezing, they are so resilient that there are documented accounts of sled dogs swallowing frozen Blackfish whole, only to have the fish revive in the warmth of the dog's stomach and be vomited up alive!