Parental care is a rather common reproductive strategy in fishes, particularly in species with low fecundity and large eggs as the Antarctic icefish (Channichthyidae). The infrequent use of underwater devices to record fish behaviour and the logistic limitations of operating in the Antarctic marine environment have prevented, so far, the collection of data about rare species. Integrating results from benthic trawling and underwater photographic images, we provide the first demographic and reproductive behavioural data for the channichthyid Neopagetopsis ionah, describing the nesting and parental care behaviour of a spawning population in the south-eastern Weddell Sea. The population sampled by the Agassiz trawl was dominated by females, and consisted of several post-spawning as well as a few mature females spread over a narrow size range. Based on otolith reading, the population included two cohorts estimated as four- and five-year-old fish. Following common trade-off between fecundity and egg size, females of N. ionah spawned few large eggs (733–1810 eggs/female, 4.9–6.5 mm in diameter). The nesting site was characterized by fine sediments with sparse gravel and the accompanying benthic invertebrate community showed low densities and was relatively poor. A total of 93 nests were counted along the video transect, most of them with a single guarding male or left unattended. Fish remains or whole dead specimens were frequently observed in the proximity of the nest. This observation represents the first record of post-spawning mortality associated with parental care which has never been documented before in Antarctic fishes.

亲本照顾是鱼类的一种相当常见的繁殖策略，特别是在繁殖力低且卵大的物种中，如南极冰鱼（Cannichthyidae）。迄今为止，由于很少使用水下设备来记录鱼类行为以及在南极海洋环境中作业的物流限制，因此无法收集有关稀有物种的数据。整合底栖拖网和水下摄影图像的结果，我们提供了第一个关于 channichthyid Neopagetopsis ionah 的人口统计和生殖行为数据，描述威德尔海东南部产卵种群的筑巢和父母照顾行为。Agassiz 拖网取样的种群以雌性为主，由数只产卵后的雌性和一些分布在狭窄大小范围内的成熟雌性组成。根据耳石读数，该种群包括两个估计为 4 岁和 5 岁鱼的群体。根据繁殖力和卵大小之间的共同权衡，N. ionah 的雌性产了几个大卵（733-1810 个卵/雌性，直径 4.9-6.5 毫米）。筑巢地的特点是沉积物细，砾石稀疏，伴随的底栖无脊椎动物群落密度低，相对较差。沿着视频横断面共统计了 93 个巢穴，其中大多数有一个守卫的雄性或无人看管。在巢穴附近经常观察到鱼的残骸或整个死亡的标本。这一观察结果代表了与父母照顾相关的产卵后死亡率的第一个记录，这在南极鱼类之前从未有过记录。