AKA Hair Fish, Swimming Meat Locker, First Fish, and Drift Fish.

Pictured is one of the fairly recent and useful discoveries of the waterworld Neu Mirny, the Bronze Fish. Though not technically a 'fish' coming from a wholly different planets evolutionary path, it falls far shorter of the moniker than others of Neu Mirny's oceans.

Bronze fish have no brains. Nor do they have a proper 'gut', or mouth or eyes - their body mass is primarily fat and muscle with a few very simple light sensitive 'eyes' up front. They're in-fact colony creatures, and the 'hairs' serve the same function as the tentacles on a jellyfish, straining everything from protozoa all the way up to Neu Mirny's equivalent of krill from the water.

They primarily drift, but if food starts to become scarce, they'll spend some of their energy reserves and swim toward a denser concentration of tiny sea life. If damaged or attacked, reflexes kick in and they'll swim in zigzag patterns for a awhile, but serious predators will know to keep following - they tend to swim only for a minute or two after the initial attack before slowing back down. While they don't gather in schools proper, they will tend to drift together for most of their lives.

Sexual reproduction is done by sperm and eggs released from the 'hairs' as well, about once every four or five local years depending on species. While characteristics of both genders are carried within a single Bronzefish, by some little understood mechanism, the release of gametes alternates every cycle. Fertilized eggs hatch and develop into small multi-paddled minnow like larva, molting as they grow, eventually losing secondary fins and simplifying into the bullet like shape of the adult.

To the two-hundred or so colonists living on the floating islands of Neu Mirny, Bronze Fish are an immediate solution to the rationing issues of otherwise relying on interstellar resupply ships bringing in more food. To the government of Neu Samara, this frees of valuable cargo space to expand the base, drop off more modular catamaran fishing ships, screamer buoys (to keep the megafauna of Neu Mirny away from the floating base), processing plant materials, personnel, wood and metal and dietary supplements.

Other fish are being researched by scientists on Neu Mirny, if for no other reason than to have a change in diet. Bronze Fish is fairly high on fat, and thankfully many of the nutrients required for Human and Minsk survival.

As on earth, relying on strictly seafood does lead to some shortfalls and potential medical issues that will make long term survival on Neu Mirny tricky. Oranges, so far, can only grow in environments completely enclosed away from the native atmosphere, though other plants seem to do alright.