Low temperatures and high oxygen solubility characterize the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica. Mean annual
while the temperatures of waters surrounding the Antarctic Peninsula range between +0.3 °C during the austral summer to- 1.1 °C during the winter months (DeWitt, 1971). Despite these chronically cold temperatures, coastal Antarctica supports an abundant fish fauna dominated by species of the percifo...
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.495.8065 http://jeb.biologists.org/content/203/8/1277.full.pdf |
| Summary: | while the temperatures of waters surrounding the Antarctic Peninsula range between +0.3 °C during the austral summer to- 1.1 °C during the winter months (DeWitt, 1971). Despite these chronically cold temperatures, coastal Antarctica supports an abundant fish fauna dominated by species of the perciform suborder Notothenioidei, a group that has been evolving since the formation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, between 14 and 25 million years ago (Eastman and Grande, 1989). Channichthyid icefishes are thought to have diverged from other notothenioid families approximately 1–3 million years ago (Bargelloni et al., 1994). The 15 species of the Channichthyidae are unique among adult vertebrates in their complete lack of expression of hemoglobin, a characteristic first described in the scientific literature by Ruud (1954). These fishes show profound cardiovascular modifications (large |
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