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Respiratory and Cardiovascular Adaptations in Hemoglobin-Free Fish: Resolved and Unresolved Problems

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Biology of Antarctic Fish

Abstract

Due to the low solubility which oxygen has in aqueous solutions, the presence of an oxygen-carrying pigment in the blood has been regarded as a necessity in all but the simplest types of animals. Yet, all species of the antarctic and subantarctic fish family Channichthyidae lack such a pigment. The family is comprised of 16 known species among 10 genera, with adult sizes ranging from about 20 to about 60 cm. The distribution is circumpolar, with some species extending north to such areas as Patagonia, the Falkland Islands, and the South Georgia, Bouvet and Kerguelen Islands.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physiological Research Laboratory, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, 92093, USA

    E. A. Hemmingsen

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  1. E. A. Hemmingsen
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Protein Biochemistry and Enzymology (IBPE), Italian National Research Council, Via Marconi 10, I-80125, Naples, Italy

    Guido di Prisco

  2. International Institute of Genetics and Biophysics, CNR, I-80125, Naples, Italy

    Bruno Maresca

  3. University of Calabria, I-87030, Arcavacata di Rende (CS), Italy

    Bruno Tota

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© 1991 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Hemmingsen, E.A. (1991). Respiratory and Cardiovascular Adaptations in Hemoglobin-Free Fish: Resolved and Unresolved Problems. In: di Prisco, G., Maresca, B., Tota, B. (eds) Biology of Antarctic Fish. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76217-8_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76217-8_13

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-76219-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-76217-8

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