At the uttermost ends of the Earth: The physiology of polar fishes, edited by Anthony P. Farrell & John F. Steffensen

Abstract

Ecologists and physiologists have always been interested in organisms living in extreme environments because of the light they shed on fundamental problems, and the general public has long been fascinated by animals living in climates so inhospitable that unprotected humans would rapidly perish. The pioneering physiologists of the early 20th century had quickly recognized that teleost fi shes with their dilute blood would have real problems in the cold waters of the polar regions, and when Johan Ruud collected the fi rst scientifi c specimens of an icefi sh he was able to confi rm that there really did exist a group of polar fi shes with no blood pigment. The scene was thereby set for an exploration of the physiology of polar fi shes, and this remains a vibrant fi eld of research to this day.