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How will fish that evolved at constant sub‐zero temperatures cope with global warming? Notothenioids as a case study
Author(s) -
Patarnello Tomaso,
Verde Cinzia,
di Prisco Guido,
Bargelloni Luca,
Zane Lorenzo
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/bies.201000124
Subject(s) - phenotypic plasticity , biology , fauna , ecology , climate change , population , global warming , fish <actinopterygii> , evolutionary biology , adaptation (eye) , environmental change , zoology , fishery , demography , neuroscience , sociology
Current climate change has raised concerns over the fate of the stenothermal Antarctic marine fauna (animals that evolved to live in narrow ranges of cold temperatures). The present paper focuses on Notothenioidei, a taxonomic group that dominates Antarctic fish. Notothenioids evolved in the Southern Ocean over the last 20 million years, providing an example of a marine species flock with unique adaptations to the cold at morphological, physiological and biochemical levels. Their phenotypic modifications are often accompanied by ‘irreversible’ genomic losses or gene amplifications. On a micro‐evolutionary scale, relatively ‘shallow’ genetic variation is observed, on account of past fluctuations in population size, and a significant genetic structure is evident, suggesting low population connectivity. These features suggest that Antarctic fish might have relatively little potential to adapt to global warming, at least at a genetic level. The extent of their phenotypic plasticity, which is evident to some degree, awaits further research.