Oxygen-Transport System and Mode of Life in Antarctic Fish

The separation of Antarctica from South America occurred 22–25 million years ago with the opening of the Drake Passage, and produced the Circum-Antarctic Current and the development of the Antarctic Polar Front. With the reduction of heat exchange from northern latitudes, cooling of the environment proceeded to the present extreme conditions. To date Antarctica is indeed a unique natural laboratory for the study of temperature adaptations and for understanding the interplay among biochemical/physiological processes, ecology and adaptive evolution.