Collaborative Research: The effect of temperature and low oxygen on muscle performance, oxygen uptake and delivery in fish exposed to disparate thermal environments

温度在动物的生物学中起着重要的作用，特别是对于那些保持高水平运动活动的动物，因为肌肉性能和血氧结合特性都会受到直接影响。对于大多数体温与周围环境相似的脊椎动物来说，环境温度的变化将对生理产生深远的影响。海洋中上层鱼类生活在一个温度稳定的环境中，其特点是温度只随深度和纬度发生显着变化。虽然许多鱼保持在狭窄的温度范围内，但已知的是，一些鱼跨越宽纬度范围迁徙，或者潜入更深、更冷的水中。在那些经常潜水的物种中，很少有物种能够在寒冷的深海中维持长时间。剑鱼是相对较少的活跃鱼类之一，能够在深海、寒冷和氧气枯竭的水域中潜水很长一段时间，然后迅速返回温暖的表层水域。剑鱼能够承受并经常在不同的环境条件之间转换，这使得剑鱼成为研究温度和低氧对脊椎动物肌肉功能和氧气运输影响的理想候选者。这项研究将评估温度和低氧耐受性对对这些极端环境条件具有不同耐受性水平的鱼类的肌肉表现、心肺功能和基因表达的影响。这项研究建立在以前NSF资助的肌肉功能研究的基础上，并将增加我们对选择性压力如何导致对边缘生活的适应的理解。这个项目将包括许多学生(高中生、本科生和研究生)在实践领域和实验室研究。这项工作的结果将通过研讨会、演讲和互联网门户网站向公众(包括当地渔民和K-12)传播。这项工作的成果还将以可接受的格式向科学、管理和公众社区传达，目的是培养更多的科学探索、发现和进步意识。

Temperature plays an important role in the biology of animals, particularly for those that sustain high levels of locomotor activity, as both muscle performance and blood-oxygen binding properties are directly affected. For most vertebrates, in which body temperature is similar to that of the surrounding environment, a change in ambient temperature will have profound effects on physiology. Marine pelagic fishes live in a thermally-stable environment marked by significant variation in temperature only with depth and latitude. While many fish remain within a narrow temperature range some are known to migrate across wide latitudinal ranges or dive into deeper, colder water. Of those species that routinely dive, few are capable of sustaining long periods of time within the cold, deep ocean. The swordfish is one of relatively few active fish species capable of diving for extended periods of time in the deep, cold, and oxygen depleted waters and then rapidly returning to the warm surface waters. The ability to withstand and routinely transition between disparate environmental regimes makes the swordfish an ideal candidate for studies of the effects of temperature and hypoxia on vertebrate muscle function and oxygen transport. This study will assess the effects of temperature and hypoxia tolerance on muscle performance, cardiorespiratory function, and gene expression in fishes with different levels of tolerance for these extreme ambient conditions. This study builds upon previous NSF-funded research on muscle function and will increase our understanding of how selective pressures have lead to adaptations for life on the edge. This project will involve numerous students (high school, undergraduate, and graduate level) in hands-on field and laboratory research. The findings from this work will be communicated to the general public (including local fishermen and K-12) via seminars, presentations and internet portals. The results from this work will also be communicated in accessible formats to scientific, management, and public communities with the intent to foster greater awareness of scientific inquiry, discovery and progress.