More than Breathing Air: Evolutionary Drivers and Physiological Implications of an Amphibious Lifestyle in Fishes
Andy J. Turko, Giulia S. Rossi, Patricia A. Wright
Abstract
Amphibious and aquatic air-breathing fishes both exchange respiratory gasses with the atmosphere, but these fishes differ in physiology, ecology, and possibly evolutionary origins. We introduce a scoring system to characterize interspecific variation in amphibiousness and use this system to highlight important unanswered questions about the evolutionary physiology of amphibious fishes.
Topics & Concepts
BiologyEvolutionary physiologyInterspecific competitionEcologyEvolutionary ecologyComparative physiologyZoologyPhysiologyHost (biology)Physiological and biochemical adaptationsAnimal Behavior and ReproductionFish Ecology and Management Studies