INIBIOMA   20415
INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES EN BIODIVERSIDAD Y MEDIOAMBIENTE
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Fishes of Southern South America: a story driven by temperature
Autor/es:
V.E. CUSSAC; D.A. FERNÁNDEZ; S.E. GÓMEZ; H.L. LÓPEZ
Revista:
FISH PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY
Editorial:
Springer
Referencias:
Año: 2009 vol. 35 p. 29 - 42
ISSN:
0920-1742
Resumen:
Abstract The latitudinal extension of southern
South America imposes a thermal gradient that
affects the structure of marine and freshwater fish
assemblages and the biology of the species through
direct exposure to the temperature gradients or by
means of a web of historical and ecological relationships.
We have reviewed biological and ecological
data of marine and freshwater fishes from the
southern Neotropics, including Patagonia, and report
several examples of dependence on temperature,
from glacial times to todays climate change. We
were able to identify historic and present effects on
the diversity of fish assemblages, isolation, southern
limits for the distribution of species, and
morphological variation among populations. There
is a wide range of characteristics that exemplify an
adaptation to low temperatures, including biochemical
peculiarities, physiological adjustments, and
alternative life history patterns, and these appear in
both freshwater and marine, and native and exotic
fishes. The consequences of stable temperature
regimes in both the ocean and thermal streams
deserve special mention as these shape specialists
under conditions of low selective pressure. At
present, habitat use and interactions among species
are being subject to changes as consequences of water
temperature, and some of these are already evident in
the northern and southern hemispheres.