We used an ecological niche theory framework integrating physiological and behavioural ecology to understand interspecific differentiation of juveniles of four Antarctic fishes: Trematomus bernacchii , Trematomus pennellii , Trematomus nicolai and Pagothenia borchgrevinki . We focused on basal metabolic traits and the exploration‐avoidance axis of behaviour, two key dimensions of species fitness and drivers of niche differenti...

Notothenioidei fishes have evolved under stable cold temperatures; however, ocean conditions are changing globally, with polar regions poised to experience the greatest changes in environmental factors, such as warming. These stressors have the potential to dramatically affect energetic demands, and the persistence of the notothenioids will be dependent on metabolic capacity, or the ability to match energy supply with energy d...

This paper presents the results of the sea water quality assessments based on the heart rate monitoring (cardiac responses) of indigenous Mediterranean mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis. Mussels were sampled from three different sites in the Boka Kotorska Bay varied on anthropogenic pressure. Heart rate recovery time (Trec)and coefficient of variation of heart rate (CVHR) were tested in compliance with the standardized test pr...

Transcriptionally mediated phenotypic plasticity as a mechanism of modifying traits in response to an environmental challenge remains an important area of study. We compared the transcriptional responses to low oxygen (hypoxia) of the hypoxia‐tolerant intertidal fish, the tidepool sculpin ( O ligocottus maculosus ) with the closely related hypoxia‐intolerant subtidal fish, the silverspotted sculpin ( B lepsias cirrhosus ) to d...

The Salmoniform whole‐genome duplication is hypothesized to have facilitated the evolution of anadromy, but little is known about the contribution of paralogs from this event to the physiological performance traits required for anadromy, such as salinity tolerance. Here, we determined when two candidate, salinity‐responsive paralogs of the Na + , K + ATP ase α subunit (α1a and α1b) evolved and studied their evolutionary trajec...