As the physical properties of water and air are strickly dissimilar and
consequently, the aquatic realm is to different from our terrestrial one for
there to be relationships between them. The aquatic environment may impose
strict requirements or offer unique challenges which have resulted in some
most novel functions having no counterpart in terrestrial animals. For
examples, some fish can detect low-level electrical field, and cave fish can
live well without vision. Although in principle the options of endothermy and
ectothermy are available to fish, most fish are in fact ectothermic. What are
the trade-offs? Here, I select the areas of greatest general interest. We’ll
have chapters on topics such as feeding and Digestion, Swimming, Growth and
Metabolism. Stress and Immune Response, Ecothermy, Osmoregulation, Biorhythm.