Cold adaptation in marine organisms

Abstract

Animals from polar seas exhibit numerous so called resistance adaptations that serve to maintain homeostasis at low temperature and prevent lethal freezing injury. Specialization to temperatures at or below 0 degrees C is associated with an inability to survive at temperatures above 3-8 degrees C. Polar fish synthesize various types of glycoproteins or peptides to lower the freezing point of most extracellular fluid compartments in a non-colligative manner. Antifreeze production is seasonal in boreal species and is often initiated by environmental cues other than low temperature, particularly short day lengths. Most of the adaptations that enable intertidal invertebrates to survive freezing are associated with their ability to withstand ariel exposure. Unique adaptations for freezing avoidance include the synthesis of low molecular mass ice-nucleating proteins that control and induce extracellular ice-formation. Marine poikilotherms also exhibit a range of capacity adaptations that increase the rate of some physiological processes so as to partially compensate for the effects of low temperature. However, the rate of embryonic development in a diverse range of marine organisms shows no evidence of temperature compensation. This results in a significant lengthening of the time from fertilization to hatching in polar, relative to temperate, species. Some aspects of the physiology of polar marine species, such as low metabolic and slow growth rates, probably result from a combination of low temperature and other factors such as the highly seasonal nature of food supplies. Although neuromuscular function shows a partial capacity adaptation in Antarctic fish, maximum swimming speeds are lower than for temperate and tropical species, particularly for early stages in the life history.