Acquisition of Energy by Teleosts: Adaptive Mechanisms and Evolutionary Patterns

Abstract

Organisms are self-regulating highly integrated systems capable of autoduplication (Waterman, 1967). As such they must acquire energy from the environment permitting growth, locomotion, reproduction, and all other biological processes. Although acquisition, transfer and utilization of energy in fishes have been studied rather extensively, more emphasis has been placed on the latter two. Because environmental physiologists are mainly concerned with the physiological adaptations to various environmental parameters, it seems appropriate to focus on the proximate interactions between the fish and trophic resources at the level of acquisition. Transfer and utilization of energy are beyond the scope of this A.S.I. and will not be discussed.