This work is still preliminary and has yet to undergo peer-review. This page is also under construction. However, I am always open to questions and comment on the research. Thank you for visiting!

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Background

For ectothermic organisms, those which cannot create their own body heat, the temperature of the environment can have important impacts upon their physiology, ecology and behavior. If conditions are too hot or too cold, then organisms may be unable to complete important aspects of their life history and may suffer non-lethal effects of stress. Just like you may have a preferred setting on the thermostat, organisms can also have preferred temperatures; temperatures which suit their physiological needs and theoretically improve organism fitness.

AquaMaps (2019, October). Computer generated distribution maps for Trematomus bernacchii (Emerald rockcod), with modelled year 2050 native range map based on IPCC RCP8.5 emissions scenario. Retrieved from https://www.aquamaps.org.

Fish of the Antarctic are unusually in being able to survive in sub-freezing temperature. To prevent the formation of ice within their bodies, Antarctic fish have evolved a suite of physiological responses to allow the to live in such frigid temperatures. It is though that these physiological responses are energetically expensive. Furthermore, the water temperature of McMurdo sound is exceptionally stable, thought to hardly change over millions of years. Due to global climate change, the temperature of the Southern Ocean and McMurdo Sound are increasing more rapidly than nearly anywhere on Earth, and how fish will respond to this change in the thermal landscape is unknown.

Our project had two goals. The first was to determine, for the first time, the temperature preference of two Antarctic fish species. The Emerald Rockcod (Trematomus bernacchii) and the Sharp-spined Notothen (Trematomus pennellii) are common, benthic species crucial to the depauperate food-web of the Ross Sea. The second goal of our project was to demonstrate the effectiveness of our Temperature Preference Apparatus (TPA) in a remote setting. An initial version of the TPA was designed by Myrick et al. (2004) and provides a stable thermal gradient within which the fish may select a preference. For our work in the Antarctic we miniaturized the device to better suite the size of our fish and the requirements of working in a remote setting.