September 6, 2016
Charles Darwin said that only the species that can adapt themselves to changes will survive. It is not about the intelligent species or strong species. Fishes are one such innovative and flexible species. For more than 400 million years, they have been successful in adapting themselves to the changing environmental conditions.
With global warming and changes in the sea levels, will they survive the changes that have come along?
Dr. Jodie Rummer is a senior research fellow at James Cook University at the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef studies. Her actual title is Fish Physiologist. Sounds exciting right?
As the title indicates, a major part of her work involves dealing with fishes. Her recent study has been about the Great Barrier Reef which houses more than 1,500 species of fish which includes different colors, body shapes, size. It is definitely breath-taking as she gets to see some of the gorgeous fishes.
There are more than 28,000 species of fishes in the planet and the number is more than fifty percent of the living vertebrates. Also, fascinating is that fishes occupy almost every water body on the planet. They are subject to varying environmental conditions as a part of their lives. They can live out of the water and even sustain low oxygen levels that might kill humans in seconds. For more than 400 million years they have coped up with every possible condition.
Studying the physiology of these fishes helps us in understanding what kind of issues they might face. One of the most striking aspects about fishes is their respiratory system that is responsible for oxygen transport and movement of the fishes.
By studying these, we should be able to estimate if they will survive the harsh changes that are happening to the environment. We can understand if a particular species will be at most risk due to climate change and which ones will survive. This will set priorities for conservation and management.
Fishes have already survived a lot during their evolution phase and they have amazing respiratory systems that can carry oxygen under any conditions. In fact, some of the best in comparison with any animals. Whether they will survive or not depends on how far the habitats are changing.
Read More: Artist Gone; But The Song Lives On
