Evolutionary and cardio‐respiratory physiology of air‐breathing and amphibious fishes

Christian Damsgaard , Vikram Baliga , Eric Bates , Warren Burggren , David J Mckenzie (1) , Edwin Taylor , Patricia Wright (2)

1 UMR MARBEC - MARine Biodiversity Exploitation and Conservation
2 Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments

Air-breathing and amphibious fishes are essential study organisms to shed insight into the required physiological shifts that supported the full transition from aquatic water-breathing fishes to terrestrial air-breathing tetrapods. While the origin of air-breathing in the evolutionary history of the tetrapods has received considerable focus, much less is known about the evolutionary physiology of air-breathing among fishes. This review summarises recent advances within the field with specific emphasis on the cardiorespiratory regulation associated with air-breathing and terrestrial excursions, and how respiratory physiology of these living transitional forms are affected by development and personality. Finally, we provide a detailed and re-evaluated model of the evolution of air-breathing among fishes that serves as a framework for addressing new questions on the cardiorespiratory changes associated with it. This review highlights the importance of combining detailed studies on piscine air-breathing model species with comparative multi-species studies, to add an additional dimension to our understanding of the evolutionary physiology of air-breathing in vertebrates.

Domaines: Zoologie des vertébrés; Evolution [q-bio.PE]

Christian Damsgaard, Vikram Baliga, Eric Bates, Warren Burggren, David J Mckenzie, et al.. Evolutionary and cardio‐respiratory physiology of air‐breathing and amphibious fishes. Acta Physiologica, 2020, 228, ⟨10.1111/apha.13406⟩. ⟨hal-02411253⟩