Biology of Antarctic Fish presents the most recent findings on the biology of fish in the unique environment of the Antarctic ocean. At present the year-round temperature of the coastal waters is very near -1,87 Degrees C, the equilibrium temperature of the ice-seawater mixture. This extremely low temperature affects different levels of organization of fish life: individuals, organ systems, cells, organelles, membranes, and molecules. Exploring ecology, evolution, and life history as well as physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology of Antarctic fish the book describes the mechanisms of cold adaptation at all these levels. It provides material for discussion also for fundamental questions in the field of adaptation to an extreme environment and therefore is of particular interest not only to specialized scientists, but also to those involved in basic and evolutionary biology.

This volume provides a novel insight to the evolutionary and comparative aspects of nitric oxide- nitric oxide synthase system as a central regulator of invertebrate and vertebrate homeostasis. By critically selecting and summarizing the ever increasing number of original studies, these presentations review a variety of important signalling and modulatory roles played by nitric oxide at molecular, cell, organ and organ system levels. It addresses not only specialists and graduate students in the field, but also all biologists concerned with how this unique, gaseous, pleiotropic molecule has been employed by living systems, uncovering a new dimension of the wonders of life.