High pressure biology is an old, fascinating and stimulating field of research. One of the major reasons for the interest in studying high pressure is that this environmental factor also plays an important role in thermodynamics and consequently in biology. Pressure, from a biological perspective, has a bearing on all living creatures. The book presents a panoramic view of this subject from molecules to the overall organism, via the cells and unicellular species, invertebrates and vertebrates, ectotherms and endotherms. This book provides not only the more recent results in each of its chapters but also suggests new directions for research. The intended readership is postgraduate students and research scientists in various fields.

Eel of the genus Anguilla is an extraordinary fish, which due to its particular life cycle has fascinated biologists and physiologists ever since the pioneering works of Homer H. Schmidt in the 1930s. The Eel has become an excellent model for various aspects of adaptive physiological research. Despite that, several books dealing with eel biology, aquaculture, fishing, etc., have been published, but there still is a need for a text dealing with eel physiology. This book fills a void in eel literature by presenting various aspects of eel physiology in one comprehensive volume. With its numerous figures and tables and an extensive up-to-date bibliography, it will be of interest not only to researchers and students but also to people engaged in applied research in fishery and aquaculture. Eel is a commercially important fish, but it must be protected from over-exploitation; as such, conservation measures are necessary. It is hoped that this book will stimulate and suggest new lines of research.

Living organisms are endowed with ingenious adaptive mechanisms to cope with the adversities of special environments. Due to the vast diversity of their habitats, fish make an excellent model to depict the interplay of morphological, physiological and biochemical aspects, and are often used to study adaptive processes to a new environment. The book covers fish in diverse environmental conditions such as alkaline environments, caves, Antarctic, ice cold lakes, tropical coral reefs, and deep waters. The chapters also discuss mitochondrial functions in the cold, circadian rhythms, endocrinology of migratory fish life cycle and fish muscle function. The topics have been selected in order to present a window to an array of adaptations of aquatic inhabitants which enable them to subsist and survive in the uncommon, and often hostile, external environment.