Desert-Dwelling Fish Can 'Hold Its Breath' for Five Hours
Tiny pupfish have adapted their respiration to go without oxygen for long stretches.
Never go up against a pupfish in a breath-holding contest. This wee swimmer, resident of warm springs near Death Valley in California, can go with almost no oxygen for up to five hours at a time, according to a new study due out this year.
The impressive ability is an adaptation that’s let the desert species hang on despite rapid change to its environment, said researchers this week at the American Physiological Society’s Experimental Biology Meeting.
Looking at the evolutionary history of these fish, it’s clear that “they lived in cooler environments not that long ago,” says van Breukelen. It’s just tough luck that things took a turn for the hot: “Sometimes animals live in bad neighborhoods,” he says.
The fish seem
