Tradeoffs between hypoxia tolerance and aerobic exercise performance appear to exist in some fish taxa, even though both of these traits are often associated with a high O 2 transport capacity. We examined the physiological basis for this potential tradeoff in four species of sunfish from the family Centrarchidae. Hypoxia tolerance was greatest in rock bass, intermediate in pumpkinseed and bluegill and lowest in largemouth bass, based on measurements of critical O 2 tension (P crit ) and O 2 tension at loss of equilibrium (P O2 at LOE). Consistent with there being a tradeoff between hypoxia tolerance and aerobic exercise capacity, the least hypoxia-tolerant species had the highest critical swimming speed (U crit ) during normoxia and suffered the greatest decrease in U crit in hypoxia. There was also a positive correlation between U crit in normoxia and P O2 at LOE, which remained significant after accounting for phylogeny using phylogenetically independent contrasts. Several sub-organismal traits appeared to contribute to both hypoxia tolerance and aerobic exercise capacity (reflected by traits that were highest in both rock bass and largemouth bass), such as the gas-exchange surface area of the gills, the pH sensitivity of haemoglobin-O 2 affinity, and the activities of lactate dehydrogenase and the gluconeogenic enzyme phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase in the liver. Some other suborganismal traits were uniquely associated with either hypoxia tolerance (low sensitivity of haemoglobin-O 2 affinity to organic phosphates, high pyruvate kinase and lactate dehydrogenase activities in the heart) or aerobic exercise capacity (capillarity and fibre size of the axial swimming muscle). Therefore, the cumulative influence of a variety of respiratory and metabolic traits can result in physiological tradeoffs associated with the evolution of hypoxia tolerance and aerobic exercise performance in fish.

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High-altitude natives have evolved to overcome environmental hypoxia and provide a compelling system to understand physiological function during reductions in oxygen availability. The sympathoadrenal system plays a key role in responses to acute hypoxia, but prolonged activation of this system in chronic hypoxia may be maladaptive. Here, we examined how chronic hypoxia exposure alters adrenal catecholamine secretion and how adrenal function is altered further in high-altitude natives. Populations of deer mice ( Peromyscus maniculatus) native to low and high altitudes were each born and raised in captivity at sea level, and adults from each population were exposed to normoxia or hypobaric hypoxia for 5 mo. Using carbon fiber amperometry on adrenal slices, catecholamine secretion evoked by low doses of nicotine (10 µM) or acute hypoxia (Po2 ∼15–20 mmHg) was reduced in lowlanders exposed to hypobaric hypoxia, which was attributable mainly to a decrease in quantal charge rather than event frequency. However, secretion evoked by high doses of nicotine (50 µM) was unaffected. Hypobaric hypoxia also reduced plasma epinephrine and protein expression of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) decarboxylase in the adrenal medulla of lowlanders. In contrast, highlanders were unresponsive to hypobaric hypoxia, exhibiting typically low adrenal catecholamine secretion, plasma epinephrine, and DOPA decarboxylase. Highlanders also had consistently lower catecholamine secretion evoked by high nicotine, smaller adrenal medullae with fewer chromaffin cells, and a larger adrenal cortex compared with lowlanders across both acclimation environments. Our results suggest that plastic responses to chronic hypoxia along with evolved changes in adrenal function attenuate catecholamine release in deer mice at high altitude.

There is a frequently observed tradeoff between hypoxia tolerance and exercise performance in fish, even though both of these traits are often associated with a high O2 transport capacity. We examined the physiological basis for this tradeoff in four species of bass and sunfish from the family Centrarchidae. Hypoxia tolerance was greatest in rock bass, intermediate in pumpkinseed sunfish and bluegill sunfish, and lowest in largemouth bass, based on measurements of critical O2 tension (Pcrit) and the O2 tension at loss of equilibrium. The least hypoxia‐tolerant species had the highest critical swimming speed (Ucrit) and maximal O2 consumption rate during swimming, and suffered the greatest decrease in Ucrit during exercise in hypoxia, consistent with there being a tradeoff between hypoxia tolerance and exercise performance. Some traits appeared to contribute to both hypoxia tolerance and exercise performance, as reflected by the traits that were highest in both rock bass and largemouth bass, such as the gas‐exchange surface area of the gills and the enzyme activities of lactate dehydrogenase and the gluconeogenic enzyme phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase in the liver. Some other traits were uniquely associated with hypoxia tolerance (pyruvate kinase and lactate dehydrogenase activities in the heart) or exercise performance (capillarity and fibre size of the axial swimming muscle). Therefore, the cumulative influence of a variety of respiratory and metabolic traits likely underlies the physiological tradeoffs associated with the evolution of hypoxia tolerance and exercise performance in fish. (Supported by NSERC of Canada)