Antarctic marine species have evolved over millions of years in cold, thermally stable, but also seasonally intense conditions. In response to this many unique adaptations have been produced including antifreeze in fish, an absence of haemoglobin in Channichthyd fish and the absence of a heat shock response in some species.
Recently it has been shown that the vast majority of biological processes are slowed in Antarctic marine species compared to those from warmer water sites. For respiration, aerobic capacity and activity the slowing in Antarctic species compared to temperate and tropical species is in line with the expected effect of temperature on biological functions as first described by Arrhenius over 100 years ago. For other processes, such as growth, embryonic development and the duration of elevated metabolic rates after feeding, the slowing is much greater than the expected effect of temperature. This talk presents these data and then shows why the impact of low temperature on protein synthesis is the likely reason for these differing results