ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses upon the effects of environmental factors upon aerobic exercise, hence how these factors influence the ability of fish to perform sustained and prolonged swimming. Fishes can be found in almost any body of water, be it an underground cave, beneath the arctic ice, in the deepest marine trench, in a fast moving mountain stream, or on a tropical reef. All fish groups possess two prominent myotomal muscle masses on either side of their body which are used for swimming with undulations of the body and caudal fin. Temperature is probably the most significant abiotic environmental factor for fish, with a controlling influence upon all aspects of their physiology and metabolism. Aquatic hypoxia may have significant ecological implications for water-breathing fishes through its effects on aerobic swimming performance. The major challenge for the future is to demonstrate the intuitive links between aerobic swimming and fitness.
