PREFACE
In the first three chapters of Volume IV the anatomy and physiology
of the nervous system are discussed and provide a background for many
of the subsequent chapters in this volume and in Volume V. The major
portion of this fourth volume is devoted to a review of aspects of respiration, circulation, and properties of the blood in fishes. There is a chapter
on the role of the swim bladder as a hydrostatic organ and another on the
effects of hydrostatic pressure on animal function. The swim bladder
presents a fascinating example of the special organization of the circulatory system to meet a particular functional demand, in this case the
secretion of gases against large concentration gradients. Some recent
developments in the understanding of how gases are secreted into the
swim bladder are reported.
The subject matter discussed has been attracting the interest of a
large number of people from many disciplines, as has comparative
physiology in general. Engineers, mathematicians, physicists, biochemists,
zoologists, and physiologists are combining abilities to produce new
approaches and fresh insight into old problems in fish physiology.
Engineers are providing some of the theoretical background required
for the quantitative analysis of the movement of fish through water and
the movement of water over the gills. Biochemists in conjunction with
physiologists are relating changes observed in the behavior of molecules
to changes in the functional organization of the animal as a whole to meet
a new set of internal and external environmental conditions. Mammalian
physiologists are discovering a wealth of interesting adaptive problems
in fish physiology, We hope that this volume will serve as a useful source
of information for these people.
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