Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Polar gigantism dictated by oxygen availability

Nature volume 399, pages 114–115 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

The tendency of some animals to be larger at higher latitudes (‘polar gigantism’) has not been explained, although it has often been attributed to low temperature and metabolism1. Investigation of gigantism requires widely distributed taxa with extensive species representation at many well-studied sites. We have analysed length data for 1,853 species of benthic amphipod crustaceans from 12 sites worldwide, from polar to tropical and marine (continental shelf) to freshwater environments. We find that maximum potential size (MPS) is limited by oxygen availability.

Your institute does not have access to this article

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Figure 1: Amphipod size spectra for the two sites (Madagascar8, top; Lake Baikal9, bottom) for which the maximum and minimum TS95/5values, indicated by bars, were obtained.
Figure 2: Effects of temperature and oxygen availability on amphipod MPS.

References

  1. Atkinson, D. & Sibly, R. M. Trends Ecol. Evol. 12, 235–239 (1997).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Ivleva, I. V. Int. Rev. Ges. Hydrobiol. 65, 1–47 (1980).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Wolvekamp, H. P. & Waterman, T. H. in The Physiology of Crustacea Vol. 1 (ed. Waterman, T. H.) 35-100 (Academic, New York, 1960).

  4. Spicer, J. I. Mar. Behav. Physiol. 24, 123–136 (1993).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Whiteley, N. M., Taylor, E. W., Clarke, A. & El Haj, A. J. Polar Biol. 18, 10–15 (1997).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Hagerman, L., Sandberg, E. & Vismann, B. Mar. Biol. 130, 209–212 (1997).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Graham, J. B., Dudley, R., Aguilar, N. M. & Gans, C. Nature 375, 117–120 (1995).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Ledoyer, M. Faune de Madagascar. Crustaces Amphipodes Gammariens (CNRS, Paris, 1982-1986).

  9. Bazikalova, A. Y. Lake Baikal Amphipods. Proc. Baikal. Limnol. Stn Acad. Sci. USSR 11, 1–440 (1945).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Bruxelles, Rue Vautier 29, Bruxelles, B-1000, Belgium

    Gauthier Chapelle

  2. British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK

    Lloyd S. Peck

Authors
  1. Gauthier Chapelle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lloyd S. Peck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Chapelle, G., Peck, L. Polar gigantism dictated by oxygen availability. Nature 399, 114–115 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/20099

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/20099

Further reading

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing