Prolonged swimming performance within the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) adaptive radiation and the effect of dietary restriction

摘要

Background: Organisms can be conceptualized as systems in which input energy is allocated to competing needs and on which natural selection acts to maximize one particular need reproductive output. In large part, this is achieved by minimizing the energy required by other needs. Among the more important competing needs in most fish is the need to swim, and fish musculature, physiology, and shape have evolved to minimize swimming energy use in an environment- and lifestyle-dependent manner.