In the Laboratory of Ecophysiology we investigate physiological and ecological problems relevant to the life history of sub-Antartic marine animals. The geographic localization of the Beagle Channel, connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, and its proximity to the Southern Ocean makes the local fauna a mixture of species with three different origins. The Beagle Channel is a natural laboratory to investigate these faunas and the environmental and genetic characteristics that limit the distribution of the different species.

We work on different animal groups including fishes: Notothenids (Eleginops maclovinus, Patagonotothen tessellata, Paranotothenia magellanica, Harpagifer bispinis), silversides (Odontesthes nigricans, O. smitti), galaxiids (Galaxias maculatus) and salmonids (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and invertebrates (echinoids: Loxechinus albus; gastropods: Nacella deaurata and N. magellanica).

In these species we investigate some characteristics of the population like reproductive cycles, growth rate or genetic structure; some characteristics of the individuals like aerobic metabolism, oxidative stress and the energetic balance; and also some characteristics of the organs and tissues like the histology and biochemistry of the reproductive organs and the musculature. We also investigate the way environmental cues influence these processes facilitating in the organisms responses in the short-term (physiologic) and in the long terms (evolutive).