1. Studies with a carbon substrate analogue, 3,3-dimethylbutyl acetate, indicate that the hydrophobic contribution to binding at the anionic site of acetylcholinesterase is strongly disrupted at low temperatures and high pressures. 2. Animals living in different physical environments circumvent this problem by adjusting the enthalpic and entropic contributions to binding. 3. An extreme example of this adaptational strategy is supplied by brain acetylcholinesterase extracted from an abyssal fish living at 2 degrees C and up to several hundred atmospheres of pressure. This acetylcholinesterase appears to have a smaller hydrophobic binding region in the anionic site, playing a measurably decreased role in ligand binding.