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Preface
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
cian from Forsythe, Missouri, combined his hobby of scuba diving and snorkeling with photography and revealed , even to specialists, the incredible colors of the North American native fish fauna, especially in their brightest breeding condition, as well as some of their unique and fascinating natural histories. William N. Roston eventually traveled the continent looking for clear water and fish to photograph in their natural environment (never in aquaria). A number of his photographs are used here. During this period, numerous books focused on fish faunas of individual states (e.g., Alabama, Arkansas, California , Illinois, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico , Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Washington, Wisconsin) as well as Canada, making even more detail on fishes available to the public. These works allowed for the first complete identification guide to all freshwater fishes in the United States and Canada (Page & Burr 1991, revised 2011). Nevertheless, it was not until the Freshwater Fishes of Mexico (Miller et al. 2005) was published that it was possible for us to consider editing this threevolume work on the natural history, ecology, and conservation of North American freshwater fishes. We are indebted to a large community of ichthyologists, fisheries biologists, and other workers in related fields (e.g., physiology , genetics, behavior, ecology) who have investigated the details of the lives of fishes in such a way that much technical information can now be synthesized in one place and again made available to the public and other specialists. Even though our overarching goal was to synthesize as much information as possible on North American freshwater fishes, the job of gathering information is far from The North American freshwater fish fauna comprises a little more than 1,200 native species in 50 families. It is the most thoroughly studied and largest temperate fish fauna (Page & Burr 2011) in the world. In comparison, an analysis and compendium of European freshwater fishes included 546 native species in about 24 families (Kottelat & Freyhof 2007); Europe is about one-third the land area of North America. Australia has nearly 300 freshwater fishes in 35 families (Allen 1989; Allen et al. 2002) in a land area about that of the United States (minus Alaska). This number includes many marine species that enter fresh water, and highly unusual freshwater fish lineages occur there (e.g., Salamanderfish, Lepidogalaxias salamandroides ; Australian Lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri; Nursery- fish, Kurtus gulliveri). The only other temperate fish fauna that could rival North America is Asian, but reliable information on this vast area and its fishes remains poorly understood by scientists in the New World. An estimate for the country of China stands at 1,010 native species (M. Kottelat pers. comm.). Unsurprisingly, as for many plant and animal groups, the tropical regions of the world harbor freshwater fish faunas several times larger than those of temperate regions (Lundberg et al. 2000; Berra 2007). In the mid-1970s knowledge of North American freshwater fishes was confined to a few specialists, but even so for many species (and families) little was available on natural history or ecology. In 1980, a landmark volume was published that used spot distribution maps to illustrate the ranges of all freshwater fish species in the United States and Canada (Lee et al. 1980 et seq.). That volume made available to the lay public as well as specialists a level of knowledge of the North American freshwater fish fauna theretofore unknown. Shortly thereafter a physiPreface x PREFACE marine species in a work about freshwater fishes, but the arbitrariness reflects a biologically real gray area among fishes at the interface of saltwater and freshwater systems (e.g., “coastal” Largemouth Bass, Micropterus salmoides; Gulf Pipefish, Syngnathus scovelli; Atlantic Needlefish, Strongylura marina). Each taxonomic chapter focuses on a family or in some cases two families of North American freshwater fishes with emphasis on the natural history, biology, evolution, and conservation of each genus in the family. The sequence of the families generally follows the arrangement of Nelson et al. (2004) and Nelson (2006). In volume 1, taxonomic chapters cover the Lampreys (Petromyzontidae ) through the Suckers (Catostomidae) with one exception . Because of extenuating circumstances, the chapter on Herrings (Clupeidae) will be included in a subsequent volume. Taxonomic chapters in volume 2 will cover the Characins (Characidae) through the Livebearers (Poecilidae ), and volume 3, the Sticklebacks through the American Soles (Achiriidae), but we acknowledge the phylogeny of Ray-finned Fishes and Spiny-rayed Fishes by Near et al. (2012, 2013) and the expansion of that work by...