Johns Hopkins University Press recently published the first volume of a long-awaited reference work on North American freshwater fishes edited by U.S. Forest Service fisheries research scientist Mel Warren and Southern Illinois University professor Brooks Burr.
Freshwater Fishes of North America, Volume 1 provides comprehensive details on 10 North American fish families: Lampreys, Whiptail Stingrays, Paddlefishes, Gars, Bowfins, Mooneyes, Freshwater Eels, Anchovies, Carps and Minnows, and Suckers.
The book is the first to synthesize the diversity, natural history, ecology and biology of the species in these 10 families. Two more volumes will follow, the three volumes covering all of the 52 freshwater fish families occurring in Canada, mainland U.S. and Mexico (south to the isthmus of Tehuantepec).
“Over 1,200 native freshwater fish species occur on the North American continent, comprising the largest temperate freshwater fish fauna on earth,” said Warren, aquatic ecologist for the Forest Service Southern Research Station Center for Bottomland Hardwoods Research. “The importance of freshwater fishes to North American ecosystem function, their value economically, and the growing need to conserve species cannot be overstated.”
Volume 1 covers the ecology, morphology, reproduction, distribution, behavior, taxonomy, conservation, and fossil record for the 10 fish families listed. Additional chapters provide more general information on the evolution and ecology of fish communities, mating behavior, and conservation. The encyclopedic reviews of each fish family include color photographs, maps, and original artwork by noted fish illustrator Joseph R. Tomelleri.
“This volume, and the two that follow are a result of decades of analysis and synthesis by leading fish experts from a variety of universities and research laboratories,” said Warren. “It will answer any questions a reader might have about our diverse, yet too often imperiled fish fauna.”
More about the book from the press website.
For more information, email Mel Warren at mwarren01@fs.fed.us .
Access the latest publications by SRS scientists .
