This easy-to-use identification guide to the whales, dolphins and seals found in Southern African waters and the Southern Ocean is compact yet comprehensive.

Close to 50 species occur in the region: from the demonstrative Humpback Whale and Dusky Dolphin to the striking Leopard Seal and massive Blue Whale.

This volume of "Methods in Cell Biology, " the second of two parts on the subject of zebrafish, provides a comprehensive compendium of laboratory protocols and reviews covering all the new methods developed since 1999.
* Details state-of-the art zebrafish protocols, delineating critical steps in the procedures as well as potential pitfalls
* Illustrates many techiques in full-color
* Summarizes the Zebrafish Genome Project

This volume of Methods in Cell Biology, the first of3 parts on the subject of zebrafish, provides a comprehensive compendia of laboratory protocols and reviews covering all the new methods developed since 2004. This first volume provides state-of-the-art descriptions of novel cellular imaging technologies and methods for culture of zebrafish stem cells, summarizes protocols for analyzingthe development of major organ systems including the central nervous system (CNS), and introduces the use of the zebrafish as a model system for human diseases.
* Details state-of-the art zebrafish protocols, delineating critical steps in the procedures as well as potential pitfalls
* Summarizes the Zebrafish Genome Project"

"The" "Multifunctional Gut of Fish" provides a comprehensive synthesis and an integrative overview of the range of gut functions and their implications for organismal physiology. The highly diversified anatomy and functions of the gut, including nutrient uptake, immune barrier function, salt and water homeostasis and respiration, as well as neuroendocrine actions and control are covered in detail by leading authors. In addition, this volume explores the pronounced implications of gut function for whole animal integrative physiology and compensatory demands for non-gastrointestinal organs. As the first comprehensive reference to discuss the diverse morphological and functional adaptations of the gut, this volume provides an excellent resource for comparative physiologists, aquaculturists and biomedical researchers employing fish as model organisms for mammalian physiology.

Includes chapters dedicated to anatomical and functional features of the gastro-intestinal tract of fish as well as integrative aspects of gut organ function.

Includes in depth coverage of recently recognized implications of feeding on salt homeostasis and acid-base balance.

Provides syntheses of implications of gut function for homeostasis.

Essential text for those interested in the wide diversity of functions performed by the gut.

Behavioral and Neural Genetics of Zebrafish assembles the state-of-the-art methodologies and current concepts pertinent to their neurobehavioral genetics. Discussing their natural behavior, motor function, learning and memory, this book focuses on the fry and adult zebrafish, featuring a comprehensive account of modern genetic and neural methods adapted to, or specifically developed for, Danio rerio. Numerous examples of how these behavioral methods may be utilized for disease models using the zebrafish are presented, as is a section on bioinformatics and "big-data" related questions.

This book looks at how three kinds of strongly electric fishes literally became "electrical," and how they helped to change the sciences and medicine. These fishes are the flat torpedo rays common to the Mediterranean, the electric catfishes of Africa, and an "eel" from South America. The discovery of the electrical nature of these fishes in the second half of the 18th century was the starting point of the two fundamental advances in the sciences: on the physiological side, the demonstration that nerve conduction and muscle excitation are electrical phenomena, and on the physical side, the invention of the electric battery. Starting with catfish tomb drawings from Ancient Egypt and colorful descriptions of torpedoes from the Classical Era, the authors show how these fishes were both fascinating and mysterious to the ancients. After all, not only could they produce torpor and temporary numbness when touched, they could stun through intermediaries, such as wet nets and spears.
Various explanations were given for these remarkable actions in ancient times, including the idea that they might release some sort of cold venom. Through the Renaissance, they also tended to be associated with occult and magical qualities. During the 1600s, natural philosophers speculated that rapid movements of specialized muscles could account for their actions. This idea was widely accepted until the 1750s, when the possibility that their shocks might be electrical began to be discussed.
Showing how researchers set forth to provide support for fish electricity is a major focus of this book. Here the authors transport us into the jungles of South America and later show how some live eels were transported to London, where John Walsh demonstrated in1776 that they can actually spark.
Subsequent chapters deal with further evidence for specialized fish electricity and how electric fishes helped to change ideas about even our own physiology. The authors also show how these fish remained a part of medicine, and how Volta modeled his revolutionary "pile" or electric battery on their anatomy.
From beginning to end, this drama is firmly anchored in the philosophy and science of the day. Moreover, with biographical information about the key players, readers can fully appreciate what they were thinking as they tried to understand one of Nature's greatest puzzles - a mystery that would transform nerve and muscle physiology in ways that earlier generations could not have anticipated. Although a scholarly volume, the book's style is generally narrative and, with its hundreds of magnificent illustrations, it should appeal to a large audience.

Biology and Ecology of Venomous Marine Scorpionfishes examines the diversity, utilization, and ways to safeguard against the world's most dangerous fish species. It covers the biological and ecological factors that differentiate each species in the Scorpaeninae (Scorpionfish) family and its Pteroinae (Lionfish) subfamily. This book offers important anatomical and identification information on marine scorpionfishes and delves into the diversity, habits and behaviors of each venomous species. In addition, it discusses the health risks that can plague these fish in and out of the wild, including parasites. This book is an essential resource to educate marine biology researchers and students on the various species of scorpionfish that also provides sea-goers with a guide that will help protect them against venomous stings from these fish.

Comprising by far the largest and most diverse group of vertebrates, fishes occupy a broad swathe of habitats ranging from the deepest ocean abyss to the highest mountain lakes. Such incredible ecological diversity and the resultant variety in lifestyle, anatomy, physiology and behavior, make unraveling the evolutionary history of fishes a daunting task. The successor of a classic volume by the same title, Interrelationships of Fishes, provides the latest in the "state of the art" of systematics and classification for many of the major groups of fishes. In providing a sound phylogenetic framework from leading authorities in the field, this book is an indispensable reference for a broad range of biologists, especially students of fish behavior, anatomy, physiology, molecular biology, genetics and ecology--in fact, anyone who wishes to interpret their work on fishes in an evolutionary context.
* Provides thorough and comprehensive treatment of the Phylogency of fishes
* Assembles an International team of expert contributors
* Useful to a wide variety of fish biologists

As salmonids have been reared for more than a century in many countries, one might expect that principles are well established and provide a solid foundation for salmonid aquaculture. Indeed, some of the methods used today in salmonid rearing are nearly identical to those employed one hundred years ago. Areas of salmonid research today include nutrition, smolt and stress physiology, genetics and biotechnology.

The purpose of this book is to provide a useful synthesis of the biology and culture of salmonid fishes. The important practices in salmonid culture as well as the theory behind them is described. This volume will be of interest to students, researchers, fisheries biologists and managers as well as practising aquaculturists.

This is a reprint of the book Sharks of the Order Carcharhiniformes, first published in 1988. The book is a general review, taxonomic revision and phylogenetic analysis of the carcharhinoids, the largest group of living sharks, which comprises almost 60% of the known shark species. Students of shark biology have been hampered by the lack of a comprehensive and rigorous account of shark morphology. With this work, Dr. Compagno offers not only the most comprehensive and detailed account of this important group but also one of the most comprehensive modern anatomic and phylogenetic studies on cartilaginous fishes available. It is an essential reference not only for researchers on carcharhinoids but also for those who study other families of sharks and for paleontologists interested in this ancient group of fishes. The book begins with a general account of carcharhinoid sharks. Chapters two through eleven include detailed discussions of character systems used in taxonomic and phylogenetic analysis of carcharhinoids. Chapter twelve defines the Order Carcharhiniformes, lists its families and includes a taxonomic key to the families. Chapters thirteen through twenty review the eight carcharhinoid families and chapter twenty-one is an extended discussion of the phylogeny of carcharhinoids with cladistic analysis of taxa at various levels. L. J. V. Compagno is Curator of Fishes and Head of the Shark Research Center at Iziko - Museums of Cape Town, South Africa.

Biology and Evolution of the Mexican Cavefish features contributions by leading researchers in a comprehensive, unique work that examines a number of distinct areas of biology-evolution, development, ecology, and behavior-using the Mexican cavefish as a powerful model system to further understanding of basic biological processes such as eye degeneration, hearing, craniofacial development, sleep, and metabolic function. These fish are currently being used to better understand a number of issues related to human health, including age-related blindness, sleep, obesity, mood-related disorders, and aging. The recent sequencing of the cavefish genome broadens the interest of this system to groups working with diverse biological systems, and has helped researchers identify genes that regulate sleep, eye degeneration, and metabolic function. Mexican cavefish are particularly powerful for the study of biological processes because these fish evolved independently in twenty-nine caves in the Sierra de el Abra Region of Northeast Mexico. These fish have dramatic adaptations to the cave environment, and this can be used to identify genes involved in disease-related traits. This scholarly text will be of interest to researchers and students throughout diverse areas of biology and ecology. It includes photographs of animals and behavior in laboratory and natural settings that will also increase interest and accessibility to non-experts.

Originally published as Bulletin of the US Bureau of Fisheries, Volume XLIII, 1927, Part I, this is a classic of the fisheries literature that has been out-of-print and unavailable too long. For each species included in the book, the authors attempted to provide common names, descriptions (in language as non-technical as possible), diagnostic characteristics, variations, food and feeding habits, spawning, embryology and larval development, growth rates, relative abundance, commercial importance, habitat and specimens in the Smithsonian collection.

Epizootic Ulcerative Fish Disease Syndrome covers both the background and current information on the EUS disease relevant to fisheries and aquaculture delivered in a systematic and succinct way. The book is an essential resource for the aquaculture and fisheries researcher interested in finding solutions to the spread of the disease across the globe and students in relevant programs, including an in-depth description and analysis of the disease, as well as the structure and composition of the virus, while offering prevention and control methodologies. Clinical veterinarians, aquaculture disease practitioners, farmers, and those who are interested in aquatic virology will find this book to be a useful guide on the topic.