Thymosins, the latest volume in the Vitamins and Hormones series, first published in 1943, and the longest-running serial published by Academic Press, provides up-to-date information on thymosins research that spans new data from molecular biology to the clinic. Each volume can focus on a single molecule or a disease that is related to vitamins or hormones, with the topic broadly interprested to include related substances, such as transmitters, cytokines, growth factors, and others reviewed.

This fascinating reference book delves into the origins of the vernacular and scientific names of sharks, rays, skates and chimeras. Each entry offers a concise biography, revealing the hidden stories and facts behind each species' name. Full of interesting facts and humorous titbits, the authors' extensive research and detective work has made this book a comprehensive source of knowledge on everyone associated with the naming of a species. A fascinating resource for anyone with an interest in sharks, from curious naturalist to professional ichthyologist, it is an essential addition to the library of anyone wishing to satisfy those tickling questions on the mysteries behind the names. Sometimes a name refers not to a person but to a fictional character or mythological figure. Eptatretus eos is named after the Greek goddess of the dawn in reference to the pink colouring of the hagfish. The Chilean Roundray Urotrygon cimar, named after Centro de Investigacion en Ciencias del Mar y Limnologia in honour of its 20th anniversary, and the Angular Angelshark Squatina Guggenheim, named after the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, are both named after institutions. The Whiteleg Skate Amblyraja taaf is just a shorthand way of describing a toponym - Territoire des Terres australes et antarctiques francaises. There are also entries which are light-hearted such as the one for a lady who told us "that decoration of her cakes have included roughtail skate Bathyraja trachura, red abalone Haliotis rufescens, and chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha." Following the success of their previous Eponym Dictionaries, the authors have joined forces to give the Elasmobranch group of fishes a similar treatment but they have also included the describers and authors of the original descriptions of the fishes involved, in addition to those names that are, or appear to be, eponyms. They have tracked down some 850 names of living as well as dead people. Of these half are eponyms after people who have fish named after them and may also have described a fish or fishes. The other half are ichthyologists, marine biologists and other scientists who have become involved in the description and naming of sharks, rays, skates and chimeras. For each person mentioned there is brief, pithy biography. Additionally there are some 50 entries for what sound like eponyms but turned out not to have any connection to a person, such as the Alexandrine Torpedo is named after the city in Egypt and not Alexander the Great. In some cases these are a reminder of the courage of scientists whose dedicated research in remote locations exposed them to disease and even violent death. The eponym ensures that their memory will survive, aided by reference works such as this highly readable dictionary. Altogether 1,577 fishes are listed.

This book provides a comprehensive review of some predominant environmental risks that marine fish cage aquaculture poses in the marine environment and designs and practices now in use to address these environmental risks in the U.S. and elsewhere. The book includes a critical review of the large body of scientific work published since 2000 on the environmental impacts of marine finfish aquaculture around the world. The purpose of this book is to provide a basic set of guidelines for risk managers and other decision makers to use all information available to assess the different ecological risks of marine fish aquaculture in a variety of marine ecosystems.

In general, aquaculture and fish farming cause negative impacts on the environment and wild fish populations. One of the major problems is the escape of farmed fish, especially exotic species, which can alter the population dynamics and ecology of wild stocks. Therefore, the reduction or even extinction of natural stocks may occur through predation and/or competition for resources. This book discusses the biology, behaviour and conservation strategies of both carp and catfish.

The darters are a fascinating group of colorful and diminutive freshwater fish whose beauty rivals that of the tropical reef fishes. Native only to North America, the darters occur widely, especially in the United States, but are little known to the general public, largely because of their small size -- few exceed six inches and some measure a mere one inch at maturity. This book is the first comprehensive guide to the darters, covering all named and several undescribed forms -- 140 species in all. Each species account includes a synoptic description to aid in separation of similar species and subspecies, a range map, and discussion of the species' distribution, natural heritage, abundance, and scientific name. An illustrated key and glossary will further assist scientists, students, fishermen, and aquarium specialists in identifying darter species. Central to this volume is the series of 144 handsome color photographs illustrating nearly all known darter species and several subspecies. Most of the specimens shown were caught by the authors at sites throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and photographed by them on site using a recently developed technique that captures the full brilliance of the living fish. Because of their importance as indicators of environmental quality, the darters are receiving increasing attention today from scientists and naturalists. Public interest was focused recently on the plight of the snail darter, but many other darter species are either threatened or endangered, and others face an uncertain future as human activities continue to degrade our waterways. All those with an interest in preserving the natural heritage of our rivers and streams will find this comprehensive guide to the darters an invaluable tool.

This informative new volume on the reproduction and development of zebrafish provides a timely and fundamental set of chapters presenting new data and critical reviews to the novice student and veteran researcher alike. It covers two major areas of zebrafish biology, reproduction and development, with toxicology emphasised in a number of chapters. Historically, reproductive biology of zebrafish has not been given the attention afforded to the more intensively studied aspects of embryonic development in this model species. In part, this may be due to fewer tools available to zebrafish reproductive biologists. However, with the advent of transparent juvenile and adult lines, new areas of reproduction research become visible both figuratively and literally. Two chapters are devoted to presenting these exciting new fish lines and examples of their use in research to the reproductive biology research community. Reproduction and embryonic development are a continuum which is emphasised in a new review on RNA-binding proteins in the zebrafish oocyte. It is increasingly clear that embryonic development is dependent upon factors present in the female gamete known collectively as "maternal effects", and these oocyte components are beautifully summarised in this chapter. Other chapters cover normal spawning periodicity and vitellogenic oocyte growth dynamics that should interest ovarian physiologists and those interested in zebrafish husbandry.

This book provides a good mix of both basic and applied topics in the hope that it will be useful and of interest to scientists working on finfish. It has 15 chapters written by 27 contributors and many of them are highly respected scientists. Given the global importance of salmon, contributors are from many countries including 11 from Japan and Russia. These authors bring slightly different and important perspectives to the book, and their expertise and research may not be known to many young scientists in Europe and in the Americas. The volume starts with an overview of salmon, their economic and social importance, and their impacts on the environment. Subsequent topics include morphological, physiological and behavioural differences between wild and farmed salmon; growth, food utilisation and water flow requirements of wild and hatchery salmon; the real and potential ecological impacts of sea cages and hatcheries; the potential use of waste product (gelatine) from the salmon industry; salmon behaviour and genetics including their broad applications that contribute to our understanding of fish biology, and nutritional and anti-nutritional factors in salmon culture. There are also chapters on environmental impacts and the economic importance of the commercial fishery and salmon farming industry; these are very important components of the industry, especially to the seafood sector.

Brazil is home to equatorial, tropical, semi-arid, highland tropical, and subtropical climatic regions. The semiarid region of Northeastern Brazil, considered an area of drought polygon, has distinctive scrub vegetation referred to as Caatinga that covers over 10% of the Brazilian territory with approximately twenty million inhabitants. The Caatinga is considered one of the 37 Wilderness Areas of the World, and it plays an important role in the maintenance of regional macro-ecological processes, as well as indirectly supporting regions with biodiversity and endemism. The Brazilian semiarid region is also home to Neotropical fish species that occur in diversified aquatic ecosystems, exhibiting different strategies to survive and reproduce. In this scenario of fantastic diversity there exists an intensive and yet insufficiently known interaction of environmental factors and fish communities. To fully understand this it is necessary to know the details about how it works. For completed book description please visit our website at the link below.

This book presents topical research in the study of the physiology, habitat and conservation of eels. Topics discussed in this compilation include the species and geographic distribution of freshwater eels; the ecological risk for organotin accumulation in relation to life history in the anguillid eel; habitat use and migration in the Japanese eel anguilla japonica and quality and vitamin content of the eggs of the Japanese eel.

An essential reference for biologist, naturalists and scuba divers. The only reference that covers every known reef fish from the East Indian region.

Marine and freshwater biotoxins are a well-known problem in food safety, mainly for filter-feeding mollusks and for freshwater aquaculture. This is a challenging matter since, in recent years, toxic algal blooms seems to grow in frequency and duration, leading to longer closure of harvesting areas, disruption in trade, mortality in farmed fish and a growing concern in producers, consumers and health authorities. Unfortunately, in recent years toxins from far latitudes are emerging, leading to new human health problems. Research and exhaustive knowledge of a problem makes it easier to draw a scenario where the best management strategies are gathered. This book combines all if the information related to food-borne illness associated with marine or freshwater biotoxins, the anthropogenic and environmental factors that cause the appearance of toxic episodes and all available analytical procedures for phycotoxins detection.

B logging has revolutionised the way we communicate our interests and spread news. This book is a compilation of various articles from the blog, Tetrapod Zoology(currently hosted at www.scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology). As of early 2010, Tet Zoo - as it's affectionately known - is in its fifth year. It's become reasonably popular (it has a daily readership of several thousand) and is now well known internationally. Or, it is, at least, among people interested in zoology and in scientific blogging. Welcome to the world of Tet Zoo: mphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals(the tetrapods), living and fossil. Their evolution, ecology, behaviour and biology. Think killer eagles, dinosaurs, giant caimans, mystery cats and lake monsters

Reef Aquarium Success - Volume 1: Learn How To Maintain A Beautiful Mini-Ocean Environment Within Your Tank" is Volume 1 of the original electronic book "Reef Keeping Basics - Successful Reef Management." To assist in the marketing and promotion of that original book, the author - Eric V. Van Der Hope, decided to publish a paperback version of the book. Also, because the original electonic book comprised over 700 pages & over 300 colorful images, it wasn't cost effective to produce as a single printed book. Thus, "Reef Aquarium Success - Volume 1" has become part 1 of an extremely informative and educational resource.About "Reef Aquarium Success - Volume 1""A Comprehensive Reef Keeping Resource - Written by Hobbyists - For Hobbyists "Do You Want To Maintain A Beautiful Pristine Reef Environment Successfully, While Maintaining Proper Conditions For The Health of Your Tropical Fish, Invertebrates and Corals?Learn to master what it takes to successfully maintain a mini-ocean environment within your home or office Here's just a sample of what's revealed within the pages of "Reef Aquarium Success - Volume 1": Discover what the most important aspect to consider is before even beginning the thought of maintaining your very own mini-reef environment Learn 10 critically important steps to help guarantee your chances of establishing a successful reef tank.You'll get a revealing look at some of the most common mistakes hobbyists make that result in disastrous results. This is your opportunity to make sure that you don't do the same.Learn what type of water you should use - this can ultimately be your most important decision you make to help guarantee the success of your mini-ocean environment.Learn what the most important types of testing are at setup, how often it should be done, and what the parameters should be.There are several types of lighting arrangements you must choose from. Deciding what type of lighting is suitable for your tank will have a direct link to the survival of your reef environment.Learn how important a refugium is (usually in a sump below the tank) which has fast become one of the most useful filtration methods used by hobbyists around the world.This book is for everybody - especially for 'newbies'. There is no better way to learn more efficiently than from individuals who have been through it all before. If your goal is to be successful at something - then you must imitate someone who is doing it successfully Your chances of success within this hobby will increase dramatically if you do 1 thing - follow the advice from proven methods

Computation and Interpretation of Biological Statistics of Fish Populations, first published in 1975, deals with the general field of biological statistics of fish populations. It is a compilation of the more important procedures used to estimate abundance, age composition, rate of growth, and mortality rates in fish populations, with working examples of all the computations. Computation and Interpretation of Biological Statistics of Fish Populations is one of the most highly cited scientific references in the field of fisheries.

The primary purpose of this book is to provide for identification of estuarine and coastal fishes that may be encountered by angling, seining, or trawling on the Georgia coast. Sport and commercial species are emphasized, but all groups occurring on the Continental Shelf are discussed. This book will be especially useful to ecologists who need to identify species in order to study community structure within the estuarine and coastal ecosystems. Information on habitats and seasonality will also aid scientists in collecting certain species for research projects.

Ever since humankiind first ventured out onto the oceans, sailors came back with stories of sea monsters. For two hundred years, scientists have been attempting to classify these 'creatures' within an acceptable zoological frame of reference. The most important of these was produced by Professor Bernard Heuvelmans half a century ago. Michael Woodley, takes a look at Heuvelmans' classification model, re-examines it in the light of new discoveries in palaeontology and ichthyology over the past fifty years, and reaches some astounding conclusions.