Beach-spawning fishes from exotic locations on most continents of the world provide spectacular examples of extreme adaptations during the most vulnerable life cycle stages. The beauty, intriguing biology, and importance of these charismatic fishes at the interface of marine and terrestrial ecosystems have inspired numerous scientific studies. Adaptations of behavior, physiology, development, and ecology are gathered together for the first time in this book. Beach-Spawning Fishes: Reproduction in an Endangered Ecosystem is a comprehensive guide to beach spawning, a charismatic animal behavior that is seen in a surprising number of teleost species. This unexpected form of reproduction provides a window into the ecology of coastal areas, the behaviors and physiology necessary for fishes and their eggs to adapt to terrestrial conditions, and the threats and challenges for conservation and management. Beach-spawning species include important forage fishes such as the capelin, exotic fishes such as the fugu puffer, and the spectacular midnight runs of the California grunion.

Beach-spawning fishes from exotic locations on most continents of the world provide spectacular examples of extreme adaptations during the most vulnerable life cycle stages. The beauty, intriguing biology, and importance of these charismatic fishes at the interface of marine and terrestrial ecosystems have inspired numerous scientific studies. Adaptations of behavior, physiology, development, and ecology are gathered together for the first time in this book. Beach-Spawning Fishes: Reproduction in an Endangered Ecosystem is a comprehensive guide to beach spawning, a charismatic animal behavior that is seen in a surprising number of teleost species. This unexpected form of reproduction provides a window into the ecology of coastal areas, the behaviors and physiology necessary for fishes and their eggs to adapt to terrestrial conditions, and the threats and challenges for conservation and management. Beach-spawning species include important forage fishes such as the capelin, exotic fishes such as the fugu puffer, and the spectacular midnight runs of the California grunion.

Intertidal Fishes describes the fishes inhabiting the narrow strip of habitat between the high and low tide marks along the rocky coastlines of the world. It analyzes the specialized traits of these fishes that have adapted to living in the dynamic and challenging space where they are alternately exposed to the air and submerged in water with the ebb and flow of the tides. This book provides a comprehensive account of fishes largely overlooked in many previous studies of intertidal organisms and emphasizes how they differ from fishes living in other deeper-water habitats. Coverage includes air breathing, movements and homing, sensory systems, spawning and parental care, feeding habits, community structure, systematic relationships, distribution patterns, and the fossil record in the intertidal zone.
Key Features
* Written by an international team of 21 experts on intertidal fish biology
* Worldwide coverage of intertidal fishes
* Comprehensive phylogenetic listing of all fish families with intertidal members
* Global biogeographic analysis involving over 700 species from 86 sites
* Outlines field and laboratory methods pertinent to studying intertidal fishes
* Thorough ecological coverage with chapters on vertical distribution, movements and homing, reproduction, feeding, and community structure
* Covers the physiology of aerial and aquatic respiration, osmoregulation, and sensory systems

To escape the constraints of water-bound reproduction, the first terrestrial vertebrates evolved a group of membranes that surround and protect developing embryos. The "amnion" is one of these membranes. It surrounds and protects in amniotic fluid, the developing embryos of birds, reptiles and mammals. Terrestrial vertebrates began to diversify and exploit their new habitats when the need to reproduce in water no longer dictated the course of their lives. Occurring in conjunction with this reproductive freedom was the evolution of non-permeable skin (to avoid cutaneous water loss), different less toxic forms of nitrogen waste and more efficient forms of locomotion and feeding. This text gives a detailed treatment of these and other changes that occurred as vertebrates completed the transition from aquatic to terrestrial life. It integrates modern systematic methods with studies of functional and physiological processes, and illustrates how studies of paleobiology can be illuminated by studies of neontology.