Freshwater Fishes of North America, Volume 2

Authors: M. Warren, B. Burr, A. Echelle, B. Kuhajda, S. Ross

Year: 2019

Abstract

Over 1,200 native freshwater fish species occur on the North American continent, composing the largest temperate, freshwater fish fauna on Earth. The importance of freshwater fishes in North American ecosystem function, their direct value economically and as providers of ecological services, and the increasing need to conserve this fauna cannot be over emphasized. In the last 30 years, major scientific advances have been made for these fishes across disciplines of systematics, genetics, physiology, behavior, ecology, and conservation. These advances, however, are marked by increased specialization and resulting fragmentation of knowledge about the diverse North American fish fauna. Our three-volume series is the first-ever published, fully-illustrated work synthesizing the diversity, natural history, ecology, and biology of 52 families of North American freshwater fishes (including several marine families with species occurring in fresh water). The coverage includes all of Canada, the coterminous United States, and Mexico (south to about the Isthmus of Tehuantepec). Chapter authors are synthesizing information on a set of standard topic areas for each family and our emphasis is on near-comprehensive synthesis of existing information on freshwater fishes in North America. The book also covers non-taxonomic topics including evolution and ecology of fish assemblages, mating behavior, foreign fishes, fishes as models for scientific studies, and conservation overviews. Johns Hopkins University Press is the publisher, with volume 1 published in 2014 and volume 2 scheduled for publication in the spring of 2020. Volume 2 will cover 19 families (Characidae to Poeciliidae), with contributions from 38 different authors. The volume includes families of major interest to those concerned about desert fishes, including Poeciliidae, Cyprinodontidae, Fundulidae, Goodeidae, and Profundulidae.