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8 books match the query 'Freshwater Fishes'

cover of Chasing Giants: In Search of the World's Largest Freshwater Fish

Chasing Giants

In Search of the World's Largest Freshwater Fish

Zeb Hogan

University of Nevada Press, 2023

Winner of the 2024 Los Angeles Book Festival Award in the Wild Card category! 

On May 1, 2005, a Thai fisherman caught a truly monstrous Mekong giant catfish. At 646 pounds, it captured the world’s attention, and with awe and wonder, it was deemed the largest freshwater fish on record. There was no denying its size, but when biologist and research associate professor Hogan saw a photo of the fish, he wondered if it really was the biggest in the world. To his surprise, no one had systematically sought to answer the question: Which of the giant freshwater species really was the largest?

Seeking to answer that question has brought Hogan face to face with massive arapaima and piranha in the Amazon, alligator gar in Texas, pigeon-eating wels catfish in France, stingrays in Cambodia, and the gnarled-toothed sawfish in Australia. Part of his scientific adventure has been captured on Monster Fish, and Hogan now tells the full story of his 25-year quest to understand the mysteries of some of the oldest, largest, most bizarre creatures on Earth.

The fate of these giant fish motivates Hogan to understand the various species he studies. The megafish’s numbers are dwindling, and the majority of them face extinction. In this book, he teams up with award-winning journalist Stefan Lovgren to tell, for the first time, the remarkable and troubling story of the world’s largest freshwater fish. It is a story that stretches across the globe, chronicling a race against the clock to find and protect these ancient leviathans before they disappear forever.

Chasing Giants: In Search of the World’s Largest Freshwater Fish combines science, adventure, and wonder to provide insights into the key role the massive fish of our lakes and rivers play in our past, present, and future.
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cover of Fishes of Arkansas

Fishes of Arkansas

Henry W. Robison

University of Arkansas Press, 2019

The second edition of Fishes of Arkansas, in development for more than a decade, is an extensive revision and expansion of the first edition, including reclassifications, taxonomic changes, and descriptions of more than thirty new species.

An invaluable reference for anyone interested in the state’s fish population—from professional ichthyologists, fisheries biologists, and managers of aquatic resources, to amateur naturalists and anglers—this new edition provides updated taxonomic keys as well as detailed descriptions, photographs, and line drawings to aid identification of the state’s 243 fish species. There is also much information on the distribution and biology of each species, including descriptions of habitat, foods eaten, reproductive biology, and conservation status.

This project and the preparation of this publication was funded in part by a grant from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

 
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cover of Freshwater Fish Distribution

Freshwater Fish Distribution

Tim M. Berra

University of Chicago Press, 2007

With more than 29,000 species, fishes are the most diverse group of vertebrates on the planet. Of that number, more than 12,000 species are found in freshwater ecosystems, which occupy less than 1 percent of the Earth’s surface and contain only 2.4 percent of plant and animal species. But, on a hectare-for-hectare basis, freshwater ecosystems are richer in species than more extensive terrestrial and marine habitats. Examination of the distribution patterns of fishes in these fresh waters reveals much about continental movements and climate changes and has long been critical to biogeographical studies and research in ecology and evolution.

Tim Berra’s seminal resource, Freshwater Fish Distribution,maps the 169 fish families that swim in fresh water around the world. Each family account includes the class, subclass, and order; a pronunciation guide to the family name; life cycle information; and interesting natural history facts. Each account is illustrated, many with historical nineteenth-century woodcuts.

Now available in paperback, this heavily cited work in ichthyology and biogeography will serve as a reference for students, a research support for professors, and a helpful guide to tropical fish hobbyists and anglers.
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cover of Freshwater Fishes of Manitoba

Freshwater Fishes of Manitoba

Kenneth Stewart

University of Manitoba Press, 2004

Manitoba's ninety-three species of fish give the province the third most diverse fish population in Canada. The provinceís variety of geological features, with its major lakes, rivers, tributaries, and watersheds, is due in large part to its history as the basin for Glacial Lake Agassiz. This, combined with its access to the waters of Hudson Bay and large American river systems, has provided habitat for a wide diversity of freshwater fish. Species from lampreys to goldeye, catfish to perch, bigmouth bass to slimy sculpin swim in waters from arctic rivers in the north to Red River tributaries and down to the Mississippi in the south.Freshwater Fishes of Manitoba is a comprehensive, user-friendly guide. Each species is accurately depicted in detailed colour photographs and accompanying map, with descriptions of physical characteristics, spawning and feeding habits, distribution, habitat, ecological role, and economic importance. The guide also includes an extensive glossary, keys to identifying the families, species, and subspecies, and information on documentation and preservation of specimens. Freshwater Fishes of Manitoba is not only the definitive guide to these fishes of Manitoba, it is also accessible and reliable for a range of users from general fishers to professional fish biologists.
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cover of Freshwater Fishes of Mexico

Freshwater Fishes of Mexico

Robert Rush Miller, W. L. Minckley, and Steven Mark Norris

University of Chicago Press, 2006

Though Mexico is only one-fifth the size of the continental United States, it is home to nearly two-thirds as many freshwater fishes as those that swim the waters of the United States and Canada combined. Mexico's diverse freshwater fauna can be attributed to the country's highly varied physical geography, a wide latitudinal range, the largest river system in middle America, and, ironically, its oceans—many marine groups left the brine for the inland springs and never returned to the sea.

No one knew these Mexican freshwaters or the fish that inhabit them better than the late world-renowned ichthyologist Robert Rush Miller. A pioneer of the field, Miller undertook his first field excursion more than fifty years ago and, in the decades following, amassed the information necessary to write the first encyclopedia of Mexican inland ichthyology. Providing keys to more than 500 native species—accompanied by detailed distribution maps and illustrations—Freshwater Fishes of México offers a historical overview of the country's ichthyology, as well as syntheses of the unique biogeography of Mexican fishes and their current conservation status. Organized by family, the species accounts are supplemented with color galleries containing photographs of live fishes in their native environments and natural habitats. Exploring ecological, biological, and taxonomic issues, the book also considers the evolutionary history of the ichthyofauna itself and the human history of the scientists who researched it during the last several centuries.

The life's work of Robert Rush Miller, the long-awaited Freshwater Fishes of México will be welcomed not only by students of Mexican fishes, but by all ichthyologists working in Central and North America. This book will also find an audience among home aquarium hobbyists, fishery managers, conservation biologists, and environmental planners and managers.
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cover of Inland Fishes of the Greater Southwest: Chronicle of a Vanishing Biota

Inland Fishes of the Greater Southwest

Chronicle of a Vanishing Biota

W. L. Minckley and Paul C. Marsh

University of Arizona Press, 2009

This comprehensive new book replaces and substantially expands upon the landmark Fishes of Arizona, which has been the authoritative source since it was first published in 1973. Inland Fishes of the Greater Southwest is a one-volume guide to native and non-native fishes of the lower Colorado River basin, downstream from the Grand Canyon, and of the northern tributaries of the Sea of Cortez in the United States and Mexico. In all, there are in-depth accounts of more than 165 species representing 30 families. The book is not limited to the fish. It provides insights into their aquatic world with information on topography, drainage relations, climate, geology, vegetational history, aquatic habitats, human-made water systems, and conservation. A section of the book is devoted to fish identification, with keys to native and non-native families as well as family keys to species. The book is illustrated with more than 120 black-and-white illustrations, 47 full-color plates of native fishes, and nearly 40 maps and figures.

Many native fish species are unique to the Southwest. They possess interesting and unusual adaptations to the challenges of the region, able to survive silt-laden floods as well as extreme water temperatures and highly fluctuating water flows ranging from very low levels to flash floods. However, in spite of being well-adapted, many of the fish described here are threatened or endangered, often due to the acts of humans who have altered the natural habitat. For that reason, Inland Fishes of the Greater Southwest presents a vast amount of information about the ecological relationships between the fishes it describes and their environments, paying particular attention to the ways in which human interactions have modified aquatic ecosystems—and to how humans might work to ensure the survival of rapidly disappearing native species.
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cover of Net Results: Great Fishing Spots in Southern Wisconsin

Net Results

Great Fishing Spots in Southern Wisconsin

Bob Riepenhoff

University of Wisconsin Press, 2004

Whether you want to hang a trophy bass or musky on your wall, or just want to spend a few quiet hours catching panfish with your kids, this book is the essential guide to fishing in southern Wisconsin. Author Bob Riepenhoff, outdoor editor for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for fourteen years, wrote a column called "Riepenhoff on Local Lakes." This collection of forty-three of those columns covers fifty-four lakes in southern Wisconsin. Riepenhoff describes his fishing experiences and methods and provides information about the fish species in each lake, fish stocking, management, special regulations, and public access. He draws on the expertise of the most skilled anglers in the state who have guided him through his journeys on local lakes. Net Results is intended to help all anglers, from beginners to experts, have more productive and enjoyable fishing experiences.

Includes contour maps of 54 lakes.
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cover of Rivers, Fish, and the People: Tradition, Science, and Historical Ecology of Fisheries in the American West

Rivers, Fish, and the People

Tradition, Science, and Historical Ecology of Fisheries in the American West

Pei-Lin Yu

University of Utah Press, 2015

America’s western rivers are under assault from development, pollution, invasive species, and climate change. Returning these eco- systems to the time of European contact is often the stated goal for restoration efforts, yet neither the influence of indigenous societ- ies on rivers at the time of contact nor the deeper evolutionary relationships are yet understood by the scientific world. This volume presents a unique synthesis of scientific discoveries and traditional knowledge about the ecology of iconic river species in the American West.

Building from a foundation in fisheries biology and life history data about key species, the book reveals ancient human relationships with those species and describes time-tested Native resource management techniques, drawing from the archaeological record and original ethnographic sources. It evaluates current research trends, summarizes the conceptual foundations for the cultural and evolutionary significance of sustainable use of fish, and seeks pathways for future research. Geographic areas described include the Columbia Plateau, Idaho’s Snake River Plain, the Sacramento River Delta, and the mid-Fraser River of British Columbia. Previously unpublished information is included with the express permission and approval of tribal communities. This approach broadens and deepens the available body of data and establishes a basis for future collaboration between scientists and Native stakeholders toward mutual goals of river ecosystem health. 


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