ESS 345

Spring 2019Instructor: George Merovich, PhD

Assistant Professor, Juniata College

Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences

Thought for today: "It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you

very often get it." - W. Somerset Maugham, English writer (1874-1965).

Introduction to Ichthyology – the study of fish

Introduction to Ichthyology –

the study of fishIntroduction to Course and

Student Expectations

Greetings

Syllabus

Texts and other resources

Course description, requirements

Goals, expectations

College life

Books

Cooper Award

Why Study Fish?

Academic/Scientific Study

Practical Reasons

Humans are not the pinnacle of evolutionary progress but only an

aberrant side branch of fish evolution.

- P.B. Moyle & J.J. Cech, Jr., 2004

Fish vs. Fishes

Grammar lesson for today

Professional Organizations, etc.

Occupations in Freshwater

Sciences

ESS 345

Fish Diversity

Spring 2019Instructor: George Merovich, PhD

Assistant Professor, Juniata College

Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences

“…it does seem somewhat perverse that we must argue for the conservation of the natural

resources upon which our very survival depends.” Krkosek and Olden 2015. Conservation of

freshwater fishes. Cambridge Univ Press

Today

Intro lecture

Lab

– Safety (lab, field sampling)

– Clearing / staining

– Fish anatomy

– Dichotomous keys

How diverse are fish?

A word about the meaning of DIVERSITY

Name the groups of vertebrates and

estimate their species RICHNESS relative

to each other, worldwide:

1. FISH__ (______)

2. ______ (______)

3. ______ (______)

4. ______ (______)

5. ______ (______)

Total (100%)

Tremendous Species Diversity!

33,000 species

– 33,984 as of 2013

1 of every 2 vertebrates is a fish

Great Diversity in…

Size

Shape

Habitats occupied

Feeding habits

Reproduction

Behavior

Prey items (type, size)

Red-lipped batfish

(Ogcocephalus darwini)

Great diversity in…

Age (1 - > 100 yrs)

Bio-luminescence,

bio-electricity

Jaws

Bone

World Distribution of Fishes

Earth’s water

– 97% ocean

– 2.99% ice

– 0.01% freshwater

World Distribution of Fishes

Now, the distribution of fishes across this

range of aquatic/marine habitat type:

– What percentage of fishes are:

Freshwater _______%

Marine _______%

– 97% ocean

– 2.99% ice

– 0.01% freshwater

World Distribution of Fishes

World spatial and temporal distribution of

water…

41% freshwater (young)

58% marine (old)

1% diadramous / euryhaline

Now the question is: Why are there

TOO many species of fishes found in

freshwater?

Great Diversity in

Freshwater Habitats…ANDCaves

Desert

Springs

Ponds/Wetlands

Headwater Streams

Allopatry…AND

decent with modification (drift and differing

selective forces)

Classification based on

evolutionary history

N.A. Distribution of Fishes

About 950 species

75% occur in the eastern US

Mississippi River drainage most diverse

– Tennessee drainage most diverse

– Atlantic slope least diverse

– Zoogeography…

181 (197) species; 24 (28) families (PA)

176 species; 22 families (WV)

210 species; 24 families (VA)

277-297 (302-319); 29 families (TN)

197 (215); 27 families (AR)

High Diversity in southeast US

Late Pennsylvanian

(300 Ma)

Global Scale

Greatest diversity

– Indo-Pacific (marine)

– Tropical (freshwater)

Despite all of that…

Fishes in PerilFastest declining

vertebrate group

...“the valley rules the stream…” Hynes 1975

...burning a Renaissance painting to cook a

meal.” (E.O Wilson)

Reasons (FW >>>Marine fishes)

Over harvest

By catch

Chemical and physical pollution

Biotic pollution

Dams

Habitat and faunal homogenization

Fishes in Peril

Pathways for Introduction

Watersheds; Regional

Drainages

Regional Drainages

USGS – Water resource regions

Region 01 New England

Region 02 Mid-Atlantic

Region 03 South Atlantic-Gulf

Region 04 Great Lakes

Region 05 Ohio

Region 06 Tennessee

Region 07 Upper Mississippi

Region 08 Lower Mississippi

Region 09 Souris-Red-Rainy

Region 10 Missouri

Region 11 Arkansas-White-Red

Region 12 Texas-Gulf

Region 13 Rio Grande

Region 14 Upper Colorado

Region 15 Lower Colorado

Region 16 Great Basin

Region 17 Pacific Northwest

Region 18 California

Region 19 Alaska (Old numbering

system)

Region 20 Hawaii

Region 21 Caribbean

Major PA Drainages

Major PA Drainages

Physiographic Provinces

Coastal PlainBlue Ridge

Living in the App Plateaus

Richard Nelson: The sublimity of decay

EcoRegions – Level 3