Fishes of the World
Encyclopedia
Fishes of the World by Joseph S. Nelson is a standard reference for fish
systematics
. Now in its fourth edition, the work is a comprehensive overview of the 25,000-plus species
known to science.
It begins with a general overview of ichthyology
, although it is not self-contained. After a short section on Chordata and non-fish taxa, the work lists all known fish in a top-down fashion. Each family
gets at least one paragraph, and usually a body outline drawing; large families have subfamilies and tribes described as well. Notable genera
and species are mentioned, while the complexities of the higher taxa are described succinctly, with many references for difficult points.
The fourth edition was the first to incorporate the wide use of DNA
analysis, revising many earlier classifications.
The first edition appeared in 1976, the second in 1984, the third in 1994 (John Wiley & Sons
, ISBN 0-471-54713-1), the fourth in March 2006 (ISBN 0-471-25031-7).
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
systematics
Systematics
Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of terrestrial life, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees...
. Now in its fourth edition, the work is a comprehensive overview of the 25,000-plus species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
known to science.
It begins with a general overview of ichthyology
Ichthyology
Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish. This includes skeletal fish , cartilaginous fish , and jawless fish...
, although it is not self-contained. After a short section on Chordata and non-fish taxa, the work lists all known fish in a top-down fashion. Each family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
gets at least one paragraph, and usually a body outline drawing; large families have subfamilies and tribes described as well. Notable genera
Genera
Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with LMI and Texas Instruments...
and species are mentioned, while the complexities of the higher taxa are described succinctly, with many references for difficult points.
The fourth edition was the first to incorporate the wide use of DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
analysis, revising many earlier classifications.
The first edition appeared in 1976, the second in 1984, the third in 1994 (John Wiley & Sons
John Wiley & Sons
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., also referred to as Wiley, is a global publishing company that specializes in academic publishing and markets its products to professionals and consumers, students and instructors in higher education, and researchers and practitioners in scientific, technical, medical, and...
, ISBN 0-471-54713-1), the fourth in March 2006 (ISBN 0-471-25031-7).