© 1982 by The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
Symposium Summary: Evolutionary Patterns in Actinopterygian Fishes1
Department of A natomy, University of Chicago 1025 East 57th Street, Chicago, Illinois 60637
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
SYNOPSIS. The actinopterygian fishes are an exemplary clade for the study of structural and functional evolutionary patterns. With over half of all vertebrate species, ray-finned fishes have diversified into a wide variety of habitats, and considerable progress has been made over the last fifteen years in understanding the genealogical relationships of actinopterygians. This symposium has contributed to our understanding of phylogenetic patterns in actinopterygians and to knowledge of the major structural and functional patterns in locomotor, auditory, trophic, and neural systems. A number of key areas for future research have been identified. (1) The relationships of "palaeonisciform" fishes, (2) the study of trends in feeding and locomotor systems within a phylogenetic context, (3) the identification of primitive patterns of pharyngeal jaw movement and steady and unsteady locomotor patterns in actinopterygians, (4) the homologies, identification, and functional significance of neural pathways in the telencephalon, and (5) the comparative study of form-function relations in the auditory system. The study of teleost fish biology has proceeded at the expense of data on primitive actinopterygians (e.g., Polypterus, Polyodon, Aapenser, Lepisosteus, Amia) which are especially important in the analysis of structural and functional patterns in ray-finned fishes.