Integrative and Comparative Biology Advance Access originally published online on June 27, 2007
Integrative and Comparative Biology 2007 47(5):795-798; doi:10.1093/icb/icm067
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Book Review |
Reproductive Biology and Early Life History of Fishes in the Ohio River Drainage: Aphredoderidae through Cottidae, Moronidae, and Sciaenidae, Volume 5. Robert Wallus and Thomas P. Simon, editors.
North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences
Correspondence: E-mail: Wayne.Starnes{at}ncmail.net
Reproductive Biology and Early Life History of Fishes in the Ohio River Drainage: Aphredoderidae through Cottidae, Moronidae, and Sciaenidae, Volume 5. Robert Wallus and Thomas P. Simon, editors.
CRC Press, 2006. 360 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0849319211 (hardback), $129.95.
This volume is the fifth in a series of seven designed to provide comprehensive information on the reproduction and early life history of all fishes inhabiting the Ohio River and its tributaries to the extent it is currently known. The series is an outgrowth of the body of research begun in the 1960s and 1970s as a result of environmental legislation requiring assessments of impacts of power plants and other projects on all life stages of fishes and other aquatic life. While detailed early life history information is still lacking for roughly two-thirds of North American freshwater fish species, due to the great efforts of several researchers, including authors of this series, good information exists for over 80% of the species of the Ohio River basin. The volume at hand serves to compend such information for a phyletically broad array of 12 evolutionarily advanced families that are represented by small numbers of species in the region. It thus fills in the gaps between volumes that presently cover, or will cover, those families with more extensive representation in the Ohio River basin, such as centrarchids (sunfishes, black basses) and percids (e.g., darters, perch, Walleye) and, as such, provides the reader with insights into a diverse array of reproductive behaviors and early life history strategies. It includes both a few economically important game species, such as Striped Bass, White Bass, and Freshwater Drum, and quite a few small and very interesting nongame species, including such obscure groups as cavefishes. The editors have assembled works from seven authors, including themselves, who are recognized experts in the field and these authors have collaborated in various combinations to treat the 12 families. As a whole, when completed, the series will seek to treat all 285 species known from the region, which comprises about 40% of native North American freshwater fish species; the present volume extensively treats 25 of these species.
Before giving a breakdown discussion of the book's components, I wish to point out that the biological information compiled by the authors of this volume goes well beyond the basic reproductive and early life history implied by the series title. As will be evident from the discussion subsequently, the comprehensive and well organized information on classification, distribution, habitat and movements, and general biology of each species results in a valuable general reference to all fishes of the region and may in fact represent the most complete biological reference for several of the species treated. Too, since the Ohio River is a subbasin component of the extensive Mississippi River basin, many of its species occur widely throughout the Mississippi and other Gulf coastal basins; thus these volumes can serve as a reference for numerous species well beyond the implied geographic scope.
The book begins with a useful and very thorough glossary of terms related both to overall fish anatomy and early life history vernacular. The introductory section is a compendium of diverse information, including a discussion of the Ohio River basin, physical characteristics of tributary river systems, a breakdown of species diversity by tributary subbasin, a compilation of endangered and threatened species in the area, and an in-depth explanation of the format of the species accounts. Detailed illustrations of larval fish anatomy are provided that are key to understanding the numerous illustrations and descriptions in those accounts. The introduction is followed by a very important section entitled "Distinguishing Characters and Pictorial Guide to the Families of Fishes in the Ohio River Drainage" that appears in all volumes of the series. Basic illustrations are provided for both the yolk-sac and post yolk-sac larval stages of all families inhabiting the Ohio River basin if they are known, not just those covered in the present volume. The only information lacking in the present volume is for the yolk-sac larvae of the cavefish family, Amblyopsidae, which remains unknown. This section is crucial for enabling the user to get to "first base" in the process of identifying very young fishes, especially for biologists who may be just beginning to work with these life stages. It should be noted that users inexperienced with fish larval identification will probably have difficulty distinguishing yolk-sac larvae among a few taxa, even with this aid, as differences are subtle at best between some families (e.g., Cyprinidae [minnows] versus Catostomidae [suckers]). However this is an inherent difficulty that simply cannot be easily overcome without supplemental information, such as some seasonal context that constrains the possibilities of when a certain life stage might be collected (e.g., catostomids, on balance, spawn earlier than cyprinids) or perhaps genetic data.
These preliminary sections are followed by detailed accounts for 12 families represented by 25 species or species complexes. The families are: Percopsidae (trout-perches), Aphredoderidae (pirate perch), Amblyopsidae (cavefishes), Gadidae (cods), Mugilidae (mullets), Atherinopsidae (silversides), Fundulidae (topminnows, killifishes), Poeciliidae (livebearers), Gasterosteidae (sticklebacks), Cottidae (sculpins), Moronidae (temperate basses), and Sciaenidae (drums). Each family section leads off with a discussion of the overall constituency and distribution of the family and a description of definitive characteristics, followed by a section on taxonomy and systematics of the family. The authors have provided a good synopsis of the latest systematic literature pertinent to each family, including ordinal and higher classifications, and familial allocations of species follow the latest classification. Further, a section on each genus in the family is provided with discussion of characteristics common to the constituent species and general reproductive and early life history habits and traits. For some families, but not all, keys are provided to distinguish larval and juvenile stages of family members.
The accounts for individual species are extensive and provide a wealth of information for each subject. These accounts have clearly benefited from thorough researching of pertinent older and current literature and well organized integration of the findings—and so will the reader. Each account has sections on range, habitat and movement, distribution and occurrence in the Ohio River system, and spawning (including season, temperature, fecundity, sexual maturity, and behavior). These are followed by detailed treatments of egg morphology and development, yolk-sac larvae, post yolk-sac larvae, and juveniles. Definitive attributes, such as myomere counts, proportional measurements, and the progression of pigmentation and fin development are given in close increments for each species, to the extent they are known, accompanied by copious illustrations, in some cases a dozen per species. These are crucial for the efficacy of the reference as these attributes can change rapidly through the early development of a fish. The authors have thus made every effort to enhance the users’ chances of correctly identifying a young fish at any stage of development. Following the detailed descriptive sections are sections on taxonomic diagnoses. These are very useful additions in that they compare the subject species and those with which they are most likely to be confused and give characters that are useful for distinction. Finally, a synopsis of the ecology of early life history stages, broken down by eggs, larval stages, and juveniles, to the extent possible, is given for each species. This is very important information for those who may be trying to assess impacts of a project on a fish species throughout its life history.
It should be noted, that while this reference appears to be well up to date on literature through about 2004, especially with regard to developmental and other early life history, in a few cases the latest taxonomic treatments or occurrences at the species level were not followed or discussed. An example is the taxon treated as the Inland Silverside, Menidia beryllina. Inland Mississippi River basin populations of Menidia are currently regarded as M. audens, the Mississippi Silverside, by many workers (e.g., Common and Scientific Names of Fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico, American Fisheries Society Special Publication 29, 2004), a re-elevation of a taxon based on work that predated publication of the book by a few years. However, the biological content of the species account was not rendered deficient in any way as the authors incorporated data from publications under both names. The authors did quote works that speculated that a second Gambusia species, G. holbrooki, might be introduced to the area but apparently were unaware that an established population has actually been documented in the upper Tennessee River portion of the greater Ohio Basin and did not provide a separate species account for it. However, the account for the Western Mosquitofish, G. affinis, incorporates much information actually derived from studies of G. holbrooki (formerly synonomized with affinis), but early life history differences in these highly similar species are likely minimal. The authors have wisely chosen to title the two sculpin accounts as species complexes; these fishes continue to present a perplexing picture to taxonomists and assignment of populations to nominal or unnamed taxa is often difficult. Within each complex, much information on early life history stages is likely very similar and probably largely applicable across all populations; however, the eventual resolution of taxonomic problems may provide a basis for further investigations to detect possible nuances in these stages among taxa or, conversely, perceived differences in early development and ecology in concert with other evidence may provide some of this needed resolution.
After careful examination, I can scarcely find fault with this volume or the overall series to which it belongs. The information is extraordinarily complete and well presented; typographical errors are rare. As with most CRC books on specialized topics, it is a bit pricey and may be out of the reach of some potential users. More subsidization might have ameliorated this situation, although it is likely hard to sustain such support through the publication of an entire series of volumes. The ichthyological community and biologists who must contend with difficult surveys of the youngest of fishes are fortunate to have had these contributions provided, at any price, and the authors and publisher have thus provided a great service.
The series fills a void in the literature on North American freshwater fishes as there have been no such attempts at comprehensive treatment of these fishes in their difficult-to-study early stages on such a geographic scale. It brings much of this information, including much original data, into a general reference for the first time and Volume 5, in particular, supplies heretofore unpublished information on a dozen smaller nongame species which provides new insights, not only for these species but probably for a number of congeners as well. As such, this series and volume are state of the art and, quite simply put, comprise the most extensive treatment on early life histories of North American freshwater fishes. They could hardly be surpassed as a most useful addition to our knowledge and to any library.
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