ESS 345 Spring 2019 Instructor: 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
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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
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
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