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Fishes of the World

 

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Fishes of the World



 
 
Fishes of the World by Joseph S. Nelson is a standard reference for fish
Fish

A fish is any marine biology vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scale , and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins....
 systematics
Systematics

Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of life on the planet Earth, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time....
. 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
Ichthyology

Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish. This includes skeletal fish , cartilaginous fish , and jawless fish . At least 30,700 fish species have been described, comprising a majority of vertebrates....
, although it is not a self-contained introduction, then after a short section on Chordata and non-fish taxa, the work goes on to list all known fish in a top-down fashion.






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Fishes of the World by Joseph S. Nelson is a standard reference for fish
Fish

A fish is any marine biology vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scale , and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins....
 systematics
Systematics

Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of life on the planet Earth, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time....
. 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
Ichthyology

Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish. This includes skeletal fish , cartilaginous fish , and jawless fish . At least 30,700 fish species have been described, comprising a majority of vertebrates....
, although it is not a self-contained introduction, then after a short section on Chordata and non-fish taxa, the work goes on to list all known fish in a top-down fashion. Each family
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
 gets at least a paragraph, and usually a body outline drawing; large families will have subfamilies and tribes described as well. Genera and species are mentioned if they are notable, while the complexities of the higher taxa are described succinctly, with many references to the literature for difficult points.

The third edition (1994) predates the wide use of DNA
DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetics instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and some viruses....
 analysis in taxonomy, and much of its classification has been revised.

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 markets its products to professionals and consumers, students and instructors in higher education, and researchers and practitioners in scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly fields....
, ISBN 0-471-54713-1), the fourth in March 2006 (ISBN 0-471-25031-7).

Bibliography


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