Identification of Eggs and Larvae of Marine Fishes

About this book

Language: English

Identification of Eggs and Larvae of Marine Fishes is a compilation of information to help identify eggs and larvae of marine fishes. It should be of practical use for ichthyologists and fisheries scientists needing to identify the larvae of marine fishes in ichthyoplankton collections. The 11 contributors cover the early life history and larval development of 112 species in 94 families in 18 orders. It is based on a syllabus developed for two courses on identification of eggs and larvae of fishes: one that was held in Santa Cruz, California in 2003, and one that was held at the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo in March 2009.

Following a general introduction, for each taxon textual information and illustrations of larvae are provided using a standardized format. For most orders (and for more diverse orders, suborders) an introductory section is included with illustrations of mid-flexion larvae of representative species. For most families then, one or more representative species are covered in more detail, including illustrations of complete developmental series. Textual information includes taxonomic diversity (how many suborders or families, how many genera and species), general life history (geographic distribution, relative abundance and importance to humans, and adult habitat), and early life history (mode of reproduction, state of knowledge of eggs and larvae, and general characteristics of eggs and larvae). Example species and their meristics are then listed as well as pertinent references for the group.

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