Abstract

Comprising by far the largest and most diverse group of vertebrates, fishes occupy a broad swathe of habitats ranging from the deepest ocean abyss to the highest mountain lakes. Such incredible ecological diversity and the resultant variety in lifestyle, anatomy, physiology and behavior, make unraveling the evolutionary history of fishes a daunting task.

The successor of a classic volume by the same title, Interrelationships of Fishes, provides the latest in the "state of the art" of systematics and classification for many of the major groups of fishes. In providing a sound phylogenetic framework from leading authorities in the field, this book is an indispensable reference for a broad range of biologists, especially students of fish behavior, anatomy, physiology, molecular biology, genetics and ecology--in fact, anyone who wishes to interpret their work on fishes in an evolutionary context.

• Provides thorough and comprehensive treatment of the Phylogency of fishes
• Assembles an International team of expert contributors
• Useful to a wide variety of fish biologists

"For anyone interested in ichthyology and fish systematics, this book will serve as a key reference, since it provides a comprehensive review of phylogenetic relationships of major groups of fishes. The classifications presented are written by experts in each group, thus providing the most up-to-date thinking on these groups. Well-referenced to the technical literature. Elegantly serves as a starting point for new research studies."
—Joerg-Henner Lotze in NORTHEASTERN NATURALIST (2001)
"Anyone needing to understand the evolutionary relationships of fishes will find the information and conclusions in this volume essential. Interpretations may change, but the information presented here will be permanently useful."
--SCIENCE (1997)
"...a comprehensive overview... The authors are to be congratulated...this book stands as an impressive testament to the exquisite anatomical work of palaeoichthyologists in the past forty years."
--Michael J. Benton in JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY (1997)
"With its wide scope, modern techniques of analysis, new phylogenetic schemes for many groups of fishes, uniform style for most papers, and a number of character lists and matrices... this book will be required reading for all researchers in fish taxonomy and phylogenetics, and will be a valuable addition for all libraries."
--R. Hitchin in ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY (1997)
"The past few decades have been very exciting times in ichthyology, and this book brings that excitement to the reader. Ichthyologists can see the maturity of the field as well as the solid basis for future research... The three editors have done a superb job along with the authors in presenting a new version of the original Interrelationships of Fishes... This book has a very attractive cover and is sturdily bound, well illustrated, and thoroughly edited... The present volume, more comprehensive in its coverage, excels in presenting students, teachers, and advanced researchers with the state of the art in ichthyology... The book should be purchased by university and research museum libraries and will be essential for all scientists who have an interest in fish systematics."
--COPEIA (1997)
"I recommend this book to all who have a serious interest in the interrelationships of fishes, and to those who want to understand just on what modern fish classification is based."
--JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MARINE BIOLOGY & ECOLOGY
"This is a book for the advanced.... It brings together the contributions of 31 experts to present cutting-edge fish systematics using a phylogenetic approach. If you are seriously interested in what we know--and what we don't know--about how the various groups of fishes are related, this is the book to get... The quality of reproduction of the artwork and photographs is excellent... This is an important book for ichthyologists. It should reset the base point for our understanding of fish interrelationships... This book is excellent."
--Ronald M. Coleman in FRESHWATER AND MARINE AQUARIUM
"Provides state-of-the-art systematics and classification for many of the major groups of fishes, in a phylogenetic framework."
--SCI TECH BOOK NEWS
"The three chapters devoted to elasmobranch fishes pick up where Compagno left off in the original volume, and substantially improve understanding of relationships within this group... a significant advance in our understanding of fish relationships, and a valuable resource for any student of ichthyology. Graduate students, faculty and researchers."
--S.G. TOLLEY, University of South Florida
"This new book makes a substantial contribution to key areas of controversy... Each chapter in this book contains new evidence for fish relationships, presents character data in a manner that provides a clear foundation for future phylogenetic work, and hence marks the most coherent picture of the interrelationship of fishes available to date... This volume provides a clear marker of just how far we've come."
--GEORGE V. LAUDER, University of California, Irvine