Environ Biol Fish Research Articles

Is skipjack tuna the fastest-growing teleost fish on earth?

Using a genetic marker mitochondrial DNA control region, Nikolic et al. (Environ Biol Fish 99:171-178, 2016) recently reported the identification of two juveniles of tuna as skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) recovered from the mouth of dolphinfish in the vicinity of Reunion Island, western Indian Ocean. Based on the age estimates of the two specimens from opercular bones at about 16–20 days and the increased occurrence of skipjack in the catch of Japanese longliners during October–January, the authors indicate that their results suggest a specific seasonal spawning area of skipjack around Reunion Island. We challenge the validity of age estimates and the interpretation of the results published by Nikolic et al. (Environ Biol Fish 99:171-178, 2016). Current knowledge of skipjack tuna biology indicates that the paper of Nikolic et al. (Environ Biol Fish 99:171-178, 2016) contains misinterpretation of field observations that led the authors to misunderstandings on skipjack tuna ecology.

Effects of nutritional deprivation on juvenile green sturgeon growth and thermal tolerance

Environ Biol Fish (2015) 99:145–159 DOI 10.1007/s10641-015-0463-8 Effects of nutritional deprivation on juvenile green sturgeon growth and thermal tolerance Christine E. Verhille & Seunghyung Lee & Anne E. Todgham & Dennis E. Cocherell & Silas S. O. Hung & Nann A. Fangue Received: 3 February 2015 / Accepted: 9 November 2015 / Published online: 19 November 2015 # Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015 Keywords Green sturgeon . Nutrition . Temperature . HSP70 . CTmax . Growth Introduction In the San Francisco Estuary (SFE), declines in the abundance of native fish species have been linked to altered food webs and reduced food availability (Moyle 2002; Feyrer et al. 2003; Kimmerer 2004). This is particularly concerning for protected green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris Ayres, 1854) populations re- stricted to the SFE during early life stages. Green stur- geon are composed of at least two genetically distinct and protected populations (Israel et al. 2009): the North- ern and Southern Distinct Population Segments (DPS), and spawn only in Oregon and California, USA. Details of the current distribution and spawning locations of these fish can be found in Beamesderfer et al. (2007). Briefly, anadromous adult green sturgeon spend most of their lives in the marine environment, with seasonal migrations between natal freshwater spawning grounds C. E. Verhille : D. E. Cocherell : N. A. Fangue (*) Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA e-mail: nafangue@ucdavis.edu S. Lee : A. E. Todgham : S. S. O. Hung Department of Animal Science, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA and the ocean. Adults of the Northern DPS, which is classified as a species of concern by the National Oce- anic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the USA, spawn in rivers north of the Eel River of north- west California (Adams et al. 2007). The Southern DPS is classified as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and all suspected and confirmed spawning loca- tions are within the watershed of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers (Adams et al. 2007). As juvenile green sturgeon are intolerant of full strength seawater until they are 0.5 to 1.5 years old (Allen and Cech 2007; Allen et al. 2009, 2011), habitat is restricted to the fresh to brackish water sections of the SFE for early life stages. The SFE is made up of two major Californian rivers, the Sacramento and San Joaquin, and their drainage to the Pacific Ocean through the San Francisco Bay. Since the 1800’s, this watershed has been highly modified through hydraulic gold mining in the Sierra Nevada mountains, followed by consumption and diversion of water to support urbanization and agriculture, introduc- tion of sewage input, and active management through environmental policy (Atwater et al. 1979; Cloern and Jassby 2012). International shipping, climate change and ecosystem alterations have created conditions con- ducive to pervasive invasions by non-native species, which now characterize the entire system (Atwater et al. 1979; Cloern and Jassby 2012). These ecosystem-wide changes are directly attributable to pop- ulation declines of native aquatic biota associated with all trophic levels (Cloern and Jassby 2012), resulting in large shifts in the composition of biological

Fish pheromones and related cues (Eds. Sorensen and Wisenden)

For many people, the combination of the words ‘fish’ and ‘smell’ has a negative connotation. As defined in the Oxford English Dictionary, ‘smell’ is Ba quality in something that is perceived by the faculty of smell^, andwhen the word ‘fish’ is attached, that quality is an unpleasant one. But for some people, at least in the world of fish biology, their minds jump to a different definition in the OED: Bthe faculty or power of perceiving odours or scents by means of the organs in the nose^. This book will appeal to such people. More specifically, the book focuses on ‘pheromones’, a term that was first coined in 1959 (Karlson and Luscher 1959). The study of pheromones, however, pre-dates the word itself, and can be traced back to at least the 1800’s. The field reached a wider audience within the scientific community in the middle of the 20th century, following Karl Von Frisch’s pioneering studies on communication in honey bees. Von Frisch also documented the release of chemical alarm signals by injured minnows, and this discovery presaged a major focus on pheromone research in the aquatic environment. A cursory look through the book’s reference sections suggests there has been another, more recent surge in studies on fish pheromones over the past two decades. Despite the long history and recent advances in this field, however, the Preface notes that this is the first book of its kind, which puts it in the unique position of being both timely and over-due. The first chapter defines several relevant terms and seeks to create a common framework for the sections that follow. Chief among these terms are those found in the book’s title—‘pheromones’ and ‘related cues’. ‘Pheromones’ are identified as adaptive chemical cues that elicit a specific response in conspecifics. They also communicate information that is shared by all individuals of a species (Sorensen describes them as Banonymous^). ‘Related conspecific cues’, on the other hand, are learned or highly context dependent, and can vary significantly among individuals (they can act as an individual fish’s Bsignature^). The distinction between these two categories is not always clear, however, and the use of these terms in later chapters is not uniform. In one chapter, for example, Wisenden warns that many of the fish ‘pheromones’ currently studied are not truly pheromones (because there is no apparent selective pressure on the sender of the cues), but in the next chapter the term ‘pheromone’ is used for precisely these types of chemicals. This does not detract from the quality of the book’s content, but perhaps indicates a missed opportunity to provide a unified framework for terminology. A main focus early in the book is the species-specific properties of pheromones and their related cues. Sorensen and Baker introduce the term ‘pheromone complexes’, which could be Bmixtures of relatively common metabolic products^ that are combined in different ways to create species-specific pheromones. From an evolutionary standpoint, this might provide a simpler alternative to the adaptation of uniquely specialized pheromones within Environ Biol Fish (2015) 99:169–170 DOI 10.1007/s10641-015-0460-y

Erratum to: Population regulation in a Neotropical seasonal wetland fish

Erratum to: Environ Biol Fish (2015) 98:1023–1034DOI 10.1007/s10641-014-0336-6Pleasenoteanerrorintheoriginalpaperbyauthors,itisin line 14 of the Study species subsection of Materialandmethods.The20cminthe…oocytesperfemale,and size at first sexual maturity of 20 cm (Goncalveset al. 2013) should changed by 2.0 cm.The corrected sentence is now shown below.Despite being a fairly common species in the aquar-ium trade, its ecology is virtually unknown. A recentstudy in the Mogi Guacu river (upper Parana Riverbasin) showed that Jewel tetra is a single spawner onthe floodingseason, withmeanfecundity of 486 (±159)oocytes per female, and size at first sexual maturity of2.0 cm (Goncalves et al. 2013).

Fish reproduction: patterns, puzzles, principles, and possibilities

Robert (Bob) Wootton passed away in March 2014 while this book was going to press. He and Carl Smith spent five years writing it, and Bob was ill the whole time. It’s a great book, a big book (400 text pages and 1500 references, in round numbers), and a fine tribute to Bob’s life’s work. I am sorry to have never met Bob, but over the years I met several pieces of his work (as well as Carl’s). For example, in 1994 Bob wrote a paper that used the classic Smith/Fretwell model for optimal size of an offspring to predict egg size in pelagic fishes; the model/theory is deceptively simple in pictorial form, but that which generates the tradeoff curve is not simple. Guided by the model, Bob carefully assembled all the pieces and the predicted answer fell squarely in the range of observed egg sizes. I mention this particular paper because I used it for years in my graduate evolutionary ecology class, and found it quite impressive. So, how to begin describing the book? The topic is vast and first chapter lays out the landscape. The dual themes of phylogenetic history and adaptive significance (natural selection carefully applied to all aspects of life history) form the big structure. Here we get an overview of the reproductive modes of the teleost fishes (~30,000 species; not all discussed), and hints of what is to come. In all chapters a few exemplar case histories receive special attention because they allow us to resolve key issues with hard data. Some of them point to key gaps in our knowledge; they point to the future. Males and females often differ greatly in all elements of reproduction, so the second chapter delves into how sex is determined in the first place. Genotype alone can determine sex (GSD; by far the most common in fish), or sex can be set by the developmental environment, often temperature (ESD). Wootton and Smith tell us what the patterns are, point toward the unknowns, and discuss some of the ideas about why natural selection favors this or that mode of sex determination. There are many puzzles here, particularly why closely-related species often have very different forms of GSD, a pattern repeated in many other taxa, too (e.g., Bull 1983). This discussion is very well done, and is a fine gateway to broader, and more population genetic intensive (a nice phrase for= lots of math) treatments (Bull 1983; Beukeboom and Perrin 2014). This chapter has what we will find in all the chapters: patterns (mapped to phylogeny and environment), puzzles (unknowns big and small), principles (often insightful adaptation arguments, with limitations noted), and possibilities (i.e., where would all we just discussed point to next?). The Atlantic Silverside [Menidia menidia; work of David Conover] is an exemplar here. Those fish populations have a mixture of ESD and GSD, and show that ESD phases out as one looks at populations that reside at increasingly northern latitudes along the Atlantic coast of North America. Conover shows both how and why this is predicted by sex ratio theory. When ESD goes Environ Biol Fish (2015) 98:1727–1728 DOI 10.1007/s10641-015-0391-7

Threatened fishes of the world: the end of a series

Our series of manuscripts on Threatened Fishes of the World came to an end after a prolonged and increasingly depressing and frustrating history. Prolonged because the series extended from 1995 to 2013, much longer than was anticipated. Increasingly depressing because it became clear to even the most skeptical reader that the status of a great many fishes is a matter of real concern. Frustrating because the accounts mostly presented the same picture for almost every species. The species accounts range from the largest fish species, the whale shark (Rhincodon typus) to one of the smallest (Tanichthys albonubes), in freshwater, marine and brackish water systems (Table 1). The list includes some species that almost certainly are extinct, such as the Yangtze paddlefish (Xiphurus gladius), and some that are relatively abundant and widespread, such as the North American lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens). Some species have global distributions, other are restricted to a single desert spring (Cyprinodon diabolis). Several cautions are obvious for this species list. Since contributions were unsolicited, and judged on their individual merits, it is not possible to analyze or interpret these reports as any objective measure of the number or distribution of threatened fish species. That was never the intention of this series. Other publications (Helfman 2007) are definitive efforts that were designed to address those important questions (Albins et al. 2013). Similarly, it is not possible to draw any conclusions from our series on Threatened Fishes as to the geographic, phylogenetic or systematic distribution of species. In fact, some papers must be regarded as doubtful reports of threatened species, since they probably represent only local color variants of broadly distributed species that cannot be considered as threatened (e.g., the aurora form of Salvelinus fontinalis, Salmo trutta caspias). We still receive a few manuscript submission each year, although the journal website clearly states that we are no longer accepting manuscripts for the series. It proved to be increasingly difficult to judge the claimed threatened status for taxonomic units reported from areas with very limited information on species distributions and abundance. Helfman (2013) has done an admirable job to demonstrate the profound differences and difficulties that exist among different countries and jurisdictions where there is reasonable confidence for species identification and knowledge of population status. It is a simple exercise for any undergraduate ichthyology class in almost any place on earth to demonstrate that we have very limited information on the biology, ecology and population status of most local fish species (Scott and Crossman 1973). I organized an invited session on Threatened Fishes for the annual meeting of the AAAS in Chicago in February 2011. Several papers from that session are Environ Biol Fish (2013) 96:1135–1149 DOI 10.1007/s10641-013-0174-y

Environmental flows: a definitive guide

It is no secret that rivers have become one of our most important and imperiled resources around the globe. Guidance on how to manage rivers is urgently needed. Thankfully, a new book written by Dr. Angela Arthington: “Environmental Flows: Saving Rivers in the Third Millenium” takes a detailed look at rivers and how we can understand, manage, and restore them. This book is a very broad and comprehensive overview, organized into a series of 22 relatively concise chapters, beginning with an overview of the value of rivers and their current state of imperilment. This chapter sets the stage for understanding the range and magnitude of the challenges we face in saving rivers. For the purposes of this review, I partitioned my discussion of the book into several sections comprising a series of chapters that I felt addressed major themes related to environmental flows. From the introductory chapter, Arthington proceeds in a series of chapters (2–4) to provide a basic introduction to how rivers function, including basic overviews of major physical processes that contribute to river flows and a review of the evolving series of concepts and models that shape our thinking about how these processes translate into ecosystem functioning. Throughout these chapters, and the book in general, Arthington is careful to return to the axes of space, place, and time in rivers, as these provide a proper frame of reference for understanding processes at play, and how different perspectives can emerge along these axes. As just described these issues may seem rather vague to the uninitiated reader, but in the book, Arthington does a good job of providing many examples so the reader is given a firm idea of what they mean and specifically how they are manifested in how we perceive environmental flows. In this section (up to chapter 4), and again throughout the book there are also numerous graphical and tabular summaries of major points extracted from the text narrative that serve as a quick references and to reinforce the reader’s ability to track the major concepts, principles, or findings. The first section of the book leads up to a theme or paradigm that resonates throughout the book: the natural flow regime and its relevance for environmental flows. In the final chapter in this section (chapter 4), Arthington is careful to explore how flows translate into a variety of functions in rivers, focusing on both ecological and evolutionary influences ranging from nutrient flux to instream biota and riparian zones. At this point, the reader now has a foundation of information that can be applied to developing useful objectives for considering environmental flows. From chapter 4, the book turns to consider how past and present human activities have altered rivers and Environ Biol Fish (2014) 97:223–224 DOI 10.1007/s10641-013-0134-6

An introduction to the use of electronic tagging to provide insights into salmon migration and survival

The west coast of North America serves as home for five species of semelparous salmon and the iteroparous steelhead and cutthroat trout, all in the genus Oncorhynchus. Currently, only Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) and steelhead trout (O. mykiss) reside in the rivers and streams of California’s Central Valley. By contrast, the coastal streams of California contain coho salmon (O. kisutch), Chinook salmon and, to a much lesser extent, cutthroat trout (O. clarki). The rivers and streams of the Central Valley are unique because they host four Chinook salmon runs identified by the season when most adults return to freshwater to spawn. These seasons include winter, spring, fall, and late-fall (Fry 1961; Stone 1874). Of the four runs, the fall run is the most abundant, largely due to supplementation by hatchery production (Fisher 1994). Fall-run juvenile Chinook salmon emigrate to the ocean soon after hatching. Some of their springrun and winter-run counterparts engage in similar conduct, thereby exhibiting what is known as ocean-type behavior. Late-fall and some spring-run juveniles use a different strategy, remaining in freshwater for a few weeks to several months before outmigrating to the ocean at a larger size. This pattern is described as stream-type behavior. The ocean-type juveniles spend relatively little time in streams and enter the ocean at a small size [80 mm fork length (FL)]. The stream-type juveniles enter the ocean at 120–180 mm FL. These larger stream-type smolts are also called yearlings. Central Valley steelhead are currently recognized only as winter run, although in the past there may have been a summer run as wIell (Needham et al. 1941). Juvenile steelhead vary in freshwater residency and age at ocean entry. While many enter the ocean as smaller sub-yearlings, others enter as larger yearlings or when even older. Populations of coho salmon migrate upstream and spawn in coastal streams and larger rivers outside of the Central Valley, especially in the area north of the Golden Gate, the estuarine exit for Central Valley salmonids. Today salmon populations are only a fraction of their historical abundance, primarily because of the loss of spawning habitat that has resulted from dam construction. Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon are classified as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, with Central Valley steelhead and spring-run Chinook salmon listed Environ Biol Fish (2013) 96:131–133 DOI 10.1007/s10641-012-0099-x

Preface: Micro- and macroevolution of fishes

Our understanding of evolution has been greatly advanced in the last decade, thanks to the development of molecular genetic techniques for examining genes and the actions of genes in individuals, populations, and even distantly related lineages. Fishes are a huge assemblage of animals comprising more than half of all vertebrate species, having evolved in a wide range of aquatic environments. As such, fishes have contributed greatly to our recent advances in evolutionary studies. The front line of current evolutionary studies of fishes is growing quickly. In the field of microevolution changes within and among populations, intensive genetic analyses of populations using modern molecular techniques are disclosing the level and pattern of genetic differentiation among populations, enabling us to estimate gene flow among them. Increasing efforts to measure natural selection and fitness in wild populations, using improved statistical analyses, are also important for estimating the evolutionary process of ecological and morphological traits in fishes. Macroevolutionary studies have also been promoted bymodern molecular techniques, in particular efficient DNA-sequencing technologies. The development of molecular phylogenetic analyses has provided phylogenetic trees for various groups of closelyand distantly-related fishes. In turn such trees have been useful as reliable frameworks for estimating evolutionary patterns of organismal or ecological traits and genes or genomes. As the front line of research rapidly extends, it is important to have an overview of the present state of evolutionary studies so we can identify the future direction of research. This is why we planned the international symposium on the “Microand Macroevolution of Fishes”. The aim of the symposium was to bring together fish evolutionary biologists with various backgrounds, from molecular biology and genomics to ecology and systematics, to share their research results and opinions. The symposium was held on 4–5 October 2007, in conjunction with the 40th memorial annual meeting of the Ichthyological Society of Japan in Sapporo, Hokkaido, with the support of the University of Hokkaido (Fig. 1). Two 21st Century Center of Excellence (COE) programs in Hokkaido University (“Neo-Science of Natural History”) and University of Tokyo (“Biodiversity and Ecosystem Restoration”) co-hosted this international symposium. Environ Biol Fish (2012) 94:503–504 DOI 10.1007/s10641-012-0008-3

Robert M. McDowall—taxonomist and biogeographer

Robert (Bob) McDowall died in Christchurch, New Zealand on 20 February 2011 after a short illness. Bob was a widely published author and an acknowledged world authority on the taxonomy and biogeography of freshwater fishes. In a preface to Bob’s recent magnum opus on the osteology of the galaxiids and allied genera (McDowall and Burridge 2011), the series editor, Peter Bartsch called him “a complete zoologist” and listed his knowledge and experience ranged from “taxonomy, biogeography and systematics to reproductive biology, behaviour, ecology, evolution, fisheries and conservation biology”. So, how did this talented and productive fisheries scientist come to acquire a profound knowledge of not only the freshwater fish fauna of New Zealand but of the southern hemisphere? Bob was born on 15 September 1939 in Palmerston North in 1939, the second youngest in a family of five. Bob attended Victoria University of Wellington (1958–62), completing an M. Sc. in zoology. As a young scientist, Bob recognised he had available to him a virtually unstudied fish fauna, the native freshwater fishes of New Zealand. The fauna is sparse (~ 40 species) and characterised by a high degree of diadromy. Bob soon realised that this fauna offered an opportunity to “explore pattern and process, cause and effect, evolution and biogeography, in a way that would have been much more difficult in areas with more speciose faunas” (McDowall 2010). One of the earliest papers he wrote on the origins of the New Zealand freshwater fish fauna (McDowall 1964) was probably instrumental in his gaining the opportunity to study at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University USA (1965–68) where he was exposed to the teachings of the likes of Ernst Mayr, P J Darlington, Giles Mead, Alfred Romer and other luminaries of that era. His Ph. D. was on the systematics and phylogeny of the New Zealand galaxiids. The family Galaxiidae comprises a group of southern hemisphere fishes whose wide geographic range and the diversity of habitats they have colonised are somewhat akin to the northern hemisphere salmonids. The galaxiids were destined to become a major research focus for Bob. Upon completion of his doctorate and return to New Zealand, Bob was instructed to commence research on the diet of brown trout, Salmo trutta, something he regarded of much lesser importance than understanding the ecology of native species. With a dogmatism that often characterised his dealings with authority, he ignored this directive and established an extensive field Environ Biol Fish DOI 10.1007/s10641-011-9877-0

Hans Nordeng: a man of principles

Professor, cand. real. Hans Nordeng died in Baerum, Norway in May 2010, at the age of 91 years. He was an extraordinary man; an unconventional, creative and hard-working scientist, and a very gifted teacher and tutor. Most of his publications were based on many years of research, often combining extensive field work and carefully planned experiments and transplantations (Vollestad and Skurdal 1994). Several of them contributed significantly to the fields of fish ecology and evolution. He kept a glowing enthusiasm for fish biology until a great age, publishing his last paper when he was 91 (Nordeng 2009). He grew up in Salangen, Northern Norway, close to the river that was to become the primary research system of his career. As a young recruit at an under-officer school, he fought in the battle at the Narvik-Gratangen front of World War II in the spring of 1940. He started a military career after the war but later went to university as a grown-up man. After graduation, he held an assignment with the Institute of Marine Research in Bergen before taking up a lectureship at the University of Oslo, a position he kept for most of his active life. Then, after retiring fromOslo, he was appointed as a full professor at the University of Tromso, finally achieving the personal chair he so much deserved. He served in this position for 2 years. Hans Nordeng published several innovative and influential papers. Two of them will always be tied to his name. The first, published in Nature (Nordeng 1971), proposed a pheromone hypothesis to explain the population specific homing of anadromous fishes to their native river. It was based on transferring fertilized eggs of anadromous arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) from the Salangen River system to a hatchery at Voss, south-west Norway (south of the range of anadromous charr), rearing the fish to the smolt stage (4 years), flying them back to northern Norway and releasing them in the estuaries of the Salangen River and a neighbouring river. These fish had experienced no olfactory cues from their home river water during rearing. Yet almost all the fish that were released in Salangen and the majority of the fish released in the other river, returned to the Salangen River. This strongly suggested that population specific pheromones, possibly bound to the skin mucus, provided the olfactory cues for homing; not the river water itself. He established important co-operation with physiologists to test the hypothesis (Doving et al. 1974), and successive pheromone research included several other migratory fish species. The second paper (Nordeng 1983) was based on his long-term studies of three sympatric Environ Biol Fish (2011) 91:367–368 DOI 10.1007/s10641-011-9793-3

In defense of desert fishes

No finer tribute to the life’s work of W.L. Minckley could exist than this volume. For decades, ‘Minck’ and a small cadre of visionaries (like Carl Hubbs of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Bob Miller of the University of Michigan, Jim Deacon of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, and Phil Pister of the California Department of Fish and Game) dragged attention to and knowledge of southwest desert fishes from the shadows cast by commercial or sports fishes to the light of widespread recognition of unique adaptations and remarkable diversity in unlikely habitats. As this book attests, early concerns over the demise of desert fishes under an array of human pressures blossomed into periods of discovery and activism driven heavily by the students, younger colleagues and friends of the likes of these leaders. What they began with explorations and field collections, often in the most brutal yet glorious desert country in North America, evolved in recent years into focused field and lab studies of ecology, behavior, physiology, development, genetics and evolutionary history of these fishes, and into conservation-driven “non-game” units of both Federal and State governmental agencies. If Minck were with us today, I suspect even his gruff, self-effacing facade would crack when he read what has been built on the foundation to which he contributed so much. The book begins with a Foreward by JimDeacon that sets the historic stage for what follows and includes some hints at Minckley’s influence on changing of attitudes toward and respect for vanishing native faunas. The two-part Preface begins with comments from Minckley, dated in the same month of his passing, that reflect his view of the long history and rapid demise of native fishes as well as his hope for future conservation efforts. Marsh follows with more focused examples of recent changes that emphasize the dynamism of continuing native fish declines in the face of new introductions of non-native species and expanding populations and geographic ranges of those already in the area. His statement that the book is already out of date due to such changes both understates the long-term value of this work for the future of aquatic biology and conservation in the American Southwest and his own lasting contribution by bringing this project to fruition. The body of this book comprises four chapters: Introduction (5 pp.), The Region and Its Aquatic Habitats (42 pp.), Conservation of a Vanishing biota (5 pp.), and Fishes of the Region (species accounts of native and introduced fishes; 309 pp.). These are followed by a List of Families, Genera and species of fishes treated in the book, as well as English and Spanish common names of those species. A page of Environ Biol Fish (2011) 90:207–210 DOI 10.1007/s10641-010-9729-3

Threatened fishes of the world: Ptychobarbus chungtienensis Tsao 1964 (Cyprinidae)

Common name: Chungtien schizothoracin (English). Local name: Zhongdian Chongchunyu (Chinese). Conservation status: EN—China Species Red List, Vol. 1 Red List (Wang and Xie 2004). Identification: D III 7-8; A II 5; LL 100–110; pharyngeal teeth two rows, 3,4–4,3; one pair of barbels. Sides of body above lateral line is brown with a golden shine and densely covered with black speckles, sides below lateral line are yellowish and densely covered with black speckles, and the abdomen is silver. Illustration by Bao-Rong Wu. Distribution: Endemic to Zhongdian Plateau of Jinsha River drainage including Lake Bita, Lake Napa, Lake Shudu, Nayahe River, Xiaozhongdian River and Gezan River (Huang and Chen 1986; Chen 2010). Abundance: Since 1986, populations have declined or disappeared in most areas. Species is now extirpated from Lake Napa. Most remaining individuals are in Lake Bita with a few in Xiaozhongdian River and Naya River (Wang and Xie 2004). Habitat and ecology: Juveniles occur in the littoral zone of the lake and streams; the adults inhabit the middle and lower water layers of the lake. Reproduction: Individuals return from the lake to streams to spawn in June. Males dig pits with anal fin rays and lays eggs in the pit. Parental fishes spawn several times from July to September every year. Threats: Habitat degradation, water pollution, over-exploitation and exotic species. Most notably, Micropercops swinhonis invasion is a critical threat. Conservation actions: Lake Bita and primary forest around the lake have been well protected since 1984 by establishing Bitahai Provincial Natural Reserve. A population status monitoring of Chungtien Environ Biol Fish (2010) 89:1–2 DOI 10.1007/s10641-010-9654-5

Here there be monsters

Ancient mariners and early cartographers were right—there are monsters in the ocean depths, with gaping mouths, scimitar teeth and glowing appendages. These aliens have everything a science fiction movie could dream of: luminescent lures, outrageous morphology, bizarre sex habits. Fortunately, most of them are less than 20 cm long. These are the Ceratioidei, deep sea anglerfishes that are the subject of Ted Pietsch’s life’s work and a remarkable new volume, Oceanic Anglerfishes: Extraordinary Diversity in the Deep Sea. Part coffee table book, part technical reference, this beautifully illustrated book describes each species in detail, some from single known specimens. The deep sea anglerfishes are, undoubtedly, one of the most fascinating and highly derived vertebrate groups on the planet. They live in a cold, dark, inhospitable world where extreme conditions have promoted extreme morphological, behavioral, and physiological adaptations (Koslow 2006). Live observations of deep sea anglers are rare; most are described from mangled specimens trawled or dredged from hundreds or even thousands of meters below the ocean surface. They have fantastic names, like the “mischievous dreamers” (Puck pinnata) and “whipnosed sea devils” (Gigantactis spp, one of few in the suborder that are relatively large bodied at up to 40 cm). These fish make their living in a food-poor environment by use of a lure to attract prey—a stalked appendage, called the illicium, tipped with a bioluminescent bulb, the esca (Garman 1899). Escal appendages are highly diverse in size and shape, from single bulbs to filamentous branches, and most can wave to attract prey. The esca are filled with bioluminescent bacteria that are part of a symbiotic relationship that may be species-specific (Haygood and Distal 1993). Pietsch describes and illustrates the esca of all known deep sea anglerfish in detail, expounding on the diversity exhibited in the suborder as an evolutionary model for adaptation. Deep sea anglers have other luminescent structures and remarkable jaw adaptations for engulfing large prey, including members of one family (Thaumatichthyidae, the “snaggle toothed sea devils” and “wonderfishes”) that use their entire face as a net trap, complete with a glowing lure hanging from the roof of their mouths. Anglerfish bodies are generally soft and globular, with few features that can be used for diagnostic Environ Biol Fish (2010) 88:301–304 DOI 10.1007/s10641-010-9637-6

Threatened fishes of the world: Odontobutis yaluensis Wu, Wu & Xie, 1993 (Odontobutidae)

Common name: Yalu River sleeper goby. Conservation status: Vulnerable—China Species Red List (Wang and Xie 2004). Identification: D. VI–VIII; I-8–10; A. I-6– 8; P. 15–16; V. I-5. Lateral scales 43–53, transverse scales 17–22, predorsal scales 21–26. Gill rakers 1– 3+5–8. Interorbital width greater than eye diameter. The short sensory canal (belonging to oculoscapular sensory canal system) posterior to eye, no preopercular canals. Predorsal scales extend forward to top of head between eyes. Scales in occipital region arranged in concentric circles or in a radial pattern (Wu et al. 1993). Living fish have a dark brown body, with an irregular black sawtooth band running along lateral surface. Distribution: Odontobutis yaluensis has only been found in certain tributaries of the Liaohe River and the Yalu River, and short rivers near the eastern shore of the Liaodong Peninsula in Northeast China. Abundance: Not critically evaluated, but declining. Habitat and ecology: Odontobutis yaluensis is characteristically found in shallow waters of streams and rivers, especially in zones where substrata consist of mixed sand, small stones and aquatic plants (Wu 2008). The most suitable temperature range is 23–27° C, and pH 6.5–8.5 (Jiang et al. 2007). Reproduction: Maturity is reached at 1 year. Spawning typically peaks in between April and June. Males “nest” under the shelter of rocks. Females typically deposit adhesive eggs on the ceiling of the rocky shelter. Males guard nests until eggs hatch (Wang et al. 2008). Threats: Threats have not been fully evaluated, but overfishing Environ Biol Fish (2010) 88:261–262 DOI 10.1007/s10641-010-9638-5

Threatened fishes of the world: Leptobotia elongata Bleeker, 1870 (Bottiinae)

Common name: Elongate loach (English). Conservation status: “High vulnerability” in China (China red data book) (Cheung et al. 2005); “Endangered” in China Red Data book of Endangered Animals-Pisces (Yue and Chen 1998). Identification: A big freshwater and demersal fish in Bottiinae (maximum weight 3 kg and length 50 cm) (Nichols 1943; Liang and Hu 2001), slightly compressed body, tapering and compressed head, short snout, downturned mouth with horse’s hoof-shaped lips, barbels 3 pairs; fine scale fish; pectoral and pelvic fins short and bases with long skin folds. D. IV/8, A: III/5, P. I/12–13, V. I/8. Coloration: Body lightly grayish brown and with vertical or irregular band-like stripes of deeply brown; yellowish brown on head sides (Wang 1998). Figure from Lin and Zheng (2003). Distribution: Only distributed naturally in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, China. Habit and ecology: It is a cryptic benthic fish and prefers to hide under rocks and macrophytes beds at day time, and moves around at night. As a carnivorous species, it feeds mainly on small fishes and aquatic invertebrates, such as small fishes, small shrimp and Copepoda community. Reproduction: Matures at 4–6 years (Liang and Hu 2001) and is thought to be a reproductively fluvial fish. Mature adults migrate upstream to breed in the shallow beaches and fast currents in late February, spawn from March to May and the roe is viscous and sticks to rocks. Threats: Dramatic population declines in recent decades because of over-fishing, dam construction, water pollution and other anthropogenic impacts (Liang et al. 2004). Conservation actions: Hatchery programs and culture techniques by several national institutes and private agencies have released hatchery reared juveniles into natural river systems. Conservation recommendation: Actions should be taken to improve water quality. Improve hatchery success rate and the survival from artificial propagation; on-site conservation and restriction of fishing. Environ Biol Fish (2010) 87:295–296 DOI 10.1007/s10641-010-9582-4

Threatened fishes of the world: Clarias batrachus (Linn. 1758)

Common name: Magur, Walking Catfish. Conservation status: Vulnerable (CAMP 1998). Identification: Brownish black in colour. Elongated body with round abdomen and laterally compressed tail. Head with two depressions. Upper jaw slightly longer than lower. The mouth is wide and terminal. Four maxillary and four mandibular barbells. The dorsal fin and anal fin both long, reaching caudal base. Caudal fin homocercal, separated from dorsal and anal fin. D 62–76, P 1/8–11, V 6–7, A 45–58, C 14–17. Illustration by S. Mahali. Distribution: It is native to Indian sub-continent (Jayaram 1981). Habitat and ecology: Inhabits swampy areas and water bodies adjacent to paddy fields. Omnivore with broad feeding habits at different life stages (Hora and Pillay 1962). Reproduction: It breeds in second year of life during the monsoon (June–August) in vegetation under embankments. Parental care exists. The fecundity varies from 4000– 5000 (100 g females) and increases with fish size. The honey colour eggs are adhesive. Threats: Declining population is due to high fishing pressure and habitat loss from rapid urbanization. Conservation action: The Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, India has started working intensively on its propagation and feed development (Sahoo et al. 2005, 2008; Giri et al. 2005). Seven other national Institutes are presently involved on its artificial propagation, sponsored by Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi. Recommendations: Mass production through hatchery operations, rearing young in natural waters and aquaculture of this species are necessary to restore populations. Remark: Ironically, it is recommended for monoculture in south-east Asia due to its high production potential and market demand. Environ Biol Fish (2010) 88:85–86 DOI 10.1007/s10641-010-9627-8

Threatened fishes of the world: Mycteroperca bonaci (Poey, 1860) (Serranidae: Epinephelinae)

Common names: Black grouper, badejo-quadrado. Conservation status: High vulnerable by the IUCN Red List and in Brazil it was included in the “commercially extinct” list of marine resources in Sao Paulo State (Sao Paulo 2008). Identification: D XI + 15–17; A III +11–13; LL 78–83. The body has 7 or 8 columns of rectangular dark gray blotches. The outer third of the second dorsal, anal and caudal fins are black, edge of preopercle is smooth, without a pronounced lobe in the angle. The maximum length is 133 cm, with maximum body weight of 65 kg (Rocha and Costa 1999). Illustration from FAO species catalogue. Distribution: This species occurs in western Atlantic, from Bermuda and Massachusetts to southern Brazil, including the southern part of Gulf of Mexico, Florida Keys, Bahamas, Cuba and the Caribbean. Habitat and ecology: This species is found on rocky bottoms and coral reefs to depths of at least 75 m. Adults are most commonly found bellow 30 m while juveniles generally occur in shalow waters. Adults feed primarily on fishes and juveniles prey, mainly crustaceans. The black grouper is one of the most important species in Atlantic coast fisheries. In Northeast Brazil, between the States of Ceara and Alagoas, M. bonaci has been caught by artisanal fishery using hooks and lines or compressor-assisted spear fishing (Teixeira et al 2004). Reproduction: This specie is a protogynous hermaphrodite, with reproductive aggregations. Maturing females occur between 50 and 100 cm and mature males between 96 and 116 cm (Heemstra and Randall 1993). Threats: Overfishing. Conservation action: Since 2003, in Brazil a minimum capturing size of capture was established at 45 cm. Conservation recommendation: Environ Biol Fish DOI 10.1007/s10641-010-9634-9

Threatened fishes of the world: Austrolebias univentripinnis Costa and Cheffe 2005 (Cyprinodontiformes: Rivulidae)

Common names: Annual fish, killifish. Conservation status: None. Identification: Urogenital papilla completely attached to anal fin in males, pelvic fins 75 to 90% fused. Largest male registered 35.6 mm SL and largest female 32.2 mm SL (Illustration by Felipe Ribas). Coloration: Lateral body of males with 11–18 vertical rows of brilliant blue-green pigmentation on a dark greenish gray background. Lateral body of females with elongated bars on a faint yellow-brown background (Costa and Cheffe 2005). Distribution: Endemic to Jaguarao River basin, Patos-Mirim Lagoon system, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Abundance: Population estimates not available. Habitat and ecology: Inhabit shallow temporary pools that are formed generally between June to September, in the winter months, during the rainy season. Pools generally are small in surface area (<1,000 m) with maximum depth of 50 cm and high density of aquatic macrophytes. The pH was 6.6–6.8 and the water was whitish. Reproduction: Unknown; likely similar to congenera, which mature within two months after hatching and reproduce throughout his life (Errea and Danulat 2001). Threats: Greatest threat is caused by drainage and changes in physical structure and the hydrological cycle of wetlands due to rice cultivation in floodplains of the Jaguarao River and its small tributaries. The loss of habitat caused by urban progress in the city of Jaguarao and the cattle presence in all sampling sites of the species are also threats to populations of A. univentripinnis (Lanes and Cheffe 2006). Conservation action: None taken. Conservation recommendations: Establish some form of legal protection, as small conservation units, in areas of occurrence of the species; realization of studies regarding the biology and ecology; inhibit the illegal draining and use of wetlands for rice cultivation and urban construction; include it in lists of species of fauna threatened with extinction and recovery and monitoring of its habitat. Environ Biol Fish (2010) 87:319–320 DOI 10.1007/s10641-010-9605-1

Salmonid spawning habitat and remediation: where are we now, where do we go from here?

Concerns regarding the impacts of habitat degradation on salmon populations have resulted in the design and implementation of several remediation programs worldwide. Commonly cited deficiencies of these programs include the small-scale design and vague or undefined objectives. Moreover, the physical processes and biological responses to numerous remediation actions are often inadequately or not monitored at all (Bernhardt et al. 2005). The application of a multidisciplinary approach represents an additional challenge to the elaboration of efficient remediation measures (Benda et al. 2002). To address these issues, the American Fisheries Society (AFS) organized in 2003 an international symposium on salmonid spawning habitat processes and remediation in Quebec City (Canada). This event brought together managers and scientists from diverse disciplines. This resulted in the publication of a volume (edited by Sear & DeVries) in which 16 papers are presented. The main goal of this volume is to provide an overview of the current knowledge and key gaps in the overall understanding of processes governing salmonid spawning habitat in relation to habitat remediation. The authors have, in my opinion, presented a comprehensive coverage of the subject. With the increasing popularity of habitat remediation actions, this volume provides a muchneeded reference source that describes the current concerns related to habitat remediation and provides guidance for future research required to support managerial decisions. These papers, further highlight the importance of an effective dialogue between biologists, geomorphologists, hydrologists, engineers and managers to properly address spawning habitat remediation issues. The introductory paper efficiently sets the tone for the entire volume. As such, it provides a clear, concise and easy-to-understand conceptual framework to summarize the diverse biological and physical parameters influencing salmonid spawning habitat and reproductive success. The 16 contributions are grouped into 3 main sections: 1) biological processes, 2) physical processes and 3) spawning habitat remediation. The complexity of spawning habitat processes and remediation is well identified. This complexity is principally attributable to a series of interactions between and within biological and physical parameters which occur at several temporal and spatial scales. It is apparent from this book that the applied discipline of habitat remediation, while under legislative, political and financial pressures, is wide open for innovative research. Environ Biol Fish (2010) 87:291–293 DOI 10.1007/s10641-010-9589-x