Ecological and Environmental Physiology of Fishes

Fishes have evolved to colonise almost every type of aquatic habitat and today they are a hugely diverse group of over 25,000 species. The evolution of this great diversity of species has resulted in a myriad of solutions to the demands posed by the aquatic environment. Ecological and Environmental Physiology of Fishes presents a current and comprehensive overview of fish physiology to demonstrate how living fishes function in their environment. As with other books in the Series, the emphasis is on the unique physiological characteristics of the fish, but with applications to questions of broad relevance in physiological ecology. A preliminary chapter introduces the aquatic environment and gives a general description of fish biology, evolution, and taxonomy. Subsequent sections discuss the particular problems of living in water, life in extreme environments, techniques for studying fish ecophysiology, and future research directions. This is definitely a go to book for those readers wanting a simply delightful and digestible overview of the importance of fish physiology in relation to evolution and variable environments. We know so little about most of the 30,000 or so fishes; indeed details exist for a handful of species. But what you need to know is well covered in this imaginative book. This book has a very bright future. A.P. Farrell, University of British Columbia1. Introduction and Opening Remarks ; 2. General Principles of Fish Physiology: Living in Water ; 3. Extreme Environments ; 4. Techniques and Applications ; 5. Conclusions and Future Developments ; References ; Index