This book, published in two volumes, provides the most comprehensive review of lamprey biology since Hardisty and Potter’s “The Biology of Lampreys” published more than 30 years ago. This second volume offers a synthesis of topics related to the lamprey gonad (e.g., lamprey sex ratios, sex determination and sex differentiation, sexual maturation, and sex steroids), the artifical propagation of lampreys, post-metamorphic feeding and the evolution of alternative feeding and migratory types, the history and status of sea lamprey control in the Laurentian Great Lakes and Lake Champlain, and an overview of contributions of lamprey developmental studies for understanding vertebrate evolution.
Recent studies have increasingly demonstrated the widespread existence of spatio-temporal variations in the abundance and distribution of species of freshwater fishes, previously assumed not to move between habitats. These movements are often on a seasonal or ontogenetic basis, for spawning, feeding and refuge, and in many cases are fundamental for the successful completion of lifecycles. This important book provides a single source for a range of previously widely dispersed information on these movements of fish in fresh waters, covering potamodromous fishes as well as the more familiar diadromous species, worldwide. Contents include full descriptions of types of migration and spatial behaviour, the stimulus and capacity for fish to migrate, the effects of climate on patterns of migratory behaviour, a taxonomic analysis (mostly by family) of freshwater fish migration, methods for studying migration, and details of the impacts of man's activities on freshwater fish migration. Migration of Freshwater Fishes provides an excellent and comprehensive reference to which the river manager, biologist or student can now refer to obtain information, advice and current opinion on the migratory behaviour of most taxonomic groups of fishes occurring in fresh water. University libraries and aquatic research stations should also have copies of this essential reference book on their shelves. Well-known international authors. Of great commercial importance to fisheries and professional angling bodies. Draws together much new information in one place. Detailed review of world wide migratory behaviour for most groups of freshwater fishes. Pure and applied relevance, for academics, fisheries scientists, river managers and conservationists. This comprehensive book includes 67 tables and figures and over 1,400 references.
The last half-century has shown a dramatic increase in the standard of living of millions of people in Europe, North America and many parts of the Third World. This has, in many ways been brought about by scientific and technical developments which were initiated in the 1940s and 1950s. Promises were then made that nuclear energy would provide electricity so cheap that it would not need metering, pesticides would end malnutrition throughout the world and plastics and other synthetic chemicals would revolutionise our manufacturing industry and our way of life. Whilst some of these promises have been fulfilled, the problems of long-term health risks to humans and wildlife arising from the use, production and disposal of these products were either unknown or deliberately understated. Nuclear power is rendered economically unviable when the real cost of decommissioning and storage of waste for several millenia is included, and the effects on health of both humans and wildlife of early pest eradication programmes with organochlorine pesticides were well documented in Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring". Evidence of the effects of aerosols and refrigerants on depletion of the ozone layer has led to restriction on the use of CFCs, and there is now increasing evidence of climate change resulting from our profligate use of fossil fuels.
In 1962 the Green River was poisoned and its native fishes killed so that the new Flaming Gorge Reservoir could be stocked with non-native game fishes for sportsmen. This incident was representative of water management in the West, where dams and other projects have been built to serve human needs without consideration for the effects of water diversion or depletion on the ecosystem. Indeed, it took a Supreme Court decision in 1976 to save Devils Hole pupfish from habitat destruction at the hands of developers. Nearly a third of the native fish fauna of North America lives in the arid West; this book traces their decline toward extinction as a result of human interference and the threat to their genetic diversity posed by decreases in their populations. What can be done to slow or end this tragedy? As the most comprehensive treatment ever attempted on the subject, Battle Against Extinction shows how conservation efforts have been or can be used to reverse these trends. In covering fishes in arid lands west of the Mississippi Valley, the contributors provide a species-by-species appraisal of their status and potential for recovery, bringing together in one volume nearly all of the scattered literature on western fishes to produce a monumental work in conservation biology. They also ponder ethical considerations related to the issue, ask why conservation efforts have not proceeded at a proper pace, and suggest how native fish protection relates to other aspects of biodiversity planetwide. Their insights will allow scientific and public agencies to evaluate future management of these animal populations and will offer additional guidance for those active in water rights and conservation biology. First published in 1991, Battle Against Extinction is now back in print and available as an open-access e-book thanks to the Desert Fishes Council.
This report evaluates the status of the Eastern and Western yellow-bellied racers (Coluber constrictor flaviventris) and (Coluber constrictor mormon). Distribution of these species in Canada is restricted to extreme south central Saskatchewan and interior British Columbia respectively. The report provides general information on the species (name and classification, description) and describes the following: distribution; habitat; biology; population sizes and trends; limiting factors and threats; special significance of the species; existing protection or other status.
The Nooksack dace is a morphologically distinctive fish derived from the common and widely distributed longnose dace, Rhinichthys cataractae. Although widespread in Washington state, the Nooksack dace is restricted in its Canadian distribution to four small streams tributary to the Nooksack River in the lower Fraser River Valley, British Columbia. This report provides information on the fish's geographic distribution, protection status, population sizes and trends, habitat, general biology, factors limiting its population and affecting its habitat, and the special significance of the species. Concludes with an evaluation of the future of the species in Canada.
Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) status reports are working documents used in assigning the status of wildlife species suspected of being at risk. This document includes both an assessment and status report on the Enos Lake benthic and limnetic threespine stickleback species pair (Gasterosteus aculeatus) in Canada. It includes species information, distribution, habitat, and biology information, as well as population sizes and trends, limiting factors and threats, special significance of the species, and existing protection or other status.--Includes text from document.
