''Fishes of the World'' is a standard reference for the

systematics Systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: phylogenetic trees, phylogenies). Phy ...

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

es. It was first written in 1976 by the American

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011). Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of the diversity and classification of the 30,000-plus fish

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

known to science. The book begins with a general overview of ichthyology, although it is not self-contained. After a short section on Chordata and non-fish taxa, the work lists all known fish families in a systematic fashion. Each

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

is given at least one paragraph, and usually a body outline drawing; large families have subfamilies and tribes described as well. Notable

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

and species are mentioned, though the book does generally not deal with the species-level diversity. The complexities of the higher taxa are described succinctly, with many references for difficult points. The book does not contain any color illustrations. The fourth edition was the first to incorporate the wide use of DNA analysis, revising many earlier classifications. The first edition appeared in 1976, the second in 1984, the third in 1994 (

John Wiley & Sons John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Publishing, publishing company that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company was founded in 1807 and pr ...

, ), the fourth in March 2006 (), and the fifth in April 2016 ().

References

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External links

''Fishes of the World'' (4th edition) Homepage

''Fishes of the World'' (5th edition) Homepage
(includes update
classification
Ichthyological literature 1976 non-fiction books 1984 non-fiction books 1994 non-fiction books 2006 non-fiction books 2016 non-fiction books Wiley (publisher) books {{animal-book-stub