Time Schedule:
Theodore W Pietsch
FISH 401
Seattle Campus
Advanced course in ichthyology with emphasis on living bony fishes of the world; past and present biodiversity, evolutionary history, classification, comparative morphology, geographic distribution, and historical zoogeography. Recommended: 10 credits biological science.
Class description
DID YOU KNOW THAT WE ARE MORE CLOSELY RELATED TO SALMON THAN SALMON ARE TO SHARKS?
Learn the details of the half-billion year-old history of fishes, from ancient jawless forms to modern-day inhabitants of tropical coral reefs.
Investigate the structural innovations in fishes that paved the evolutionary road to vertebrate biodiversity, both past and present.
Discuss the consequences of continental drift, the genesis of the great river systems of tropical Africa and South America, and the rise of modern-day coral reef communities on the evolution of fishes.
Participate in laboratory exercises and demonstrations of strange feeding structures, unique modes of locomotion, and bizarre reproductive strategies.
Help prepare skeletons of fishes for a new exhibit to open at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in June 1999.
An advanced course in the biology of fishes, with emphasis on extinct and modern fishes of the world: past and present biodiversity, evolutionary history, classification, comparative morphology, geographic distribution, and historical zoogeography. Discussion, demonstration, and hands-on examination of the biology and diversity of living fishes of the world-from ancient bottom-dwelling hagfishes and lampreys to modern-day sharks, rays, and bony fishes; from the freshwaters of Amazonia and the Congo Basin to mangrove swamps and coral reefs; and from shallow-water lakes and streams to the deepest parts of the world oceans.
HERE'S A TENTATIVE LIST OF LECTURE TOPICS:
Introduction: organization and scope of the course; the phenomenal success of fishes; the concept of geological time.
Sequence of early vertebrate evolution I: Paleozoic jawless fishes and their descendant groups.
Sequence of early vertebrate evolution II: gnathostome fishes; the acanthodians, placoderms, and chondrichthyans.
Sequence of early vertebrate evolution III: teleostome origins and descendant groups; early actinopterygians and sarcopterygians; the ancestors of terrestrial vertebrates.
Sequence of early vertebrate evolution IV: actinopterygian evolution; chondrostean and neopterygian fishes, their origins and interrelationships; major evolutionary trends culminating in the rise of teleosts.
History of systematic ichthyology: Aristotle, Linnaeus, Cuvier, and Darwin; Julian Huxley and the "new systematics"; methods and goals of systematics.
Taxonomy, systematics, classification, and phylogeny; the methods and goals of systematics; phenetics; evolutionary systematics vs. cladistics.
Applied phylogenetic systematics I: the traditional morphological approach.
Applied phylogenetic systematics II: the molecular approach.
Elasmobranch origins and descendant groups; paleozoic sharks: cladodonts, xenacanths, bradyodonts, edestids, and hybodonts.
Mesozoic sharks and their descendant groups, modern-day holocephalans and elasmobranchs.
Morphological trends and teleost evolution; reduction of parts through loss or fusion; fin position and development of spines; upper jaw evolution; grades of specialization vs. phylogeny.
The rise of teleosts; trends in feeding and locomotion; historical perspective; monophyly vs. polyphyly; the four primary taxa; evolutionary trends culminating in the rise of acanthopterygian fishes.
Osteoglossomorphs, elopomorphs, and clupeomorphs; their distinguishing features and evolutionary relationships; introduction to euteleostean fishes.
Major subtaxa of the Euteleostei: ostariophysans, protacanthopterygians, and primitive neoteleosteans.
Lampridiform fishes, a pre-acanthomorph order: biodiversity and functional morphology of feeding.
Acanthomorph fishes and the problem of similarity due to common descent vs. that due to evolutionary convergence; paracanthopterygian fishes.
Atherinomorph fishes and pre-perciform orders: Stephanoberyciformes, Beryciformes, Zeiformes, Gasterosteiformes, Synbranchiformes, and Scorpaeniformes.
Major subtaxa of the Acanthopterygii; the dominance of perciform fishes; morphological trends that characterize acanthopterygian evolution: structural innovations in feeding and locomotory mechanisms.
Geographic distribution: major groups of fishes by habitat; evolutionary history of marine vs. continental freshwater fish faunas; anadromy vs. catadromy; a classification of the marine environment.
Marine zoogeography I: marine biotic realms and zoogeographic barriers; temperature, a primary geographic limiting factor; coastal fishes and the tropical zone; vicariance vs. dispersal.
Marine zoogeography II: subtropical, temperate, and polar regions; fish faunas of the North Pacific and North Atlantic compared; Arctic and Southern Ocean fish faunas compared; antitropicality, bipolarity, and tropical submergence.
Case study: systematics, functional morphology, distribution, and reproductive strategies of deep-sea ceratioid anglerfishes.
Freshwater zoogeography: primary, secondary, and diadromous fishes; major terrestrial biotic realms and zoogeographic barriers; continental patterns of primary freshwater fishes; plate tectonics; vicariance vs. dispersal.
Case study: systematics, endemism, functional morphology, behavior, and reproductive strategies of cichlid fishes of the African Rift Lakes.
North American ichthyozoogeography: the North American fish fauna; European and Neotropical influences; the river drainages of the eastern U.S., the Mississippi River Basin, and the Great Lakes; the depauperate fauna of the western U.S.
Ichthyozoogeography of the Pacific Northwest; geological background; pre- and post-glacial faunas; major river systems; historical change.
HERE'S A TENTATIVE LIST OF LABORATORY ACTIVITIES AND DEMONSTRATIONS:
Organization, responsibilities, and purpose of the laboratory portion of the course; the University of Washington Fish Collection: tour of the facility, current activities, and plans for the future.
Fossil fishes and osteology; the elements of the teleost skeleton; osteological preparation; use of the camera lucida.
Nuts, bolts, and screws: exercises designed to demonstrate the basic principles of cladistic analysis.
Applied phylogenetic systematics: the traditional morphological approach applied to local marine fishes.
Begin examination of living fishes: major groups of living sharks, rays, and holocephalans; extant actinopterygian, sarcopterygian, and primitive teleostean fishes: Acipenser, Polyodon, Lepisosteus, Amia, Osteoglossum, Elops, and Clupea.
Examination of representatives of major euteleostean subtaxa: Ostariophysi, Protacanthopterygii, and primitive neoteleosteans.
Atherinomorph fishes and pre-perciform orders: Stephanoberyciformes, Beryciformes, Zeiformes, Gasterosteiformes, Synbranchiformes, and Scorpaeniformes.
Major subtaxa of the Acanthopterygii: Perciformes and major perciform suborders; Pleuronectiformes, and Tetraodontiformes.
Begin survey of major groups of fishes by habitat; use of dichotomous keys for identifying fishes; key out families of marine inshore, tidepool, and coral reef fishes.
Survey of major groups of fishes by habitat continued: key out families of epipelagic, mesopelagic, and bathypelagic fishes.
Survey of major groups of fishes by habitat continued: key out families of freshwater temperate and tropical fishes.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
For those of you who want to get ahead, it would be good to read the two books that are required for the course:
Long, J. A. 1995. The Rise of Fishes: 500 Million Years of Evolution. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 223 pp.
Paxton, J. R., and W. N. Eschmeyer. 1994. Encyclopedia of Fishes: Comprehensive Guide by International Experts. University of New South Wales Press, Sydney, 240 pp.
If you have time, and really want to come into the course with a full background, read either one or both of the following:
Peter B. Moyle and Joseph J. Cech, Jr. 1996. Fishes: An Introduction to Ichthyology. 3rd Edition. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 590 pp.
Gene S. Helfman, Bruce B. Collette, and Douglas E. Facey. 1997. The Diversity of Fishes. Blackwell Science, Malden, Massachusetts, 528 pp.
Class assignments and grading
Two one-hour lecture exams, two lab exams, and a comprehensive final exam.
