American Aquarium Fishes

Front Cover
Texas A&M University Press, 2000 - Nature - 428 pages
For many aquarists, information on their hobby is limited to goldfish and exotic tropical fishes commonly available in local pet stores. Existing guides ignore native American species simply because few people have collected, kept, and successfully propagated them, and reliable information is difficult to find. In American Aquarium Fishes, Robert J. Goldstein and other serious aquarists, applying their specialized expertise on North American fishes, have compiled a comprehensive guide to hundreds of native fishes suitable for the home aquarium. American Aquarium Fishes corrects misconceptions about minnows and suckers, pygmy sunfishes and dwarf catfishes, perches and their tiny relatives, the darters, and even the mysterious blind cave fishes. This first-of-its-kind guide provides step-by-step instructions on where to find, how to identify, how to catch, and how to keep and even breed myriad backyard fishes. Goldstein explains why fishes occur where they do and warns against putting fishes where they do not belong. He discusses protected species and offers guidance on the rules for collecting in each state. He also gives detailed instructions on how to transport and ship native fishes across the country and around the world.A chapter on aquarium plants by Richard Edwards, accompanied by 24 line drawings, provides details on collecting and propagating the most adaptable and beautiful aquatic plants likely to be encountered by fish collectors everywhere. The work is enhanced by over 350 spectacular photographs by Goldstein, William F. Roston, Richard Bryant, Fred C. Rohde, and Garold Sneegas, featuring vivid underwater images of spawners in full nuptial coloration. Goldstein has provided a unique tool for American naturalists and a new dimension to the international hobby of breeding aquarium fishes. Destined to become the standard guide for housing and breeding American fishes, American Aquarium Fishes will be equally useful both to aquarists and biologists.
 

Contents

The Order Percopsiformes
202
Family Aphredoderidae the Pirate Perches
204
Family Amblyopsidae the Cavefishes
205
The Order Cyprinodontiformes
209
Family Empetrichthyidae the Springfish and Poolfish
211
Family Fundulidae the Topminnows
212
Family Cyprinodontidae the Pupfishes and Their Relatives
228
The Order Atheriniformes
238

Foods and Feeding
43
Rotifers
44
Nematodes
45
Arthropods
47
Insects
49
The Order Acipenseriformes
52
Family Polyodontidae the Paddlefish
54
The Order Lepisosteiformes
57
The Order Amiiformes
60
The Superorder Ostariophysi Order Cypriniformes
62
Family Cyprinidae the Minnows
82
The Order Siluriformes
183
The Order Esociformes
196
Family Umbridae the Mudmirmows
197
Family Atherinidae the Silversides
245
The Order Gasterosteiformes
247
Family Elassomatidae the Pygmy Sunfishes
253
The Order Scorpaeniformes
258
The Order Perciformes
270
Family Percidae the Perches and Darters
285
Family Cichlidae the Cichlids
387
Family Blenniidae the Combtooth Blennies
389
Family Gobiidae the Gobies
393
Family Eleotridae the Sleepers
404
Literature Cited
407
Index
425
Copyright

Common terms and phrases

Popular passages

Page 21 - Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control • Division of Fish and Wildlife • 89 Kings Hwy.
Page 16 - Endangered" species is one that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. A "Threatened" species is one likely to become Endangered in the foreseeable future. When a species is proposed for Endangered or Threatened status, areas essential to its survival or conservation are also proposed for protection as "Critical Habitat,

About the author (2000)

Robert J. Goldstein, whose Ph.D. is in microbiology and parasitology, is an environmental consultant in Raleigh, North Carolina, and serves on the Habitat and Environmental Protection Advisory Panel of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council. He is a member of several organizations, including the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists and the American Fisheries Society.

Bibliographic information