Why are there so few fish in the sea?

The most dramatic gradient in global biodiversity is between marine and terrestrial environments. Terrestrial environments contain approximately 75-85% of all estimated species, but occupy only 30 per cent of the Earth's surface (and only approx. 1-10% by volume), whereas marine environments occupy a larger area and volume, but have a smaller fraction of Earth's estimated diversity. Many hypotheses have been proposed to explain this disparity, but there have been few large-scale quantitative tests. Here, we analyse patterns of diversity in actinopterygian (ray-finned) fishes, the most species-rich clade of marine vertebrates, containing 96 per cent of fish species. Despite the much greater area and productivity of marine environments, actinopterygian richness is similar in freshwater and marine habitats (15 150 versus 14 740 species). Net diversification rates (speciation-extinction) are similar in predominantly freshwater and saltwater clades. Both habitats are dominated by two hyperdiverse but relatively recent clades (Ostariophysi and Percomorpha). Remarkably, trait reconstructions (for both living and fossil taxa) suggest that all extant marine actinopterygians were derived from a freshwater ancestor, indicating a role for ancient extinction in explaining low marine richness. Finally, by analysing an entirely aquatic group, we are able to better sort among potential hypotheses for explaining the paradoxically low diversity of marine environments.     

Microdissectional investigation of the nephrons in some fishes,amphibians, and reptiles inhabiting different environment

The structure of nephrons in 83 species of fishes, amphibians, and reptiles was investigated by microdissection. Glomerular diameter, nephron length, length of nephron segments, and the ratios between glomerular size and nephron length are presented. In diifferent groups of fishes (Elasmobranchii, Acipenseridae, Teleostei), the adaptation to freshwater or seawater environment may lead to diverse changes of nephron structure. The kidneys of euryhaline teleosts capable of living in fresh water may be aglomerular, as are those of some marine fishes. In contrast, the diameter of glomeruli in some marine fishes is larger than in true freshwater fishes. In amphibians, the adaptation to freshwater environment, as in teleost fishes, has led to different changes of nephron structure. The size of glomeruli in freshwater reptiles is larger in comparison to terrestrial animals, and the distal tubule in desert and freshwater reptiles is longer than in nondesert species. This probably reflects the adaptive changes of the reptilian nephron to freshwater and desert environments. The results of this study show that the nephron structure of lower vertebrates is predominantly determined by the different environments they occupy rather than by progressive changes within the vertebrate sequence. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Symbiotic microflora in fishes of different ecological groups

Published data on the taxonomic composition of the intestinal bacterial flora in fishes living under different conditions (marine and freshwater fishes) and differing in the type of feeding are reviewed. The results confirm the conclusion that the composition of intestinal microflora differs depending on fish ecology. A limited number of bacterial taxa found in the intestines of some fish species may be evidence not only for a low diversity of these bacteria but also for insufficient knowledge about them. Considerable differences in the composition of intestinal microflora in marine and freshwater fishes are described.     

Seventy-five-million-year-old tropical tetra-like fish from Canada tracks Cretaceous global warming

Newly discovered fossil fish material from the Cretaceous Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta, Canada, documents the presence of a tropical fish in this northern area about 75 million years ago (Ma). The living relatives of this fossil fish, members of the Characiformes including the piranha and neon tetras, are restricted to tropical and subtropical regions, being limited in their distribution by colder temperatures. Although characiform fossils are known from Cretaceous through to Cenozoic deposits, none has been reported previously from North America. The modern distribution of characiforms in Mexico and southern Texas in the southernmost United States is believed to have been the result of a relatively recent colonization less than 12 Ma. The new Canadian fossils document the presence of these fish in North America in the Late Cretaceous, a time of significantly warmer global temperatures than now. Global cooling after this time apparently extirpated them from the northern areas and these fishes only survived in more southern climes. The lack of early Cenozoic characiform fossils in North America suggests that marine barriers prevented recolonization during warmer times, unlike in Europe where Eocene characiform fossils occur during times of global warmth.     

鱼类三代虫研究进展

三代虫是一类常见的鱼类体表寄生虫,广泛寄生于各种鱼类,其危害近年有加剧之势,对鱼类养殖业造成较大威胁。本文从三代虫的分类方法、种群动态和引起寄主免疫反应等方面综述了鱼类三代虫研究现状及发展趋势。     

Ultrastructural features of mitochondria-rich cells in stenohaline freshwater and seawater fishes

In order to elucidate the functional significance of accessory cells in freshwater fishes, such as the rainbow trout, which displays a poor adaptability to seawater life, a search for such cells was performed in two stenohaline freshwater fishes: the loach and the gudgeon. Accessory cells were never encountered in these species; but, in contrast, two types of chloride cells were observed consistently that strikingly resembled the alpha- and beta-cells previously described in the guppy, a freshwater-adapted euryhaline fish. The alpha-cell, a pale and elongated chloride cell, was located at the base of the secondary lamellae in close contact with the arterioarterial pillar capillary. Darker, ovoid chloride cells resembling the beta-cell were found exclusively in the interlamellar region of the primary epithelium facing the central venous sinous. The latter cells frequently formed multicellular complexes linked together by deep, narrow, apical junctions. In another experiment, a stenohaline seawater fish, the turbot, was adapted to diluted 5% saltwater and to fresh water. In seawater, the gill epithelium contained only one type of chloride cell, always associated with accessory cells. Due to numerous cytoplasmic interdigitations between the accessory cells and the apical portion of the chloride cell, there was a noticeable increase in the length of the shallow apical junction, sealing off the intercellular space between the two cell types. In 5% saltwater, there was a decrease in the number of these interdigitations and a concomitant decrease in the length of the shallow apical junction. In fresh water, chloride cells were partially or completely separated from the outside medium by modified accessory cells. It is thus concluded that accessory cells are found exclusively in fish living in seawater or preadapted to seawater and that they probably are involved in the formation and modulation of paracellular pathways for ionic excretion. In contrast, the respective roles of the two types of chloride cells observed in freshwater fishes are still to be determined.     

The origin of the salmonid fishes: marine, freshwater... or neither?

The evolutionary origins of the salmonidfishes, whether in freshwater or the sea, havebeen debated for centuries. Early viewsfavoured a group of marine ancestry invadingfreshwaters; more recently, there was a shifttowards a freshwater ancestry, on grounds thata return to freshwater to spawn indicates theancestral biome. Salmonids are widely believedto share an ancient common ancestry with thenorthern hemisphere Osmeridae and southernhemisphere Retropinnidae and Galaxiidae. Salmonidae are diadromous, as are Osmeridae,Retropinnidae and Galaxiidae. This suggeststhat diadromy is an ancient behavioralphenomenon across all these groups, that theshared common ancestry of these groups was alsodiadromous, and that the ancestry of Salmonidaewas neither marine nor freshwater, but wasamongst diadromous fishes. This begs thequestion of whether this common ancestor wasmarine or freshwater, a question for which ananswer seems likely to be elusive.     

广西宁明盆地第三纪鱼类化石生物地层

1宁明盆地的研究历史概况 宁明盆地位于广西西南部,十万大山西北坡,在中国第三系地层区划上属岭南地层区右江地层分区(李云通等,1984)。这是一个由NWW向张扭性断裂和NEE向压扭性断裂控制所形成的近东西向长菱形盆地(李嵘等,1995),其上发育着一套称为邕宁群的第三纪沉积,厚度较大,以砂岩、泥岩夹砂岩为主,角度不整合于侏罗系之上,含有鱼类、植物和孢粉等化石。     

Freshwater crab origins—Laying Gondwana to rest

We review the available data on the phylogeny, palaeontology and divergence time estimation of primary freshwater crabs in relation to a hypothesized Gondwanan origin of these brachyurans, as postulated by some workers in recent decades. Known phylogenetic relationships within the Old World freshwater crabs do not correspond to the successive fragmentation of the Gondwana continent. This is strong evidence against an ancestral Gondwanan distribution of Afrotropical Potamonautidae and Asian-Australian Gecarcinucidae. The fossil record of freshwater crabs (no older than the Oligocene) and heterotreme brachyurans also postdate the initial break up of Gondwana. Molecular-clock based time estimates for the most common recent ancestor of freshwater crab families differ profoundly, depending on the method of calibration used, and whether freshwater or marine brachyuran fossils are used as calibration points. As such, molecular clock estimates calibrated on freshwater crab fossils favour a post-Gondwanan evolution of freshwater crabs whereas calibration based on marine brachyuran fossils date their last common ancestor before the fragmentation of Gondwana.     

The demonstration of speciation in fossil molluscs and living fishes

Contrary to a recent assertion, freshwater (and marine) prosobranch gastropods and freshwater bivalves are subject to considerable variability. This, and the lack of a detailed understanding of the taxonomy of the forms involved, makes it difficult to accept that the changes documented by Williamson (1981) in a fossil sequence from Lake Turkana (Africa) represent speciation events. That 10 lineages, involving gastropods and bivalves, should change simultaneously, and the deviant forms should then simultaneously become extinct, can, we believe, be more plausibly attributed to ecophenotypic responses to environmental changes than to speciation. In revealing the pattern and process of evolution, both fossil and living forms are helpful, but in demonstrating the fine-scale events during and after speciation in living animals one can utilize techniques and observations that cannot be applied to fossil material. African cichlid fishes are particularly informative in this respect. Their current explosive radiation can be interpreted as a punctuational event in evolution.     

中国三叠纪鱼类综述

三叠纪鱼类在中国分布广泛。与当时“南海北陆”的古地理格局一致,淡水鱼类主要分布于北方大陆的河湖相盆地,但也见于扬子板块与北方大陆碰撞后的四川盆地;海生鱼类则主要分布于华南和喜马拉雅地区。值得注意的是,鄂尔多斯盆地已知的三叠纪鱼类中,多数为海生类型或与海生鱼类密切相关。中国的淡水三叠纪鱼群主要由原始辐鳍鱼类组成,它们与西伯利亚和中亚的鱼群最为相近,但也有与劳业大陆其他地区及冈瓦纳大陆的鱼类相似的属种。海生鱼群则以“亚全骨鱼类”为主,并包含鲱亚部的进步类群和真骨鱼类的基干类型。华南扬子区拉丁至卡尼早期的鱼群远较早三叠世的鱼群丰富,且这一时期的鱼群与西特提斯同期的鱼群关系已极为密切,约有1/3的种类可归入相同的属。华南中下扬子区很可能是部分后来繁盛于特提斯区的三叠纪鱼类的发源地,如龙鱼类。中国的三叠纪鱼类虽然十分丰富,但大多已知鱼类仅限于零星发现和初步报道,因而仍有待全面深入的调查研究。     

Parasites, fossils and geologic history: Historical biogeography of the South American freshwater croakers, Plagioscion spp. (Teleostei, Sciaenidae)

A hypothesis on the historical biogeography of the freshwater croakers, Plagioscion spp. (Teleostei: Sciaenidae), is developed based on data from the phylogeny of their monogenoidean parasites (Platyhelminthes), the geology of South America and the fossil record. Analyses suggest that the common ancestor of Plagioscion spp. colonized freshwater concomitantly with the common ancestor of their parasites, Euryhaliotrema spp. Colonization probably occurred via a marine transgression through western Venezuela that developed about 20 million years ago (Mya). This transgression with its postulated highly variable temporal and spatial salinity conditions most likely represented the facilitating event associated with freshwater colonization. A less likely alternative, that colonization occurred via the Mar del Plata in southern South America, is not supported by the geographical distributions and putative phylogeny of extant species of Plagioscion .     

Freshwater habitat use by a moray eel species,Gymnothorax polyuranodon,in Fiji shown by otolith microchemistry

Freshwater eels of the Anguillidae are diadromous because they migrate between ocean and freshwater environments, but other anguilliform fishes are generally considered to be strictly marine species. A few marine eels of the Muraenidae and Ophichthidae have occasionally been found in freshwater or estuaries, indicating that anguillids are not the only anguilliform eels that can use freshwater in some parts of the world. The moray eel Gymnothorax polyuranodon is one species that is known to be present in freshwater in the Indo-Pacific, but its life history is unknown. One way to evaluate what types of habitats are used by fishes is to determine the ratio of strontium (Sr) to calcium (Ca) in their otoliths, because this can show if they have used freshwater or saltwater environments. To evaluate the patterns of freshwater use by this unusual species of marine eel, the otolith Sr/Ca ratios of four G. polyuranodon (275–344 mm) caught in a freshwater stream of Fiji were analyzed. The consistently low Sr/Ca values (0–4) indicated upstream movement after settlement and freshwater or estuarine residence of all four individuals. These eels did not appear to have entered freshwater just for a short time period, which is consistent with other reports that this species is present in estuarine and freshwater habitats. This suggests that G. polyuranodon may be a catadromous species of marine eel. The similarities and differences between the life histories of anguillid eels and the few marine eels that have evolved the ability to invade freshwater habitats is discussed in relation to the evolutionary origin of diadromy in anguilliform fishes that originated in the marine environment.     

A list of fish cestodes reported from China

This paper lists 107 fish cestode species belonging to two subclasses, 10 orders, 25 families and 54 genera reported from Chinese freshwater and marine fishes. These species are tabulated together with their fish hosts, distribution in China and Chinese waters, and the publications in which they are recorded.     

Biogeographical regions of the Iberian peninsula based on freshwater fish and amphibian distributions

We classified the main Iberian river basins based on the presence and absence of freshwater fishes and amphibians. For both taxonomic groups we analysed three data sets; 1) endemic species only, to search for biotic boundaries related to historical events, 2) indigenous species, which include endemic ones, to search for biotic boundaries related to ecological factors, 3) indigenous and well-established introduced species, to assess the influence of man in the current biogeographical patterns of fishes and amphibians. We used both phenetic and cladistic methods, followed by a consensus analysis to provide an overall biogeographical pattern. Based on all fish distributions, the Iberian Peninsula is divided into three biogeographical regions: Cantabrian, Atlantic and Mediterranean, No boundary existed between the Cantabrian and Atlantic regions when only indigenous fish species were considered. This suggests that this boundary has been induced by man, probably through the differential introduction of fish species into reservoirs at one or other side of the boundary. Run-off and the size of the river basins are the environmental factors that distinguished the Atlantic and Mediterranean regions. However, regionalization based only on endemic freshwater fishes showed a latitudinal pattern that agrees with the paleogeographic events of the Upper Oligocene-Lower Miocene period. By contrast, one northern and one southern region were distinguished based on all amphibian distributions and on indigenous amphibians only, which suggests that human activity has not significantly affected the overall biogeographical pattern of amphibians in the Iberian Peninsula. Interannual predictability of precipitation best accounts for this regionalization. Based on endemic amphibians, the Iberian Peninsula is divided into three regions that closely resemble the three separate land areas of the Upper Eocene-Lower Oligocene period. The consensus between the biogeographical regions based on fishes and amphibians yields five pairs of basins. Geological origin of the basins seems to better explain the consensus between the biogeographical patterns of fishes and amphibians, whereas ecological factors probably contribute to the differences between them.     

Migration of Sakhalin taimen (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Parahucho perryi</Emphasis>): evidence of freshwater resident life history types

Sakhalin taimen (Parahucho perryi) range from the Russian Far East mainland along the Sea of Japan coast, and Sakhalin, Kuril, and Hokkaido Islands and are considered to primarily be an anadromous species. We used otolith strontium-to-calcium ratios (Sr/Ca) to determine the chronology of migration between freshwater and saltwater and identify migratory contingents of taimen collected from the Koppi River, Russia. In addition, we examined taimen from the Sarufutsu River, Japan and Tumnin River, Russia that were captured in marine waters. Transects of otolith Sr/Ca for the Sarufutsu River fish were consistent with patterns observed in anadromous salmonids. Two fish from the Tumnin River appeared to be recent migrants to saltwater and one fish was characterized by an otolith Sr/Ca transect consistent with marine migration. Using these transects as benchmarks, all Koppi River taimen were classified as freshwater residents. These findings suggest more work is needed to assess life history variability among locations and the role of freshwater productivity in controlling migratory behavior in taimen.     

A novel sperm adaptation to evolutionary constraints on reproduction: Pre‐ejaculatory sperm activation in the beach spawning capelin (Osmeridae)

Reproduction of external fertilizing vertebrates is typically constrained to either fresh or salt water, not both. For all studied amphibians and fishes, this constraint includes immotile sperm that are activated after ejaculation only by the specific chemistry of the fertilizing medium in which the species evolved (fresh, brackish, or salt water). No amphibians can reproduce in the sea. Although diadromous fishes may migrate between salt and fresh water, they are shackled to their natal environment for spawning in part because of sperm activation. Here, we report for the first time among all documented external fertilizing vertebrates, that in the absence of any external media, sperm are motile at ejaculation in a marine spawning fish (Osmeridae, capelin, Mallotus villosus). To illuminate why, we evaluated sperm behavior at different salinities in M. villosus as well as the related freshwater spawning anadromous rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax). Surprisingly, sperm performance was superior in fresh water for both species. M. villosus spend their entire life at sea but our results show that their sperm are deactivated by sea water, suggesting a freshwater ancestry. By circumventing constraining water chemistry, we interpret the unique pre‐ejaculatory sperm activation in this species as a novel adaptation that enables fertilization in the marine environment. These findings also contribute to understanding the persistence of anadromy, despite great energetic costs to adult fishes.     

Origin and evolution of the parasitic cyclopoid copepods

Six of the 10 recognised families of the order Cyclopoida are parasitic, with 4 of them occurring on marine invertebrates and the remaining 2 on freshwater gastropods and fishes, respectively. A cladistic analysis of the 10 families indicates that evolution of parasitism occurred twice in the history of the cyclopoids. The first attempt was made by the marine epibenthic ancestors seeking food and shelter in sessile tunicates — the ascidians. This event led to the evolution of 2 ascidicolous families: Archinotodelphyidae and Notodelphyidae. The descendant of this lineage had also invaded the mantle cavity of marine bivalve molluscs, eventually leading to the evolution of the Mantridae. The second attempt for the parasitic mode of life was launched by the ancestor which was the sister group of the ancestral cyclopoids — the most successful family of freshwater copepods. This ancestral stock, while living in the coastal zone, split into 2 groups: one group stayed behind in the ocean and colonised again the ascidians; the other groups invaded freshwater and evolved into the fish-parasitising Lernaeidae and the gastropod-parasitising Ozmanidae.     

New fish fossils from the Pliocene of Wadi Natrun, Egypt

New material from the Pliocene fish beds of Wadi Natrun, Egypt, is described, including a new species of Alestes (Characidae). A total of 15 freshwater and at least four marine genera are now known from the site. This fauna is reviewed with particular regard to the fossil history and zoogeographical relationships of its component taxa.