Catfishes, a Highly Diversified Group, Volume 2 Evolution and Phylogeny

About this book

The order of Catfishes (Siluriformes) is one of the largest in number of families, genera, and species. The group is found in most freshwaters and shallow saltwater bodies around the world. Its extraordinary evolutionary and biogeographic pathways leave many open questions on its origin and large diversification that make its study a complex subject, yet a fascinating field for research. Catfishes, a Highly Diversified Group is divided into two volumes. Volume 1 (Their Outstanding Biology; 14 chapters) aims to rectify the incomplete information on the enormous morphological diversity of the group, special habits and adaptations to specific environments, and morpho-functional characteristics of the catfishes. Volume 2 (Evolution and Phylogeny; 18 chapters) deals with evolutionary mechanisms and major evolutionary trends within Siluriformes, investigating new avenues concerning fossil and extant catfishes and relationships within and among families, using morphological and molecular evidence.

Contents

Foreword
Topics and Contributors
Acknowledgements

Introduction
- An Introduction to Catfish Evolution and Phylogeny

Fossil Record
- Diversification and Evolution of European Fossil Catfishes
- The African Fossil Catfishes
- Siluriformes From the Upper Cretaceous and Paleocene of Bolivia
- Siluriforms and the South American Fossil Record: Their Significance and the Origin and Evolutionary Radiation of the Group

Phylogenetic Relationships and Classification
- Phylogenetic Relationships and Evolution of the Major Groups of Siluriformes
- The Trichomycteridae: An Overview of the Systematics and Classification of the Family
- Phylogeny and Classification of the Family Callichthyidae (Armored Catfishes)
- Habitats and History of Scoloplacid Catfishes (Loricarioidea)
- Phylogeny and Classification of the Family Loricariidae
- Phylogeny and Classification of Pimelodidae
- Diversity and Phylogeny of Pseudopimelodidae: The Neotropical Bumblebee Catfishes
- Phylogeny and Classification of Heptapteridae (Pimelodoidea)
- The State of the Art of the Family Doradidae
- Biogeography and Evolution of Auchenipteridae: A Molecular and Morphological Perspective
- Phylogeny and Classification of the Loach Catfishes, Amphiliidae
- New Insights into the Southern African Sand-Catlets Genus Zaireichthys (Amphiliidae: Leptoglanidinae)
- Phylogeny and Classification of the Sisoridae

Index

Customer Reviews

Biography

Gloria Arratia is a leading scientist on the origin, diversification and systematics of the largest fish group, Teleostei. She retired from Humboldt University, Berlin and is currently associated with the University of Kansas. She has been awarded numerous professional prizes, with the first in 1994 (Humboldt Prize; Alexander von Humboldt Foundation) and the last in 2022 (Joseph S. Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award in Ichthyology; American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists). A book, Origin and Phylogenetic Interrelationships of Teleosts: Honoring Gloria Arratia by J. S. Nelson, H.-P. Schultze and M. V. H. Wilson (eds.), was published in 2010. She is the editor of the Mesozoic Fishes books series and Associate Editor of several journals. She is the editor of nine books, including Catfishes (2003), and the author of many publications concerning high-level teleostean ranks, 13 new families, 51 new genera, and 69 new species. She is a member of the Academia of Sciences of Chile.

Roberto E. Reis is a Full Professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil and a leading scientist in South American ichthyology. He is the Regional Chair of the Freshwater Fish Specialist Group of IUCN for South America and a founding member and twice Past-President of the Brazilian Society of Ichthyology. He is Associate Editor of Ichthyology & Herpetology and of other journals and he has edited three other highly cited books. Dr Reis has extensive experience in the area of ichthyology, mainly in the discovery, documentation and description of biodiversity and the study of phylogenetic relationships using phenotypic and molecular evidence. He has discovered and described with coauthors and students 12 new genera and 141 new species of fishes. In 2021 he received the Robert H. Gibbs Award for the outstanding body of published work in systematic ichthyology from the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.