The Ecology of Fishes on Coral Reefs

This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date review of the ecology of coral reef fishes presented by top researchers from North America and Australia. Immense strides have been made over the past twenty years in our understanding of ecological systems in general and of reef fish ecology in particular. Many of the methodologies that reef fish ecologists use in their studies will be useful to a wider audience of ecologists for the design of their ecological studies. Significant among the impacts of the research on reef fish ecology are the development of nonequilibrium models of community organization, more emphasis on the role of recruitment variability in structuring local assemblages, the development and testing of evolutionary models of social organization and reproductive biology, and new insights into predator-prey and plant-herbivore interactions.

Table of Contents:
Basics: P.F. Sale, Introduction. W.N. McFarland, The Visual World of Coral Reef Fishes. J.H. Choat and D.R. Bellwood, Reef Fishes: Their History and Evolution. Trophic Ecology: E.S. Hobson, Trophic Relationships of Fishes Specialized to Feed on Zooplankters above Coral Reefs. M.E. Hay, Fish-1Seaweed Interactions on Coral Reefs: Effects of Herbivorous Fishes and Adaptation of Their Prey. J.H. Choat, The Biology of Herbivorous Fishes on Coral Reefs. G.P. Jones, D.J. Ferrell, and P.F. Sale, Fish Predation and Its Impact on the Invertebrates of Coral Reefs and Adjacent Sediments. Larval and Juvenile Ecology: J.M. Leis, The Pelagic Stage of Reef Fishes: The Larval Biology of Coral Reef Fishes. B.C. Victor, Settlement Strategies and Biogeography of Reef Fishes. P.J. Doherty, Spatial and Temporal Patterns in Recruitment. G.P. Jones, Postrecruitment Processes in the Ecology of Coral Reef Fish Populations: A Multifactorial Perspective. Reproductive and Life History Patterns: D.Y. Shapiro, Intraspecific Variability in Social Systems of Coral Reef Fishes. D.R. Robertson, The Role of Adult Biology in the Timing of Spawning of Tropical Reef Fishes. R.R. Warner, The Use of Phenotypic Plasticity in Coral Reef Fishes as Tests of Theory in Evolutionary Ecology. Community Organization: R.E. Thresher, Geographic Variability in the Ecology of Coral Reef Fishes: Evidence, Evolution, and Possible Implications. D. McB. Williams, Patterns and Processes in the Distribution of Coral Reef Fishes. M.A. Hixon, Predation as a Process Structuring Coral Reef Fish Communities. A.W. Ebeling and M.A. Hixon, Tropical and Temperate Reef Fishes: Comparison of Community Structures. P.F. Sale, Reef Fish Communities--Open Nonequilibrial Systems. Fisheries and Management: G.R. Russ, Coral Reef Fisheries: Effects and Yields. References. Index.

Review :
"Scientifically, the understanding of the relationships of reef fishes to each other and to their environments has grown by leaps, and the reef-fish system promises to become a standard system for testing ideas in ecology... The Ecology of Fishes on Coral Reefs can provide a foundation on which to build future research." --PAUL R. EHRLICH, Bing Professor of Population Studies, Stanford University, California "An excellent summary with a fine mix of subjects treated by outstanding experts... The overall balance of the book seems excellent as it begins with an overview of reef fishes and proceeds logically to a consideration of reef fish community structure... I think the book will find a broad appeal not only to those of us who work with reef fishes but also to general ecologists who want to include reef fish biology in their courses and should use works of this kind in their own comparative syntheses." --C. LAVETT SMITH, Department of Herpetology and Ichthyology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York "It will be a very worthwhile contribution, one that should have a broad appeal on the market... I find it overall to be a thoughtful, well organized prospectus, and I believe the book could potentially offer a landmark contribution to the subject. This book should have a broad appeal among ecologists, ichthyologists and anyone interested in the study of coral reefs. Sale has recruited some of the leading authorities in the field, and I am sure this will be reflected in the quality of the final product." --G. DAVID JOHNSON, Division of Fishes, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. "The Ecology of Fishes on Coral Reefs provides an excellent review of current knowledge on the ecology of coral reef fish... The book provides an excellent summary and evaluation of current thinking in the ecology of fishes on coral reefs and deserves to be widely read by students, research scientists and reef managers alike. This is an excellent book that will serve not just as an information and literature reference for future reef fish researchers: it will also serve as a fountain from which all ecologists will draw a cornucopia of ideas." --BIOSCIENCE