A discussion and description of prehistoric fish within an international series Material of six osteolepiform genera is described in Morphology, Phylogeny and Taxonomy of Osteolepiform Fish. This publication is Number 61 within the Fossils and Strata series. The international Fossils and Strata series features monographs in palaeontology and biostratigraphy with taxonomic descriptions. The series is owned by and published on behalf of The Lethaia Foundation in cooperation with the Scandinavian countries.

New Australian 'osteolepidid' tetrapodomorph fish material is described, constitutingmembers of the paraphyletic 'Osteolepiformes'. This early Late Devonian material(ranging between Givetian and Frasnian in age), adds significant information regarding theanatomy and phylogenetic relationships of 'osteolepidid' tetrapodomorph fishes.Previously undescribed elements from Marsdenichthys longioccipitus of the AvonRiver Group, Mt. Howitt, Victoria includes anatomy of the snout, cheeck and palate. Newautapomorphies include a bar-like maxilla being approximately equal in depth to thedentary, and a rectangular anterior termination of the lacrimal. Palatal morphology includesseveral plesiomorphic characters, including the absence of a posterior process on thevomer, a comparable length between the dermopalatine and ectopterygoid, and a relativelybroad parasphenoid. Previous suggestions of an affinity between Marsdenichthys andtristichopterids are unfounded. The scales of Marsdenichthys bear concentric rings on theexternal surface, similar to those of the megalichthyid Rhizodopsis. No megalichthyidsynapomorphies are described from Marsdenichthys. A new tetrapodomorph fish Owensia chooi is described from a near-completeethmosphenoid unit from the Kevington Creek Formation, Owens Creek, South BlueRange, Victoria. Several autapomorphies are established including an anteroposteriorlydirected basipterygoid process, an optic nerve foramen positioned dorsal to thebasipterygoid process, and an oculomotor nerve foramen located posterodorsal to thebasipterygoid process. Owensia shares several features with cosmine-covered members ofthe Canowindridae, including a broad, dorsoventrally flat, ethmosphenoid unit lackingdiscernable bone sutures.The internal braincase anatomy of Gogonasus andrewsae from the GogoFormation, Paddy's Valley, Kimberley Region, Western Australia is described using microcomputed tomography. Complete ethmosphenoid and otico-occipital material revealsunprecedented details of the cranial cavities and vascular canals in tetrapodomorph fishes.An innervated, median positioned capsule underlying the median postrostral and rostralseries of the ethmosphenoid unit suggests electroreceptive function. A suture separating theethmoid from the sphenoid may indicate an early ontogenetic state, while numerousasymmetrical features of the endocranium could suggest growth abnormalities caused byanoxic environmental stressors.New information is presented on the pectoral girdle and fin endoskeleton ofGogonasus andrewsae, including the first description of the anocleithrum, cleithrum,scapulocoracoid and lepidotrichia. New autapomorphies include a large sensory line canalopening on the anterior lamina of the posttemporal, a square region of cosmine on thesupracleithrum, a knob-like process on the scapulocoracoid, a relatively smallentepicondyle, and I-beam-shaped lepidotrichia. Numerous poorly ossified regions on thescapulocoracoid and humerus are suggestive of an early ontogenetic stage. The pectoral finendoskeleton of the megalichthyid Cladarosymblema is revealed through radiography,showing a scythe-like radius terminating distally with that of the intermedium. Aphylogenetic analysis of tetrapodomorph fishes places Gogonasus within a poorlysupported 'Osteolepidide', stemward of tristichopterids, 'elpistostegids' and tetrapods,indicating a paraphyletic 'Osteolepiformes'.

Neotropical ichthyology: an overview; Fossils and geological evidence; The stage for neotropical fish diversification: a history of tropical south american rivers; The temporal context for the diversification of neotropical fishes; Phylogeny of fossil characiformes and paleobiogeography of the Tremembe formation, Sao Paulo; Brazil; Maastrichtian to early late paleocene freshwater osteichthyes of Bolivia: additions and comments; Characiformes; Higher lever phylogenetic concepts within characiforms (Ostariophysi), a historical review; Relationships of the characidiinae and phylogeny of characiform fishes (Teleostei: ostariophysi); Phylogenetic study of the hemiodontidae (Ostariophysi: characiformes); Perspectives about the phylogeny and classification of the chacidae (Teleostei: Characiformes); Relationships of the tribes and genera of the glandulocaudinae (Ostariophysi: characiformes: characidae) with a description of a New Genus, Chrysobrycon; Monophyly of the Cheirodontinae, characters and major clades (Ostariophysi: characidae); Sperm ultrastructure in characid fishes (Teleostei: ostariophysi); The genus Creagrutus (Teleostei: Characiformes: Characidae): monophyly, relationships, and undetected diversity; A phylogenetic analysis of Roestes Gunther and Gilbertolus Eigenmann, with a hypothesis on the relationships of the Cynodontidae and Acestrorhynchidae (Teleostei: Ostariophysi: Characiformes); Siluriformes; Phylogenetic relationships of neotropical siluriformes: historical overview and synthesis of hypotheses; Monophyly and interrelationships of the Centromochlinae (Siluriformes: Auchenipteridae); Systematics, biogeography, and the fossil record of the Callichthyidae: a review of the available data; Phylogenetic relationships of the Loricariidae (Siluriformes) based on mitochondrial rRNA gene sequences; Conflict and resolution: impact of new taxa on phylogenetic studies of the neotropical cascudinhos (Siluroidei: Loricariidae); Gymnotiformes; The Gymnotiform "Eels" of tropical America: a history of classification and phylogeny of the South American electric Knifefishes (Teleostei: Ostariophysi: Siluriphysi); Phylogenetic systematics of Gymnotiformes with diagnoses of 58 clades: a review of available data; The phylogenetic position of the South America Electric Fish genera Sternophygus and Archolaemus (Ostariophysi: Gymnotiformes) according to 12s and 16s mitochondrial DNA sequences; Perciformes; A phylogeny and classfication of the South American Cichlidae (Teleostei: Perciformes); Molecular phylogeny of neotropical cichlids: the relationships of Cichlasomines and heroines; Mitochondrial phylogenetics, biogeography, and evolution of parental care and mating systems in Gymnogeophagus (Perciformes: Cichlidae); Atherinomorpha; Phylogenetic systematics and historical biogeography of the neotropical silverside family Atheronopsidae (Teleostei: Atheriniformes); Phylogeny and classification of the Cyprinodontiformes (Euteleostei: Atherinomorpha): a reappraisal; Phylogeny and classification of the Anablepidae (Teleostei: Cyprinodontiformes); Cytogenetic markers; Cytogenetic markers in neotropical freshwater fishes.

Sequenced biological macromolecules have revitalized systematic studies of evolutionary history. Molecular Systematics of Fishes is the first authoritative overview of the theory and application of these sequencing data to fishes. This volume explores the phylogeny of fishes at multiple taxonomic levels, uses methods of analysis of molecular data that apply both within and between fish populations, and employs molecule-based phylogenies to address broader questions of evolution. Targeted readers include ichthyologists, marine scientists, and all students, faculty, and researchers interested in fish evolution and ecology and vertebrate systematics. - Focuses on the phylogeny and evolutionary biology of fishes - Contains phylogenies of fishes at multiple taxonomic levels - Applies molecule-based phylogenies to broader questions of evolution - Includes methods for critique of analysis of molecular data

This book on ancient fishes unites the work of many specialists coming from different areas of biology. Hagfishes, lungfishes, Chondrosteans, and Holosteans constitute the main subject of study. Fossil records and extant species are compared to establish the conservation or the degeneration of specific characters. However, phylogenetic relationship

Ecomorphology is the comparative study of the influence of morphology on ecological relationships and the evolutionary impact of ecological factors on morphology in different life intervals, populations, species, communities, and evolutionary lineages. The book reviews early attempts at qualitative descriptions of ecomorphological patterns in fishes, especially those of the Russian school. More recent, quantitative studies are emphasised, including multivariate approaches to ecomorphological analysis, the selection of functionally important ecological and morphological variables to analyze, an experimental approach using performance tests to examine specific hypotheses derived from functional morphology, and the evolutionary interpretations of ecomorphological patterns. Six major areas of fish biology are focused on: feeding, sensory systems, locomotion, respiration, reproduction, and phylogenetic relationships. The 18 papers in the volume document: (1) how the morphology of bony fishes constrains ecological patterns and the use of resources; (2) whether ecological constraints can narrow the niche beyond the limits imposed by morphology (fundamental vs. realized niche); (3) how communities of fishes are organized with respect to ecomorphological patterns; and (4) the degree to which evolutionary pressures have produced convergent or divergent morphologies in fishes. A concluding paper summarizes ecomorphological research in fishes and points out taxa that are underrepresented or are especially promising for future research.