Part Two in the Fishes of the Western North Atlantic series describes the sawfishes, guitarfishes, skates, rays, and chimaeroids that inhabit the waters adjacent to the eastern coastline of North and Central America and the northern portion of South America. Specialist authorships of its sections include detailed species descriptions with keys, life history and general habits, abundance, range, and relation to human activity, such as economic and sporting importance. The text is written for an audience of amateur and professional ichthyologists, sportsmen, and fishermen, based on new revisions, original research, and critical reviews of existing information. Species are illustrated by exceptional black and white line drawings, accompanied by distribution maps and tables of meristic data.

Part Two in the Fishes of the Western North Atlantic series describes the sawfishes, guitarfishes, skates, rays, and chimaeroids that inhabit the waters adjacent to the eastern coastline of North and Central America and the northern portion of South America.Specialist authorships of its sections include detailed species descriptions with keys, life history and general habits, abundance, range, and relation to human activity, such as economic and sporting importance. The text is written for an audience of amateur and professional ichthyologists, sportsmen, and fishermen, based on new revisions, original research, and critical reviews of existing information. Species are illustrated by exceptional black and white line drawings, accompanied by distribution maps and tables of meristic data.

This landmark scientific reference for scientists, researchers, and students of marine biology tackles the monumental task of taking a complete biodiversity inventory of the Gulf of Mexico with full biotic and biogeographic information. Presenting a comprehensive summary of knowledge of Gulf biota through 2004, the book includes seventy-seven chapters, which list more than fifteen thousand species in thirty-eight phyla or divisions and were written by 138 authors from seventy-one institutions in fourteen countries.This first volume of Gulf of Mexico Origin, Waters, and Biota, a multivolumed set edited by John W. Tunnell Jr., Darryl L. Felder, and Sylvia A. Earle, provides information on each species' habitat, biology, and geographic range, along with full references and a narrative introduction to the group, which opens each chapter.

What good is a rattlesnake? What purpose do animals serve? All species play a vital role in their biological communities, and the removal of just one can have a noticeable and catastrophic ripple effect. Yet social and political pressures frequently pit species conservation against economic progress and prosperity, and scientists fear that we may be in the midst of a mass extinction event. Brian R. Chapman and William I. Lutterschmidt make the case that the effort to preserve animals is the responsibility of every Texan and that biodiversity contributes enormous economic value to the citizens of Texas. Texans on the Brink brings together experts on eighty-eight endangered and threatened animal species of Texas and includes brief descriptions of the processes that state and federal agencies employ to list and protect designated species. Species accounts include a description of the species accompanied by a photograph, an easy-to-read account of the biology and ecology of the species, and a description of efforts underway to preserve the species and its required habitat. Sobering examples of species that were once part of the Texas fauna but are now extinct or extirpated are also given to further demonstrate just how vulnerable biodiversity can be. All species require healthy habitats, and every species—even a rattlesnake—provides important services for the biotic communities in which they live. It is imperative to learn as much as we can about these animals if we are to preserve biodiversity successfully in Texas.

This important and exciting title represents the first authoritative volume focussed on pelagic (open ocean) sharks as a group. Virtually every pelagic shark expert in the world has contributed to this landmark publication which includes the latest data and knowledge on pelagic shark biology, fisheries, management, and conservation. Pelagic sharks face unprecedented levels of exploitation in all the world's oceans through both direct fisheries and by-catch, and effective management for these species is contingent upon solid science and data, which this book brings together for the first time. All those involved in shark biology will need to have a copy of this book.

Internal fertilization is universal in chondrichthyan fishes and, as such, requires a suite of biological activities, including behavioral, morphological and physiological mechanisms, to ensure successful copulation and fertilization. This volume correlates available data and ideas concerning the development, reproductive morphology, function, and