The Behaviour of Teleost Fishes

This book is about the behaviour of teleosts, a well-defined, highly successful, taxonomic group of vertebrate animals sharing a common body plan and forming the vast majority of living bony fishes. There are weH over 22000 living species of teleosts, including nearly all those of importance in com­ mercial fisheries and aquaculture. Teleosts are represented injust about every conceivable aquatic environment from temporary desert pools to the deep ocean, from soda lakes to sub-zero Antarctic waters. Behaviour is the primary interface between these effective survival machines and their environment: behavioural plasticity is one of the keys to their success. The study of animal behaviour has undergone revolutionary changes in the past decade under the dual impact of behavioural ecology and sociobiology. The modern body of theory provides quantitatively testable and experi­ mentaHy accessible hypotheses. Much current work in animal behaviour has concentrated on birds and mammals, animals with ostensibly more complex structure, physiology and behavioural capacity, but there is a growing body of information about the behaviour of fishes. There is now increasing awareness that the same ecological and evolutionary rules govern teleost fish, and that their behaviour is not just a simplified version of that seen in birds and mammals. The details of fish behaviour intimately reflect unique and efficient adaptations to their three-dimensional aquatic environment.

Springer Book Archives

One: Bases of Behaviour.- 1. Genetic Basis of Fish Behaviour.- 2. Motivational Basis of Fish Behaviour.- 3. Development of Behaviour in Fishes.- Two: Sensory Modalities.- 4. Role of Vision in Fish Behaviour.- 5. Underwater Sound and Fish Behaviour.- 6. Role of Olfaction in Fish Behaviour.- 7. Role of the Lateral Line in Fish Behaviour.- Three: Behavioural Ecology.- 8. Foraging in Teleost Fishes.- 9. Constraints Placed by Predators on Feeding Behaviour.- 10. Teleost Mating: Systems and Strategies.- 11. Williams' Principle: an Explanation of Parental Care in Teleost Fishes.- 12. Functions of Shoaling Behaviour in Teleosts.- 13. Individual Differences in Fish Behaviour.- 14. Fish Behaviour by Day, Night and Twilight.- 15. Intertidal Teleosts: Life in a Fluctuating Environment.- 16. Behavioural Ecology of Sticklebacks.- 17. Behavioural Ecology of Cave-dwelling Fishes.- Four: Applied Fish Behaviour.- 18. Fish Behaviour and Fishing Gear.- 19. Fish Behaviour and the Management of Freshwater Fisheries.- Author Index.- Fish Index.