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This important and informative new book outlines and discusses details of the basic principles and methods that are central to any study of fish condition, from a fish ecology and fisheries biology perspective. Condition and Health Indicators of Exploited Marine Fishes describes the potential capacities of condition indicators, providing examples showing the use of these indicators to solve practical problems in connection with fish ecology and fisheries research. By focusing on wild fish populations, the book complements the increasing number of scientific works that are contributing to show how fish condition studies are key to reveal problems in marine aquaculture, the effects of pollution, fish disease, and the importance of fish in human nutrition and medicine. Condition and Health Indicators of Exploited Marine Fishes provides a comprehensive introduction to the study of fish condition that will assist advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students, researchers and professionals, working in marine ecology and biology, fisheries biology, environmental sciences and fish pathology. All universities and research establishments where biological and environmental sciences, fisheries and aquaculture are studied and taught should have copies of this book on their shelves.

Plastic contamination is ubiquitous, with plastic found in hundreds of species of aquatic wildlife, including fish. Lacking a broad and comprehensive view of this global issue across aquatic environments, we collated and synthesised the literature that focuses on microplastic ingestion in fish from marine, freshwater and estuarine environments. First, we assessed how the approaches used to investigate microplastic in fish have changed through time, comparing studies globally. A greater understanding of this changing landscape is essential for rigorous and coherent comparisons with only 42% of published studies following recommended approaches of chemical digestions and verifying plastic via polymer identification. Then, using this subset of studies, we found that 49% of all fish sampled globally for microplastic ingestion had plastic (average of 3.5 pieces per fish), with fish from North America ingesting more plastic than fish from other regions. We then evaluated the role of environment, habitat, feeding strategy and source (i.e. aquaculture or wild-caught) in the ingestion of microplastic. Research from marine environments dominated (82% of species) but freshwater fish ingested more plastic, as did detritivores, fish in deeper waters and those from aquaculture sources. By collating global microplastic research we identified regional disparities and key knowledge gaps that support research towards freshwater environments and aquaculture sources. Overall, we highlight the need for consistent guidelines in methods used to evaluate microplastic in fish, to ensure data are unambiguous, comparable and can be widely used to support mitigation and management strategies, inform potential policy actions, and evaluations of environmental, food safety, and human health goals.Graphic abstract

\"Five Rainbow Fish favorites are now available in one place in this collection that includes: Rainbow Fish to the Rescue, Rainbow Fish and the Big Blue Whale, Rainbow Fish and the Sea Monster's Cave, Rainbow Fish Finds His Way, and Rainbow Fish Discovers the Deep Sea. Children will love helping Rainbow Fish in each story as he follows his heart, summons his courage, makes new friends!\"-- Page [4] of cover.

Coastal marine fish populations are in decline due to overfishing, habitat destruction, climate change and invasive species. Seasonal monitoring is important for detecting temporal changes in the composition of fish communities, but current monitoring is often non-existent or limited to annual or semi-annual surveys. In the present study, we investigate the potential of using environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding of seawater samples to detect the seasonal changes in a coastal marine fish community. Water sampling and snorkelling visual census were performed over 1 year (from 23rd of August 2013 to 11th of August 2014) at a temperate coastal habitat in Denmark (55°45′39″N, 12°35′59″E) and compared to long-term data collected over a 7-year period. We used Illumina sequencing of PCR products to demonstrate that seawater eDNA showed compositional changes in accordance with seasonal changes in the fish community. The vast majority of fish diversity observed in the study area by snorkelling was recovered from sequencing, although the overlap between methods varied widely among sampling events. In total, 24 taxa were detected by both methods, while five taxa were only detected using eDNA and three taxa were only detected by snorkelling. A limitation of the applied primers was the lack of resolution to species level in a few diverse families, and varying sequencing depth between samples represents a potential bias. However, our study demonstrates the utility of eDNA for recovering seasonal variation in marine fish communities, knowledge of which is essential for standardised long-term monitoring of marine biodiversity.

Bremner is a puffer fish. And he's going to a party. But he's nervous. What if he puffs up and everyone laughs?

Marine biodiversity monitoring in the Mediterranean’s increasingly threatened ecosystems is crucial for effective ecosystem conservation and management. Here, we leveraged the Mediterranean International Trawl Survey program (MEDITS) to implement eDNA sampling through the recently tested ‘metaprobe’ procedure and characterize fish assemblages in three separate areas off the Italian coasts: Northern Adriatic Sea (NoAS), Ligurian and Northern Tyrrhenian Sea (LNTS), and Sardinian Sea (SaS). By combining the information from two homologous mitochondrial 12S metabarcodes––i.e., Elas02 and Tele02 targeting elasmobranchs and teleosts, respectively––we identified 108 species, over 60% of which overlapped with those caught by the trawl net. We produced an accurate reconstruction of fish community composition of the examined sites, reflecting differences in species assemblages linked with both geographic area and depth range. Metaprobe eDNA data consistently returned a biodiversity ‘bonus’ mostly consisting of pelagic taxa not captured through bottom trawl surveys, including rare and endangered taxa (e.g., elasmobranchs). Overall, the spatial characterisation of the assemblages across the surveyed areas was better delineated and more robust using eDNA metabarcoding than trawl data. Our results support the operationalisation of the metaprobe as a simple, inexpensive, versatile sampling tool, in association with pre-existing ship surveys, to overcome many of the limitations of marine data collection and strengthen marine management.

\"With cutting-edge photographic techniques, Mark Laita unveils the full splendor and other-worldliness of the ocean's inhabitants in an entirely new and thrilling way\"-- Provided by publisher.

Monitoring communities of fish is important for the management and sustainability of fisheries and marine ecosystems. Baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVs) are among the most effective nondestructive techniques for sampling bony fishes and elasmobranchs (sharks, rays, and skates). However, BRUVs sample visually conspicuous biota; hence, some taxa are undersampled or not recorded at all. We compared the diversity of fishes characterized using BRUVs with diversity detected via environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding. We sampled seawater and captured BRUVs imagery at 48 locales that included reef and seagrass beds inside and outside a marine reserve (Jurien Bay in Western Australia). Eighty-two fish genera from 13 orders were detected, and the community of fishes described using eDNA and BRUVs combined yielded >30% more generic richness than when either method was used alone. Rather than detecting a homogenous genetic signature, the eDNA assemblages mirrored the BRUVs’ spatial explicitness; differentiation of taxa between seagrass and reef was clear despite the relatively small geographical scale of the study site (~35 km²). Taxa that were not sampled by one approach, due to limitations and biases intrinsic to the method, were often detected with the other. Therefore, using BRUVs and eDNA in concert provides a more holistic view of vertebrate marine communities across habitats. Both methods are noninvasive, which enhances their potential for widespread implementation in the surveillance of marine ecosystems. El monitoreo de comunidades de peces es importante para el manejo y sustentabilidad de las pesquerías y los ecosistemas marinos. Los sistemas remotos de video submarino con carnada (SRVSC) están entre las técnicas no destructivas más efectivas para el muestreo de peces óseos y elasmobranquios (tiburones, mantarrayas y rayas). Sin embargo, los SRVSC muestrean biota que es conspicua visiblemente; entonces, algunos taxones están mal muestreados o simplemente no se registran en los muestreos. Comparamos la diversidad de peces caracterizada usando SRVSC con la diversidad detectada por medio del metacódigo de barras de ADN ambiental (eDNA, en inglés). Muestreamos el agua de mar y capturamos imágenes con SRVSC en 48 localidades que incluyeron el arrecife y los pastos marinos dentro y fuera de una reserva marina (Bahía Jurien en el oeste de Australia). Se detectaron 83 géneros de peces de 13 órdenes, y la comunidad de peces descrita con el uso combinado del eDNA y el SRVSC produjo >30% riqueza más genérica que cuando cualquiera de los dos métodos se usó individualmente. En lugar de detectar una firma genética homogénea, los ensamblados de eDNA reflejaron la claridad espacial del SRVSC; la diferenciación de los taxones entre los pastos marinos y el arrecife fue clara a pesar la escala geográfica relativamente pequeña del sitio de estudio (~35 km²). Los taxones que no fueron muestreados por uno de los métodos, por causa de limitaciones y sesgos intrínsecos al método, casi siempre fueron detectados usando el otro método. Por lo tanto, el uso de SRVSC y el eDNA en concreto proporciona una visión más holística de las comunidades marinas de vertebrados en todos los hábitats. Ambos métodos son no invasivos, lo que incrementa su potencial para ser una implementación de uso amplio en la vigilancia de los ecosistemas marinos.