BIOEE 4760 - Biology of Fishes, Lectures

(PBS-AS)

Fall (offered alternate years). 3 credits. Letter grades only (S/U grades with permission of instructor).

Recommended prerequisite: BIOEE 2740 or equivalent experience in vertebrate zoology and concurrent enrollment in BIOEE 4761. Enrollment limited to: 24 students.

W. E. Bemis.

Introduction to the systematic study of fossil and living fishes: their anatomy, physiology and functional morphology, behavior, ecology, diversity, evolution, classification, and identification. Emphasizes marine fishes from different habitats (temperate, tropical coral reef, intertidal, and deep sea), local freshwater species, and interesting freshwater fishes from around the world, especially South America, Africa and Australia.

Outcome 1: Students will understand the organismal biology of fishes, including their structure, physiology, functional morphology, and behavior.

Outcome 2: Students will be able to use their knowledge of fishes in any basic research or applied context.

Outcome 3: Students will understand the evolutionary history of fishes and phylogenetic interpretation based on morphological and molecular study.

Outcome 4: Students will be able to interpret phylogenies and use tree thinking in the service of any kind of biological research field.

Outcome 5: Students will become familiar with the taxonomy and phenotypic diversity of the world’s fishes as well as human-induced challenges to that diversity.

Outcome 6: Through study of the local fish fauna, students will be able to apply the tools of fish identification to learn a new fauna in any region of the world.