Evolutionary steps in ichthyology and new challenges*

One may postulate that man’s interest in fish emerged as soon as he was able to express his thoughts and notions as fish, among other animals, were subject of early communications. These were transmitted first by drawings, later by inscriptions and in writings. It was but much later that fishes began to occupy man’s interest as objects of science. Aristotle’s treatises on “History of Animals” is the first known document dealing with fish as a zoological object. No earlier than in the 16th century fish regained the interest of learned men, among these Olaus Magnus (1490 –1557), Gregor Mangolt (1498–1576), Guillaume Rondelet (1507–1557), Pierre Belon (1512–1564), Hippolyto (Ippolito) Salviani (1513–1572) and, above all, Conrad Gesner (1516–1565). The 17th and more so the 18th century is known as the period of Enlightenment. Respect must be paid to three pioneers in this field, i.e. Francis Willughby (1635–1672), Peter Artedi (1705–1735), and Marc Elieser Bloch (1723–1799) who became clearly aware that the class of fish consists of species which may be classified and typically described as such. After the species concept had been embodied in the scientific way of thinking by Linné, a tremendous expansion of activities emerged in the field of ichthyology. Many different regions and aquatic localities were researched and described by their fish fauna. In the 19th century until the beginning of the 20th century ichthyology was dominated by disciplines such as taxonomy, descriptive biology and classification. This was followed by more advanced physiological, ecological and ethological research on fishes, yielding quite new insights in modern ichthyology. Nowadays research is largely orientated towards aspects of applied ichthyology, i.e. fishery biology and aquaculture. Fish and ichthyological records, respectively, proceeded discontinuously and recurred periodically. Many scientific questions on fish still remain unsolved, allowing ichthyologists of today to continue working on this highly diverse and species-rich group of vertebrates. In the future new challenges in ichthyology will be emerging in the fields of a) taxonomy, b) evolution and systematics, c) population biology, d) ecology, e) studying unknown regions for their fish fauna, f) expanding and improving an international global catalogue of fishes, g) exploring and analysing not yet recognized literature.