Coral reefs are the most diverse of all marine ecosystems (1), with estimates of reef species ranging from 600,000 to more than 9 million species worldwide (2, 3). This biodiversity is most pronounced in the western Pacific and Indian Oceans (1, 4), but decreases with increasing distance from the Indo-Australian archipelago. For example, reefs in the central Indo-Pacific have more than 10 times...

Fish populations of nine Ethiopian freshwater lakes were quantitatively sampled with a standardized protocol, using multi-mesh gill nets. In total, 27 species were identified, but only 14 species were common. Based on the common species, the fish communities showed large differences in their species composition, except for Lake Abaya and Lake Chamo which were similar. Most fish species were obs...

1. We used a basin approximation to analyse distribution patterns of different components of biodiversity (taxonomic richness, endemicity, taxonomic singularity, rarity) and conservation status of freshwater fish fauna in 27 Mediterranean Iberian rivers. 2. Basin area alone explained more than 80% of variation in native species richness. Larger basins featured not only a higher number of native...

For the purpose of sustainable exploitation of the fishery resources of Oni River, Ogun State, Nigeria, the fish biodiversity assessment was carried out. This was conducted by enumerating and identifying fish species composition, measuring the fish length, fish weight, assessing the fish abundance and biomass, determining the length-weight relationships and the length-frequency of the fishes. A...

The author is with the Marine Biology Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California-San Diego, San Diego, CA 92093-0202, USA and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Republic of Panama. E-m ail: [email protected] Rainforests of the sea. Biodiversity in the Indo-Pacific region was measured by counting the total numbers of species in the 13 most spe...

Public concern over biodiversity loss is often rationalized as a threat to ecosystem functioning, but biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) relations are hard to empirically quantify at large scales. We use a realistic marine food-web model, resolving species over five trophic levels, to study how total fish production changes with species richness. This complex model predicts that BEF relat...

Prioritising biodiversity conservation requires knowledge of where biodiversity occurs. Such knowledge, however, is often lacking. New technologies for collecting biological and physical data coupled with advances in modelling techniques could help address these gaps and facilitate improved management outcomes. Here we examined the utility of environmental data, obtained using different methods...

Marine ecosystems worldwide are under threat with many fish species and populations suffering from human over-exploitation. This is greatly impacting global biodiversity, economy and human health. Intriguingly, marine fish are largely surveyed using selective and invasive methods, which are mostly limited to commercial species, and restricted to particular areas with favourable conditions. Furt...

Global warming scenarios combined with political and public awareness have led to increasing funding and research efforts on the measurement and prediction of effects of a changing world on the ecosystems. Fish parasites represent a major part of aquatic biodiversity, and consequently become affected either directly through the environment or indirectly through their respective hosts. On the ba...