Handbook of Freshwater Fishery Biology: Life History Data on Ichthyopercid and Percid Fishes of the United States and Canada

Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended
Review: This is the third and final volume to the now classic Handbook of Freshwater Fishery Biology. The completed set compiles life history data and information on individual species of freshwater fish in the United States and Canada. In volume three, each chapter treats a particular species of fish. For example, the chapter on Yellow Perch is 54 pages in length. Detailed tabular data on the fish are provided concerning the length, weights, weight-length relationships, total lengths, condition factors, daily growth, lengths and weights at various ages, and number of eggs per female. In addition it compiles information from the literature on population density, food, feeding behavior, reproduction, mortality, population distribution and behavior, environmental factors, and more. The text serves as an index to the literature for each fish. The lengthy list of citations referenced in the text attests to the work the author completed in combing the fish literature, it is 84 pages in length.

The set is geared more to the professional ichthyologist and fish and game personnel. It has no illustrations in any of the volumes. Its strength is in the summary and tabular presentation of life history data gleaned from hundreds of journal articles, books, government reports, and unpublished data for each species of fish. This classic should be in every academic, state, and large public library and is essential in any ichthyology collection. Highly recommended.