View source for Ichthyology

{{Short description|Scientific study of fish}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=February 2022}}
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width = 300|image1=Male whale shark at Georgia Aquarium.jpg|image2=Paedocypris_progenetica_001.jpg|image3=Jõesilmud2.jpg|footer= Ichthyology covers a diverse range of body forms and sizes.
* top: [[whale shark]] and ''[[Paedocypris progenetica]]''
* bottom: [[European river lamprey]]}}
'''Ichthyology'''<ref>{{LSJ|i)xqu/s|ἰχθύς|ref|mLSJ}}</ref><ref>{{LSJ|lo/gos|λόγος |ref|mLSJ}}</ref> is the branch of [[zoology]] devoted to the study of [[fish]], including bony fish ([[Osteichthyes]]), cartilaginous fish ([[Chondrichthyes]]), and jawless fish ([[Agnatha]]). According to [[FishBase]], 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2025.<ref>[[FishBase]]: [http://www.fishbase.org/search.php October 2016 Update.] Retrieved 7 October 2016.</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Mimbres fish.jpg|thumb|Fish represent approximately 8% of all figurative depictions on [[Mimbres pottery]].|alt=Photo of square side of pottery showing fish with skewed checkered pattern on its skin. Zig-zag lines represent waves at the top and bottom.]]

The study of fish dates from the [[Upper Paleolithic|Upper Paleolithic Revolution]] (with the advent of "high culture"). The science of ichthyology was developed in several interconnecting epochs, each with various significant advancements.

The study of fish receives its origins from the human desire to feed, clothe, and equip themselves with useful implements. According to [[Michael Barton (professor)|Michael Barton]], a prominent ichthyologist and professor at [[Centre College]], "the earliest ichthyologists were [[hunters and gatherers]] who had learned how to obtain the most useful fish, where to obtain them in abundance, and at what times they might be the most available". Early cultures expressed these insights through abstract yet recognizable forms of artistic expression.

===1500 BC–40 AD===
Informal, scientific descriptions of fish are represented within the [[Judeo-Christian]] tradition. The Old Testament laws of [[kashrut]] forbade the consumption of fish without scales or appendages.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ancient fish bones reveal non-kosher diet of ancient Judeans, say researchers |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/05/210525084317.htm |access-date=2026-04-27 |website=ScienceDaily |language=en}}</ref> Scholars studying the fisheries of the [[Sea of Galilee]] (also known as [[Lake Kinneret]]) have identified the commercially important native fish species that would have been harvested by fishermen such as the apostle [[Peter (apostle)|Peter]] and his contemporaries.<ref>Nun, Mendel (1993). "Cast Your Net Upon the Waters: Fish and Fishermen in Jesus' Time". ''Biblical Archaeology Review''. 19 (6).</ref> These autochthonous species include cyprinids of the genera ''[[Barbus]]'' and ''[[Mirogrex]]'', and cichlids of the genus ''[[Sarotherodon]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sanchez de Lamadrid Rey |first=Alfonso |date=19 September 2023 |title=The Good and Bad Fish in the Sea of Galilee |url=https://www.saxum.org/the-good-and-bad-fish-in-the-sea-of-galilee/ |access-date=27 April 2026 |website=Saxum Visitor Center}}</ref>

=== 335 BC–80 AD ===

[[Aristotle]] incorporated ichthyology into formal scientific study. Between 333 and 322 BC, he provided the earliest [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomic]] classification of fish, accurately describing 117 species of [[Mediterranean]] fish.<ref name=Gudger1934>{{cite journal |last1=Gudger |first1=E. W. |title=The Five Great Naturalists of the Sixteenth Century: Belon, Rondelet, Salviani, Gesner and Aldrovandi: A Chapter in the History of Ichthyology |journal=Isis |date=1934 |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=21–40 |doi=10.1086/346870 | jstor = 225322 |s2cid=143961902 }}</ref> Furthermore, Aristotle documented [[anatomy|anatomical]] and behavioral differences between [[fish]] and [[marine mammal]]s. After his death, some of his pupils continued his ichthyological research. [[Theophrastus]], for example, composed a [[treatise]] on amphibious fish. The Romans, although less devoted to science, wrote extensively about fish. [[Pliny the Elder]], a notable Roman [[natural history|naturalist]], compiled the ichthyological works of indigenous [[Ancient Greece|Greek]]s, including verifiable and ambiguous peculiarities such as the [[sawfish]] and [[mermaid]], respectively. Pliny's documentation was the last significant contribution to ichthyology until the [[European Renaissance]].

=== European Renaissance ===

The writings of three 16th-century scholars, [[Hippolito Salviani]], [[Pierre Belon]], and [[Guillaume Rondelet]], signify the conception of modern ichthyology. The investigations of these individuals were based upon actual research in comparison to ancient recitations. This property popularized and emphasized these discoveries. Despite their prominence, Rondelet's ''De Piscibus Marinis'' is regarded as the most influential, identifying 244 species of fish.

=== 16th–17th century ===

The incremental alterations in navigation and shipbuilding throughout the Renaissance marked the commencement of a new epoch in ichthyology. The Renaissance culminated with the era of exploration and colonization, and upon the cosmopolitan interest in navigation came the specialization in naturalism. [[Georg Marcgrave]] of [[Saxony]] composed the ''Naturalis Brasilae'' in 1648.{{Citation needed|date=May 2026}} This document contained a description of 100 species of fish indigenous to the [[Brazil]]ian coastline. In 1686, [[John Ray]] and [[Francis Willughby]] collaboratively published ''[[Historia Piscium]]'', a scientific manuscript containing 420 species of fish, 178 of these newly discovered.{{Citation needed|date=May 2026}} The fish contained within this informative literature were arranged in a provisional system of classification.

[[File:Deckblatt zu einem der Hauptwerke von Peter Artedi.jpg|thumb|Frontispiece from ''Ichthyologia, sive Opera Omnia de Piscibus'' by Peter Artedi]]
The classification used within the ''Historia Piscium'' was further developed by [[Carl Linnaeus]], the "father of modern taxonomy". His [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomic]] approach became the systematic approach to the study of organisms, including fish. Linnaeus was a professor at the [[University of Uppsala]] and an eminent [[botany|botanist]]; however, one of his colleagues, [[Peter Artedi]], earned the title "father of ichthyology" through his indispensable advancements. Artedi contributed to Linnaeus's refinement of the principles of taxonomy. Furthermore, he recognized five additional [[order (biology)|orders]] of fish: Malacopterygii, Acanthopterygii, Branchiostegi, Chondropterygii, and [[Plagiuri]]. Artedi developed standard methods for making counts and measurements of anatomical features that are modernly exploited. Another associate of Linnaeus, [[Albertus Seba]], was a prosperous [[pharmacist]] from [[Amsterdam]]. Seba assembled a cabinet, or collection, of fish. He invited Artedi to use this assortment of fish; in 1735, Artedi fell into an Amsterdam canal and drowned at the age of 30.

Linnaeus posthumously published Artedi's manuscripts as ''Ichthyologia, sive Opera Omnia de Piscibus'' (1738). His refinement of taxonomy culminated in the development of the [[binomial nomenclature]], which is in use by contemporary ichthyologists. Furthermore, he revised the orders introduced by Artedi, placing significance on [[pelvic fin]]s. Fish lacking this appendage were placed within the order Apodes; fish having abdominal, thoracic, or jugular pelvic fins were termed Abdominales, Thoracici, and Jugulares, respectively. However, these alterations were not grounded within evolutionary theory. Therefore, over a century was needed for [[Charles Darwin]] to provide the intellectual foundation needed to perceive that the degree of similarity in taxonomic features was a consequence of [[phylogenetic]] relationships.

=== Modern era ===

Close to the dawn of the 19th century, [[Marcus Elieser Bloch]] of [[Berlin]] and [[Georges Cuvier]] of [[Paris]] made attempts to consolidate the knowledge of ichthyology. Cuvier summarized all of the available information in his monumental ''[[Histoire Naturelle des Poissons]]''. This manuscript was published between 1828 and 1849 in a 22-volume series. This document describes 4,514 species of fish, 2,311 of these new to science. It remains one of the most ambitious treatises of the modern world. Scientific exploration of the Americas advanced knowledge of the remarkable [[diversity of fish]]. [[Charles Alexandre Lesueur]] was a student of Cuvier. He made a cabinet of fish dwelling within the [[Great Lakes]] and [[Saint Lawrence River]] regions.

Adventurous individuals such as [[John James Audubon]] and [[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque]] figure in the faunal documentation of North America. They often traveled with one another. Rafinesque wrote ''Ichthyologic Ohiensis'' in 1820. In addition, [[Louis Agassiz]] of [[Switzerland]] established his reputation through the study of freshwater fish and the first comprehensive treatment of palaeoichthyology, ''Poisson Fossil's''. In the 1840s, Agassiz moved to the United States, where he taught at [[Harvard University]] until his death in 1873.

[[Albert Günther]] published his ''Catalogue of the Fish of the British Museum'' between 1859 and 1870, describing over 6,800 species and mentioning another 1,700. Generally considered one of the most influential ichthyologists, [[David Starr Jordan]] wrote 650 articles and books on the subject and served as president of [[Indiana University (Bloomington)|Indiana University]] and [[Stanford University]].

==Modern publications==
{| class="wikitable"
! Publication !! Frequency !! Date of publication !! Publisher
|-
| ''[[Ichthyology & Herpetology]]'' || Quarterly || 27 December 1913 || [[American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists]]
|-
| ''[[Journal of Applied Ichthyology]]'' || Bi-monthly || 1985 || Blackwell Publishing
|-
| ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20160305152047/http://contentpro.seals.ac.za/iii/cpro/CollectionViewPage.external?lang=eng&sp=1000945&suite=def Ichthyological Bulletin]'' || Irregular || January 1956 || [[Rhodes University]]
|}

== Organizations ==

{| class="wikitable"
|+List of Organizations
|valign=top|
*American Elasmobranch Society
*American Fisheries Society
*American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
*[[Association of Systematics Collections]]
*[[Ichthyological Society of Hong Kong]] ({{zh|[[:zh:香港魚類學會|香港魚類學會]]}})
*Native Fish Conservancy
*Neotropical Ichthyological Association
|valign=top|
*North American Native Fish Association
*Panhellenic Society of Ichthyologists<ref>{{cite web|url= https://fishfromgreece.com/en/nea/18th-panhellenic-ichthyologist-conference-sponsored-by-hapo/|title= 18th Panhellenic Ichthyologist Conference: Sponsored by HAPO}}</ref>
*Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
*Society for Northwestern Vertebrate Biology
*Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections
*Southeastern Fish Council
*Southwestern Association of Naturalists
*[[World Conservation Union|The World Conservation Union]]
|}

== Notable ichthyologists ==
{{See also|Notable fisheries scientists|List of marine biologists}}

Members of this list meet one or more of the following criteria: 1) Author of 50 or more fish [[taxon]] names, 2) Author of major ichtyological reference work, 3) Founder of major journal or museum, 4) Person most notable for other reasons who has also worked in ichthyology.
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Alexander Emanuel Agassiz]]
* [[Louis Agassiz]]
* [[Emperor Akihito]] of [[Japan]]
* [[Gerald R. Allen]]
* [[Peter Artedi]]
* [[Herbert R. Axelrod]]
* [[William O. Ayres]], [[California]]
* [[Spencer Fullerton Baird]]
* [[Tarleton Hoffman Bean]]
* [[Lev Berg]], Russia
* [[Henry Bryant Bigelow]]
* [[Pieter Bleeker]], [[East Indies]]
* [[Marcus Elieser Bloch]]
* [[George Albert Boulenger]]
* [[Francis Buchanan-Hamilton]], [[Scottish people|Scottish]]
* [[Jean Cadenat]]
* [[Pierre Carbonnier]]
* [[Eugenie Clark]]
* [[Leonard Compagno]]
* [[Edward Drinker Cope]]
* [[Georges Cuvier]]
* [[Francis Day]], India
* [[Carl H. Eigenmann]]
* [[Rosa Smith Eigenmann]]
* [[William N. Eschmeyer]]
* [[Barton Warren Evermann]]
* [[Henry Weed Fowler]]
* [[Joseph Paul Gaimard]]
* [[Samuel Garman]]
* [[Charles Henry Gilbert]]
* [[Theodore Nicholas Gill]]
* [[Charles Frédéric Girard]]
* [[George Brown Goode]]
* [[Albert C. L. G. Günther|Albert Günther]]
* [[Albert William Herre]]
* [[Carl L. Hubbs]]
* [[David Starr Jordan]]
* [[Maurice Kottelat]], [[Swiss people|Swiss]]
* [[Bernard Germain de Lacépède]]
* [[Carl Linnaeus]]
* [[Seth Eugene Meek]]
* [[George S. Myers]]
* [[Joseph S. Nelson]], ''[[Fishes of the World]]''
* [[John Treadwell Nichols]], [[China]], founder of ''Copeia''
* [[John Roxborough Norman]]
* [[Peter Simon Pallas]]
* [[Wilhelm Peters]]
* [[Felipe Poey]]
* [[Jean René Constant Quoy]]
* [[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque]]
* [[John Ernest Randall]]
* [[Charles Tate Regan]]
* [[John Richardson (naturalist)|John Richardson]]
* [[Raúl Adolfo Ringuelet]]
* [[Eduard Rüppell]]
* [[Johann Gottlob Schneider]]
* [[Hugh McCormick Smith|H.M. Smith]]
* [[James Leonard Brierley Smith|J.L.B. Smith]]
* [[Edwin Chapin Starks]]
* [[Franz Steindachner]]
* [[Royal D. Suttkus]]
* [[Frank Talbot]] 
* [[Shigeho Tanaka]]
* [[Ethelwynn Trewavas]], [[English people|English]]
* [[Achille Valenciennes]]
* [[Johann Julius Walbaum]]
* [[Gilbert Percy Whitley]]
* [[Francis Willughby]]
* [[Stan Wood (fossil hunter)|Stan Wood]]
* [[William Yarrell]]
{{div col end}}
===Paleoichthyologists===
* [[Hans C. Bjerring]]
* [[Erik Jarvik]]
* [[Erik Stensiö]]

===Non-academic ichthyologists===
* [[Sakana-kun]]

== See also ==
* [[Ichthyology terms]]
* [[Ichthyology and GIS]]
* [[Meristics]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Additional references==
{{Commons category}}
* Bond, Carl E (1996) ''Biology of Fish''. Saunders. {{ISBN|0-03-070342-5}}.
* [[Joseph S. Nelson|Nelson, Joseph S]] (2006) ''Fish of the World.'' Wiley. {{ISBN|0-471-25031-7}}.
* [[Michael Barton (professor)|Michael Barton]] (2007) ''Bond's Biology of Fish'', Third Edition. Julet. {{ISBN|0-12-079875-1}}.
* [[Daniel Pauly|Pauly D]], [[Rainer Froese|Froese R]], Palomares ML and Stergiou KI (2014) [http://www.fishbase.org/FishOnLine/English/index.htm ''Fish on line, Version 3''] A guide to learning and teaching ichthyology using the [[FishBase|FishBase Information System]].

==External links==
{{EB1911 Poster|Ichthyology}}
* [http://www.briancoad.com/main.asp?page=fishdictionary.htm ''Brian Coad's Dictionary of Ichthyology'']
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060713020230/http://www2.biology.ualberta.ca/jackson.hp/IWR/ Ichthyology Web Resources] (archived 13 July 2006)
* [http://www.prosanta.net/ich.htm List of Ichthyologists]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226180819/http://www.prosanta.net/ich.htm |date=2012-02-26 }}.

{{Diversity of fish}}
{{Zoology}}
{{Branches of biology}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Ichthyology| ]]
[[Category:Subfields of zoology]]