The Fish Invasiveness Screening Kit (FISK) is becoming a popular tool for rapid risk identification of freshwater fishes, with published applications now spanning the globe. Upgrades (i.e., FISK v2) were completed recently to ensure the incorporation of broader climatic zones for its application to the sub-tropical climate of peninsular Florida. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the...

Individual-based models are becoming an important tool in ecosystems modelling. The main disadvantage encountered with this kind of model is the difficulty to understand how the global dynamics emerges from individual behaviours. We first present a sample of the various processes and sub-models that could intervene in a model of freshwater fishes. Then, we introduce the need for understanding t...

Initial stages of salmonid fishes development are carried out in freshwater. At the first stage young fishes form structures and systems connected with ability to live in freshwater. At the second stage a complex of structural, physiological and biochemical changes directed on preparation of the organism for downstream migration and seawater entry takes place[1]. After completion of smoltificat...

References 107 Abstract Genetic and environmental factors may interact to control sex determination in fishes. A common pattern of initial female differentiation and subsequentmale transformation before maturation in non-hermaphroditic fishes and after maturation in sequentially hermaphroditic fishes has suggested that changes in developmental timing may be responsible for the evolution of vari...

Allopatric speciation may be the principal mechanism generating new species. Yet, it remains difficult to judge the generality of this process because few studies have provided evidence that geographic isolation has triggered the development of reproductive isolation over multiple species of a regional fauna. Here, we first combine results from new empirical data sets (7 taxa) and published lit...

Preservation of terrestrial fauna and flora has been the main reason for the settlement of most protected areas in the past 30 years, but although those areas may include water bodies, this does not necessarily mean that the biodiversity of freshwater environments are also protected. In the present study, the fauna inventory of eight streams (1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th orders) of three microbasins o...

Noise pollution from anthropogenic sources is an increasingly problematic challenge faced by many taxa, including fishes. Recent studies demonstrate that road traffic noise propagates effectively from bridge crossings into surrounding freshwater ecosystems; yet, its effect on the stress response and auditory function of freshwater stream fishes is unexamined. The blacktail shiner (Cyprinella ve...

Freshwater fishes are highly vulnerable to human-caused climate change. Because quantitative data on status and trends are unavailable for most fish species, a systematic assessment approach that incorporates expert knowledge was developed to determine status and future vulnerability to climate change of freshwater fishes in California, USA. The method uses expert knowledge, supported by litera...