FishBase now available
FishBase is an information system with key data on the biology of all
important fishes. Similar to an encyclopedia, FishBase contains
different things for different people. For example, fisheries
managers will dive into the largest existing compilation of
population dynamics data; taxonomists will enjoy the electronic
version of Eschmeyer s (1990) catalog of the genera of recent fishes;
conservationists will use the lists of threatened fishes for any
given country (IUCN 1994); policymakers may be interested in a
chronological, annotated list of introductions to their country;
research scientists, as well as funding agencies will find it useful
to gain a quick overview of what is known and what is still unknown
about a certain species; zoologists and physiologists will have the
largest existing compilations of fish morphology, metabolism, gill
area, eye pigment, brain size, or swimming speed at their fingertips;
ecologists will likewise use data on diet composition, food consumption,
prey
and predators as inputs for their models; aquaculturists will be
surprised to see functional databases on genetic traits and culture
experiments, as well as the foundation for a global strains registry;
the fishing industry will find information on proximate analysis, as
well as processing recommendations for many marine species; anglers
will enjoy a listing of all game fishes occurring in a particular
country (IGFA 1994); students of indigenous knowledge will find more than
50,000 common names of fishes together with the language/culture in
which they are used and comments on their etymology.
Divers, anglers, aquarists, researchers can create their
personal/institutional database of where and when they have seen,
caught, or acquired what fish. Biodiversity managers can create
national fish biodiversity databases to keep track of regulations and
uses.
This information is accessible through an easy-to-use software
interface on any IBM-compatible personal computer (386 or better, 8
MB RAM or more) with a CD-ROM drive and Microsoft Windows installed.
FishBase has been reviewed by R.A. McCall and R.M. May in Nature,
Vol. 378:735, 31 August 1995, and by Matsuura in the Japanese Journal
of Ichthyology, Vol. 42 (3/4):342
You can order FishBase (including air-mail) by sending a US$95 cheque to
ICLARM/FishBase
P.O. Box 2631
0718 Makati, Metro Manila
Philippines
Rainer Froese
FishBase Project Leader