Freshwater Fishes of Iraq (Pensoft Series Faunistica)

This is a comprehensive overview of the Iraqi freshwater fishes containing of identification keys with original b/w total drawings, complete checklist and detailed species accounts with data on common names, systematics, key characters and morphology, distribution, habitat, biology, economic importance and conservation. The book contains also 16 color plates. BRIAN W. COAD has worked at the Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa since 1981. He was Curator of the National Fish Collection and is now a Research Scientist. From 1976 to 1979 he was an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at Shiraz University, Iran and led expeditions to most parts of that country, collecting fishes for his systematic studies. His main research interests are on the systematics and faunistics of Canadian and Middle Eastern fishes. He is the author of over 320 scientific and popular works on fishes including such books as Guide to the Marine Sport Fishes of Atlantic Canada and New England (1992), Encyclopedia of Canadian Fishes (1995), Expedition Field Techniques: Fishes (2nd revised edition, 1998), and Fishes of Tehran Province and adjacent areas (2008). Books on the Arctic Marine Fishes of Canada and the Fishes of Afghanistan are in preparation.He received his B.Sc. in Zoology in 1970 from the University of Manchester, England, an M.Sc. in 1972 from the University of Waterloo, Ontario and a Ph.D. in 1975 from the University of Ottawa. "This work provides a guide to the freshwater fishes of Iraq. There are no modern keys to this fauna, some available books are incomplete or cursory treatments or are outdated, and the detailed and diverse scientific literature is widely scattered in time, languages and journals. An accurate identification is a pre-requisite for further scientific studies and this book aims to serve that purpose and to be an introductory guide to the fishes and their biology. The guide aims at a mixed audience, including scientists familiar with ichthyology to whom some introductory sections of this work will be superfluous, and those whose knowledge of fishes is embryonic or who may have limited access to literature sources."--Introduction