The time is ripe for a comprehensive mission to explore and document Earth's species. This calls for a campaign to educate and inspire the next generation of professional and citizen species explorers, investments in cyber-infrastructure and collections to meet the unique needs of the producers and consumers of taxonomic information, and the formation and coordination of a multi-institutional, international, transdisciplinary community of researchers, scholars and engineers with the shared objective of creating a comprehensive inventory of species and detailed map of the biosphere. We conclude that an ambitious goal to describe 10 million species in less than 50 years is attainable based on the strength of 250 years of progress, worldwide collections, existing experts, technological innovation and collaborative teamwork. Existing digitization projects are overcoming obstacles of the past, facilitating collaboration and mobilizing literature, data, images and specimens through cyber technologies. Charting the biosphere is enormously complex, yet necessary expertise can be found through partnerships with engineers, information scientists, sociologists, ecologists, climate scientists, conservation biologists, industrial project managers and taxon specialists, from agrostologists to zoophytologists. Benefits to society of the proposed mission would be profound, immediate and enduring, from detection of early responses of flora and fauna to climate change to opening access to evolutionary designs for solutions to countless practical problems. The impacts on the biodiversity, environmental and evolutionary sciences would be transformative, from ecosystem models calibrated in detail to comprehensive understanding of the origin and evolution of life over its 3.8 billion year history. The resultant cyber-enabled taxonomy, or cybertaxonomy, would open access to biodiversity data to developing nations, assure access to reliable data about species, and change how scientists and citizens alike access, use and think about biological diversity information.

Recent attention has focused on the efficacy of amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) for resolving deep evolutionary relationships. Here we show that AFLPs provide resolution of deep relationships within the family Percidae that are more consistent with previous morphological hypotheses than are relationships proposed by previous molecular analyses. Despite in silico predictions, we were able to resolve relatively ancient divergences, estimated at >25 MA. We show that the most distantly related species share the fewest fragments, but suggest that large data sets and extensive taxon sampling are sufficient to overcome this obstacle of the AFLP technique for deep divergences. We compare genetic distances estimated from mitochondrial DNA with those from AFLPs and contrast traditional PAUP* Nei–Li AFLP genetic distances with a recently proposed method utilizing the Dice equation with constraining nucleotides.

In his recent discussion in TREE [1], Greene eloquently and effectively describes the value of natural history, the study of organisms in their natural environment. As he noted, natural history is the reason why many of us became scientists, and is also the basis for widespread human interest in biology. Opportunities for biological conservation and future funding for biology rely on maintaining that strong human interest.

We examined the effect of nest guarding by the male Fringed Darter (Etheostoma crossopterum) on egg predation by the Bluntnose Minnow (Pimephales notatus), the Southern Two-Lined Salamander (Eurycea cirrigera), and a species of crayfish (Orconectes margorectus). When male E. crossopterum were removed from nests, both R notatus and O. margorectus consumed a greater percentage of eggs than when the male was present. Although E. cirrigera consumed eggs during one trial, results suggest that this species may not be as consistent a predation threat as are the minnow and crayfish. These results indicate that male E. crossopterum provide parental care to developing embryos in the form of defense against predators and provide support for a previously untested hypothesis for nest guarding darters.

Change in body size within an evolutionary lineage over time has been under investigation since the synthesis of Cope’s rule, which suggested that there is a tendency for mammals to evolve larger body size. Data from the fossil record have subsequently been examined for several other taxonomic groups to determine whether they also displayed an evolutionary increase in body size. However, we are not aware of any species‐level study that has investigated the evolution of body size within an extant continental group. Data acquired from the fossil record and data derived from the evolutionary relationships of extant species are not similar, with each set exhibiting both strengths and weaknesses related to inferring evolutionary patterns. Consequently, expectation that general trends exhibited in the fossil record will correspond to patterns in extant groups is not necessarily warranted. Using phylogenetic relationships of extant species, we show that five of nine families of North American freshwater fishes exhibit an evolutionary trend of decreasing body size. These trends result from the basal position of large species and the more derived position of small species within families. Such trends may be caused by the invasion of small streams and subsequent isolation and speciation. This pattern, potentially influenced by size‐biased dispersal rates and the high percentage of small streams in North America, suggests a scenario that could result in the generation of the size‐frequency distribution of North American freshwater fishes.

Etheostoma virgatum has been treated as a species occupying three widely separated regions of the Cumberland River drainage in Kentucky and Tennessee. To test the hypothesis that the three widely disjunct populations of E. virgatum are monophyletic, DNA sequence data from mitochondrial and nuclear loci were gathered on E. virgatum and other species of Catonotus including all species of barcheek darters. Morphological data were analyzed from populations throughout the range of E. virgatum. The three widely separated populations of E. virgatum, although morphologically similar, do not form a monophyletic group in phylogenetic analyses of molecular data. Consistent with this result, two of the populations are described as new species. These three species had been identified as E. virgatum because of the shared presence of bold dark stripes along the side of the body, a feature not found in the other four species of barcheeks. It is unclear whether the presence of bold stripes represents retention of a pleisiomorphic trait (lost in other barcheeks) or whether the condition arose independently in these three species.

Catfishes of the genus Ameiurus are a well-known component of the North American ichthyofauna. J. G. Lundberg estimated phylogenetic relationships among species of Ameiurus according to morphological variation. Two clades containing the extant species were recovered: the natalis clade (Ameiurus natalis, Ameiurus melas, and Ameiurus nebulosus) and the catus clade (Ameiurus serracanthus, Ameiurus catus, Ameiurus platycephalus, and Ameiurus brunneus). Original nucleotide sequence data were collected from mitochondrial (cytochrome b) and nuclear (recombination activation gene 2) genes and used to test the predictions of the hypothesis based on morphological data. The monophyly of both natalis and catus clades was rejected by the nucleotide dataset and an alternative phylogenetic hypothesis is provided.

North America exhibits the most diverse freshwater fish fauna among temperate regions of the world. Species diversity is concentrated in the Central Highlands, drained by the Mississippi, Gulf Slope and Atlantic Slope river systems. Previous investigations of Central Highlands biogeography have led to conflicting hypotheses involving dispersal and vicariance to explain the diversity and distribution of the freshwater fish fauna. In this investigation predictions of the Central Highlands pre-Pleistocene vicariance hypothesis are tested with a phylogeographic analysis of the percid species Percina evides, which is widely distributed in several disjunct areas of the Central Highlands. Phylogenetic analysis of complete gene sequences of mitochondrially encoded cytochrome b recover three phylogroups, with very low levels of sequence polymorphism within groups. The two western phylogroups are monophyletic with respect to the eastern phylogroup. The recovery of two monophyletic lineages with an eastern and western distribution in the disjunct highland areas is a pattern expected from vicariance, but is not predicted by the Central Highlands pre-Pleistocene vicariance hypothesis. The recovery of very limited mitochondrial DNA polymorphism and lack of phylogeographic structuring across the entire range of the eastern clade, very shallow polymorphism between the disjunct Missouri River and upper Mississippi River populations, and lack of sequence polymorphism in the upper Mississippi River populations, support a hypothesis of dispersal during or following the Pleistocene. The present distribution of P. evides is best explained by both vicariant and dispersal events.

Investigations of phylogenetic relationships using comparative morphological characters have led to the hypothesis that Ammocrypta is the sister taxon of the Etheostoma subgenus Ioa. Subsequent molecular analyses have not recovered this proposed relationship. In this investigation, variation in complete cytochrome b sequences sampled from 27 percid species, representing all darter genera and all species of Ammocrypta,, is examined in a phylogenetic context. Third codon purine transitions are saturated when all darter species examined are compared; however, saturation is not detected in any character class among species of Ammocrypta. Maximum-parsimony analysis, which excludes potentially homoplasious character classes, and maximum-likelihood analysis of cytochrome b sequences statistically reject the hypothesis that Ammocrypta is the sister taxon of the Etheostoma subgenus loa. Etheostoma is not recovered as monophyletic; however, the hypothesis of monophyly cannot be rejected using maximum-parsimony and maximum-likelihood methods. Morphological characters are combined with cytochrome b sequences in a total evidence analysis of relationships within Ammocrypta. A novel hypothesis of relationships is proposed, which includes a sister-taxon relationship between A. clara and A. pellucida. With regard to relationships among species of Ammocrypta, the morphological data do not significantly conflict with the cytochrome b data. Morphological characters provide additional synapomorphies supporting the hypothesis that A. beani and A. bifascia are sister taxa. The biogeographic implications of the total evidence analysis are discussed, and the continued taxonomic placement of Ammocrypta in Etheostoma is discouraged.

Egg mimics in Etheostoma (Catonotus) oophylax appear before the beginning of the breeding season and reach maximum size in the middle of the season when most spawning activity is expected. Mimic length, but not width, increases with male body size. Males of this species display laterally to females, and, as expected if the trait is subjected to female choice, the lateral dimension of the mimic is the largest. Egg mimics varied from 0.5 to 1.8 mm in length, potentially providing a wide choice for females. Eggs of E, oophylax average 2.2 mm in diameter, which is 22% larger than the largest mimics. If female choice of males or nest sites is determined by ho tv effectively males mimic eggs, or how conspicuous mimics are, large males and males holding territories in the middle of the breeding season when mimics are largest have the advantage. If mimic size is important, choice of resources, that is, presence or absence of eggs in the nest site, may be more important to females than choice of male.

The genus Corymbophanes and its type, Corymbophanes andersoni, are redescribed, and one new species, Corymbophanes kaiei is described. Among loricariids, Corymbophanes is diagnosed by a unique combination of characteristics: absence of dorsal flap of iris; absence of adipose fin; and presence of an elongate postdorsal ridge of 13-17 raised median unpaired plates. Corymbophanes kaiei differs from C. andersoni by the presence of vermiculations on the abdomen (vs abdomen lightly colored in C. andersoni), presence of distinct alternating light and dark bands on the caudal fin (vs light bands largely absent), anal fin I,5 (vs I,4), caudal peduncle moderately (vs strongly) compressed, and three to four (vs five) plates below the adpressed pectoral fin spine. Corymbophanes is known only from the Potaro River Drainage above Kaieteur Falls in west-central Guyana. Corymbophanes bahianus is transferred to Hemipsilichthys.

Results of a phylogenetic analysis of the complete mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (1140 base pairs) for all species of Catonotus are presented along with a synthesis and phylogenetic analysis of published morphological data. The two datasets are combined in a total evidence analysis, and results from the molecular, morphological, and total evidence datasets are compared with each other and with previously published hypotheses. Phylogenetic relationships suggested by morphological data are similar to those from previous studies. The cytochrome b and total evidence analyses also produced trees that are generally congruent with precious hypotheses. The monophyly of the Etheostoma squamiceps group and the monophyly of a dade including members of the E. virgatum and E.flabellare groups are well supported. However, in contrast to traditional classification, E. barbouri usually clustered with the E. flabellare group, and E. percnurum usually clustered with the E virgatum group. Etheostoma percnurum and E. barbouri possess many autapomorphies, and it is possible that they share fewer cytochrome ii characters with close relatives than they share with other species due to homoplasy resulting from accelerated rates of evolution. Also, in contrast to earlier hypotheses, the molecular and total evidence analyses suggested that E. squamiceps, E. crossopterum, and E. olivaceum are closely related. An earlier hypothesis based on morphology suggested that E. olivaceum was basal to other members of the E. squamiceps group and that E. squamiceps was related to E. chienense, E. pseudovulatum, E. oophylax and E neopterum. Etheostoma olivaceum has been considered basal because it lacks putative synapomorphies of all other members of the E. squamiceps group. Although reversals (in E: olivaceum) and (on vergence tin E. squamiceps) in character states are possible, a test of the two hypotheses of relationship requires additional data.

shore of a heavily vegetated pond in Buffalo County, Wisconsin, on 11 May 1994. The circular nest, about 48 cm in diameter and located in water about 20 cm deep, had been constructed on flooded terrestrial grasses. Shoots of grasses had been shorn off to construct the nest, and the bottom of the nest consisted of mud and roots. Tall grasses surrounded the nest except for a short area of the perimeter which was open water. A male bowfin (approximately 40 cm) was guarding the nest, and a school of 25-30 golden shiners (averaging about 5 cm) was swimming over the nest. The golden shiners usually stayed about 2-3 cm inside the perimeter of the nest, swam in a tight school, and appeared to avoid the head of the bowfin. Eggs spawned by several groups of golden shiners fell onto the bottom of the nest during the observation period. When startled by the human observer, the bowfin swam quickly from the nest to deeper water and, in doing so, frightened away the golden shiners. With the nest void of fishes, 17 bowfin eggs and 36 golden shiner eggs were collected from a 6 X 6 cm area of the nest with a

Hypotheses of relationship among genera of Percidae have been conflicting. Based on different phylogenetic premises, the evolution of small benthic forms in Percidae has been interpreted as resulting from either convergence or common ancestry. In order to assess various phylogenetic hypotheses of Percidae we collected complete sequences (1140 bp) of mitochondrially encoded cytochromebfor 21 species of percids. Seven species representing four additional families of Perciformes were used as outgroups. Maximum parsimony and minimum evolution analyses both recovered single shortest trees, and the results of these analyses were generally congruent with one another. All analyses consistently recovered three monophyletic groups in Percidae: Etheostomatinae (Ammocrypta, Crystallaria, Etheostoma,andPercina), Percinae (PercaandGymnocephalus), and Luciopercinae (Stizostedion, Zingel,andRomanichthys). As a result of this analysis we present a revised classification of Percidae and discuss the phylogenetic evidence for the independent evolution of small benthic species within Etheostomatinae and Luciopercinae.

Species of Farlowella Eigenmann & Eigenmann (Loricariidae) are catfishes that morphologically and behaviorally mimic sticks. The genus is widely distributed and common throughout much of South America, including the Amazon, Orinoco, and Paraguay drainages and Maracaibo Basin. Many species are common bur poorly known, and the specimens cited in publications and housed in museums have rarely been identified to species. Twenty-five species of Farlowella are recognized as valid including six that are described as new. In Farlowella vittata and F. mariaelenae, the two species for which large samples exist, the only characters to show allometric variation are snout-mouth length, snout-eye length, and number of jaw teeth. The only characters to show sexual dimorphism are snout-mouth, snout-eye, head, and anal fin lengths, and body width and depth. Unordered character states of 34 morphological characters were analyzed phylogenetically. Nineteen species of Farlowella were placed in six Species groups that were recognized as monophyletic in both the strict and majority rule consensus trees. Six species have uncertain relationships and were nor placed in a species group.

The family Loricariidae contains approximately 600 species of catfishes from South and Central America (Isbrucker, 1980). The family is diagnosed by several characteristics including the presence of an armor of bony plates in four or more rows, contact of the metapterygoid with the lateral ethmoid, an expanded mesethmoid disk, and an expanded anterior margin of the anterior ceratohyal (Schaefer, 1987). Of the six subfamilies possibly ascribed to Loricariidae, all except Hypostominae are well diagnosed (Schaefer, 1986, 1987). Schaefer hypothesized that Ancistrinae evolved from within Hypostominae making the latter subfamily paraphyletic; however, he continued to recognize both subfamilies until a thorough study of Hypostominae could be completed. Despite the apparent paraphyly of Hypostominae and the fact that few of the genera of the subfamily are diagnosed, it is still possible to identify most genera by referring to Gosline (1947) and examining type-specimens of type-species or using published diagnoses. While examining type-specimens of loricariid catfishes, we have discovered three taxa that were placed by the original authors or recent workers into the wrong genera. In this paper, we present evidence to place Monistiancistrus Fowler 1940 into the synonymy of Pseudorinelepis Bleeker 1862, Plecostomus lacerta Nichols 1919 into Kronichthys Miranda Ribeiro 1908, and Rhinelepis levis Pearson 1924 into Cochliodon Heckel 1854.