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Fishes of the World. Fifth edition. J. S. Nelson, T. C. Grande, and M. V. H. Wilson. 2016. John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 9781118342336. 707 p. $165.00 (hardcover). ISBN 9781119220824. $132.00 (e-book).-Forty years ago, Joseph S. Nelson published the first edition of Fishes of the World (Nelson, 1976). In his preface, he stated that his book was intended to ".. .fill a need that many teachers feel exists for both the lecture and laboratory portions of a course in ichthyology or biology of fishes. It is hoped that it will also be helpful to others who wish to review or refer to fish classification." (Nelson, 1976:p. v). Nelson's book was soon recognized for its utility as "the most useful and satisfactory up-to-date supplement for the students" (Hubbs, 1978:p. 136). I bought my copy in Berkeley in April 1980, and that book and its three successor editions (Nelson, 1984, 1994, 2006) have never been far from my desk in the intervening decades. I learned a lot from those four editions of Nelson, required various editions for more than 15 offerings of my ichthyology course, and recommended it to hundreds of students and colleagues as the best general source to learn about the global diversity of living and fossil fishes. By focusing on families and their composition, Nelson found a "sweet spot" for writing about fish diversity-not too much detail but not too little. He presented information in a direct and clean style, including the now-famous outline cartoons of fishes to show general body form. Joe's book long ago transcended its originally intended primary role in teaching to become an essential reference work for anyone interested in the biodiversity and evolution of fishes. The fifth edition, now available in hardcover or as an e-book, is an essential successor to the previous four editions.
Prior to his death in 2011, Joe enlisted the help of Terry C. Grande and Mark V. H. Wilson to assist with needed revisions. Terry and Mark brought research strengths in molecular systematics and paleoichthyology as well as the same attention to detail and literature that characterized Nelson's earlier editions. The book has grown in coverage and approach over the decades, from 445 living families arranged in 46 orders in the first edition to...