The Aquarium Encyclopedia [antikvár]

Foreword by Günther SterbaThe main aim when conceiving and producing this handbook was to put together a reference work for freshwater and sea water aquarium-keeping that provided basic information about general and specialist ichthyology, hydrology, fish economy, the biology of freshwater animals and marine biology. With such an aim in mind, the hope was to ensure a multipurpose use of the book. A secondary intention was to make clear to anyone interested in aquarium-keeping just how his hobby relates to the various biological disciplines, and perhaps to deepen his potential interest in all things biological by explaining their inter-relationships. This daunting task could only be realised by a careful choice of entry words, by treating them in a generally understood and scientifically exact manner, and by achieving a good degree of continuity within the information given under each entry.When discussing the individual groups of organisms, such as the fishes, invertebrate water animals and water plants, the genera were given greatest attention, followed by very brief descriptions of the individual species. This was a deliberate attempt to separate this book from specialist aquarium-keeping literature. From the higher taxonomic groups of the cartilaginous and bony fishes, as well as the jawless fishes, this book provides a comprehensive survey of the modem extant orders and families that are important in aquarium-keeping or in fish economy. Among the aquatic plants, mainly those groups were chosen that can be ciütivated under normal aquarium conditions. Among the invertebrate animals, not only have we included those species that can occasionally be kept in the freshwater or marine aquarium, but also those that are come across quite often in ponds or streams, or even when diving offshore. Other broad areas of study included in the book and that should be mentioned here include: water chemistry; technical aquarium equipment; biology and behaviour of fishes; anatomy and embryology of fishes; how to care for, breed and retu" aquarium-fishes; fish diseases; taxonomic, ecological and geographical terms; important aspects of general biology and the history of ichthyology.The printing and general appearance of the book make clear just how much, in addition to the authors, the artists, photographers and publishing colleagues have contributed to the realization of the project. I would like to thank all concerned for their individual efforts and for their understanding and forbearance with regard to the wishes of the editor, not all of which were easy to fulfil.I hope that the people who use this work will find that it really does extend their knowledge of the subjects and that it makes clear how aquarium-keeping fits in with biological fields of study as a whole. No book is without errors, and this is especially true of a lexicon that attempts to pursue such a broad-based aim. Along with my co-authors, I already extend my thanks to you, the readers, for any corrections or additional remarks you may wish to make.Leipzig, July 1977Günther Sterba