Academic Disciplines: Revealing the Essence of Ichthyology

The ocean world is full of interesting and even mysterious creatures that can shock our imagination about life on the planet. Therefore, those students who are keen on studying fish may indulge in ichthyology. As you have already guessed, this discipline studies everything that is connected with all species of fishes counting more than 31.500. It is also closely associated with such sciences as limnology and marine biology. The history and origins of ichthyology This study is one of the ancient ones as it refers to the Upper Paleolithic period, the time when the world saw the rise of high culture. What is interesting is that this discipline managed to develop into several related epochs with different level of achievements. It is not surprising that ichthyology emerged as a result of human's desire to clothe, to feed and to devise different tools of labor. So, the first scientists were mere gatherers and hunters. Ichthyology in the contemporary society The current achievements in science appeared due to such outstanding minds as Marcus Eliese Bloch and George Cuvier who were the first to gather the knowledge on fish species in one science. Their persistent research has considerably expanded our knowledge about fauna of the world ocean. What questions does ichthyology investigate? 1. Search and discovery of the unknown or modified fish species; 2. The analysis of food chain that exist among fish species; 3. Habitat of fish, the depth, the regions; 4. Types of sea and river species; 5. Ecological problems and searching for viable solutions to them; 6. The investigation of evolutionary types of fish species and their predecessors. Like any other science, ichthyology has a great amount of black spots that should be examined. You may be the person who will be able to make a sensational discovery and contribute to the advancement of this science.