News Release


Contact: Carmen Ramos Chandler
(818) 677-2130
carmen.chandler@csun.edu


New Book by CSUN Marine Biologist Larry Allen
Reveals Beauty, Variety of Fishes in Coastal Waters

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., May 15, 2006) -- "The Ecology of Marine Fishes," biology department chair Larry Allen's monumental new reference work on the fishes that inhabit the eastern Pacific--especially those in the waters off the California and Baja California coastlines--is making waves as a first-of-its-kind achievement summarizing a century of research.    

         Described as "a masterful accomplishment" by Peter Sale, a University of Windsor professor and an international authority on communities of fish in coral reef habitats, Allen's book is expected to earn a place as the primary text in university-level fish biology courses, and to serve as a cornerstone for future research in the field.

            "It's written by people who are passionate about such issues as global warming and the effects it will have if we don't stop it," said Allen of the work, a nearly 700-page compendium of studies by 36 eminent ecologists, evolutionary biologists and ichthyologists, published in February by the University of California Press.       

      "It's the first of its kind dealing with California and adjacent waters, and it's about 30 years overdue," said Allen, whose co-editors are biology professors Daniel Pondella II of Occidental College and Michael Horn of CSU Fullerton. "During those 30 years, scientists have learned a tremendous amount about the ecology and behavior of marine fishes worldwide, but particularly in California."

            A $40,000 grant from the Packard Foundation, along with $8,000 from the American Fisheries Society, enabled Allen and his colleagues to publish the full-color volume. Packard family members--sisters Julie Packard and Nancy Burnett--are marine biologists whom Allen has known for years. "They have a strong focus on marine coastal education and research programs," he said.

            Resource agencies, political entities, fisheries management associations, virtually everyone with an interest in coastal resources and management will be able to turn to "The Ecology of Marine Fishes" as a vital resource, Allen said.

            In its interpretation of the status--past, present and future--of the California coastline's 500-plus species, the Allen-Pondella-Horn collaboration compiles "virtually all the many important studies on the ecology of California marine fishes," according to another marine biology luminary, Bruce Collette of the National Marine Fisheries Service. Collette is past president of the 93-year-old American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, whose membership includes the crème de la crème of scientists who study fishes, amphibians and reptiles.      

       Praise from high places is "quite satisfying" for Allen, who began teaching full-time at CSUN in 1982. He is most delighted, however, with the reception that has greeted the book's bright and detailed illustrations, all of which were computer-generated by Allen himself.

            "The intent was to make the artwork accessible to more than marine biologists," he said.

            Allen began painting with oils, mostly seascapes and portraits, at ten years old, winning his share of art awards. "It's worked out well for me because bio-illustration is an important aspect of science and biology," he said. "I've used the art to enhance the science over the years."

            Jonathan Williams, a student in CSUN's Nearshore Marine Fish Research Program, said he had only seen Allen's illustrations in lectures. "To have them throughout the book," he said, "is fantastic."

            Graduate students will find it "a dream come true," said former Allen student and Scripps Institution of Oceanography doctoral candidate Brad Erisman. They will be able to tap one source "rather than having to spend countless hours tracking down old manuscripts."

            Fish ecology texts historically have focused on tropical species, said Erisman. "But that has all changed with this book. It provides a vast amount of information on the fishes that inhabit temperate waters."

            Students in the fall 2006 ecology of marine fishes course, to be taught by CSUN marine biologist Mark Steele and Allen on Santa Catalina Island as part of the Ocean Studies Institute's Marine Biology Semester, will be the first to use the actual textbook; others have used materials from it in PDF form.

            Rising scientists like Williams and Erisman may some day contribute to updated editions of the reference work, which took Allen 16 years, starting with the "thinking stage" in 1992 and the actual organization and writing eight years later.

            "It has been," said Allen, "a great learning experience."  


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