Darwin's Fishes: An Encyclopedia of Ichthyology, Ecology and Evolution

  • Daniel Pauly
Cambridge University Press: 2004. 366 pp. £55, $80 0521827779 | ISBN: 0-521-82777-9
Fish list: Darwin catalogued species such as Sphoeroides angusticeps during the voyage of the Beagle. Credit: THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, LONDON

Charles Darwin is renowned for his scientific breadth and prolific writing, as well as his depth of insight. On top of revolutionizing biological thinking (in The Origin of Species and The Descent of Man) and marine geology (in The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs), he wrote detailed treatises on creatures ranging from orchids and insectivorous plants to domesticated biotas, barnacles and earthworms. In addition, his name will forever be associated with some other taxonomic groups, notably Darwin's finches. During his career, Darwin wrote some 6,200,000 words of science, of which roughly 45,000 (nearly 1%) refer directly or indirectly to fishes. These have now been compiled, annotated, cross-referenced and elaborated on by Daniel Pauly in Darwin's Fishes, an encyclopedic treatment of these piscine works that the author proffers as “a belated entry” on Darwin's behalf.

As a youth, Darwin was an avid angler, stating in correspondence that: “On the rainy days I go fishing, on the good ones Entomologizing.” During the voyage of the Beagle, he collected and preserved in alcohol dozens of fish species, about which he recorded notes in Fish in Spirits of Wine (the piscine part of his Catalogue, or master list, of trip collections). Immediately after the voyage, Darwin successfully encouraged the British naturalist and clergyman Leonard Jenyns — who had previously turned down Captain Fitzroy's original offer to be the Beagle's naturalist — to complete the job of describing these fish specimens for science.

Later in life, Darwin incorporated his knowledge of fish into numerous works on topics that included the evolution of complex structures (such as electric organs in some rays and eels), sexual selection (in female-pregnant mollies and male-pregnant seahorses, for example) and the evolution of traits under artificial selection (as occurs in goldfish). Altogether, he refers to more than 250 fish species in his writings.

In Darwin's Fishes, Pauly describes everything that Darwin ever wrote on fish, the intent being to reveal how Darwin's world views were shaped by ichthyology, and vice versa. The book is encyclopedic not only in content but in style — its nearly 500 word entries (taxa or topics) are arranged alphabetically. A typical entry begins with a definition, incorporates relevant quotations or references from Darwin's writings, describes how his thoughts on the subject were influenced by studies on fish, and places his ideas in the contexts of both his own era and modern times. Pauly frequently voices his own welcome opinions also. For example, in his commentary on how Darwin (and later evolutionists) grappled with explaining the evolution of complex eyes, Pauly states: “This is strange, as the eyes are the organs for which intermediate steps that increase the fitness of their owners are not only easy to conceive, but occur in a wide range of animals.” And with regard to Darwin's words on the behaviour of nesting wrasses, Pauly concludes: “One cannot but wonder whether the reason why these male wrasses work together so nicely with the females on their domestic arrangements is because, as protogynous hermaphrodites, they can draw on insights from their previous life as females.”

Darwin's Fishes is not the type of book to be read from cover to cover but is wonderful fun to dip into, even randomly. It is an eclectic, scholarly reference work, rich in historical content and chock full of interesting quotes and insights from Darwin and Pauly alike. Pauly has an engaging writing style and is not afraid to use humour and self-deprecation. In the preface, for example, he short-circuits potential criticisms when he writes: “Many sections of this book read like laundry lists. I have attempted to cover this up, mainly through levity, the result being that this book will probably irritate serious scholars, but still bore students to tears.” These concerns have elements of truth, but are considerably overstated. This book is indeed an all-but-the-kitchen-sink ‘chrestomathy’ (you can find that word as an entry in Darwin's Fishes), but it is a delightful one.