Zoology 511
Ecology of Fishes
Spring 2006
521 Noland Hall 1:20-5:00 pm
Matt Diebel
118 Center for Limnology
262-3087
mwdiebel@wisc.edu
Office hours: Thursdays 2:45 - 3:45 pm, 521 Noland, or by appt.
Brian Weidel
118 Center for Limnology
262-3087
weidel@wisc.edu
Office hours: Tuesdays 11am - noon, 521 Noland, or by appt.
Jim Kitchell
206 Center for Limnology
262-3014
Jake Vander Zanden
223B Center for Limnology
262-9464
Course Website: http://limnology.wisc.edu/
then follow the Education link to the Zool 511 page.
DATE
TOPIC
17/18 Jan
Lab 1. Introduction and Fish Anatomy: Identification and functional morphology
24/25 Jan
Lab 2. Fish evolution and Wisconsin fish families
31 Jan/1 Feb
Lab 3. Bioenergetics (meet at Center for Limnology)
7/8 Feb
Lab 4. Pre-Teleosts and early Teleosts
Discussion: Intro to scientific writing, preview of field trip
14/15 Feb
Assignment 1 due
Field trip: Black Earth Creek
21/22 Feb
Term paper hypothesis due
Lab 5. Ostariophysi I: family Cyprinidae
Discussion: Statistics, Excel workshop
28 Feb/1 Mar
Lab Practical 1
7/8 Mar
Lab 6. Ostariophysi II: families Catostomidae, Ictaluridae
Discussion: Scientific writing
14/15 Mar
SPRING BREAK!
21/22 Mar
Draft 1 paper due
Lab 7. Protacanthopterygii and Paracanthopterygii
28/29 Mar
Lab 8. Acanthopterygii
Discussion: Scientific writing
4/5 Apr
Assignment 2 due
Lab 9. Marine fishes
11/12 Apr
Field trip: Wisconsin River watershed (meet at Center for Limnology)
18/19 Apr
Draft 2 paper due
Field trip: Lake Mendota (meet at Center for Limnology)
25/16 Apr
Review for Lab Practical #2
2/3 May
Lab Practical 2
Goals – during this class you should:

Acquire a basic understanding of the evolutionary trends of fishes.

Be able to identify selected fish species found in Wisconsin.

Acquire skills to conduct and analyze scientific experiments and to write a scientific paper.

Acquire an appreciation of the diversity of fishes, fish anatomy, and adaptations to diverse life histories.
Field Trips are scheduled for the normal lab period (1:20-5 pm). Students must attend on their regular lab day.
Remember to dress appropriately for the conditions.
Term Paper
This course emphasizes writing more than most science courses you may have taken. Class exercises will explore
the art of scientific writing. You will write two drafts of a scientific paper, which will be reviewed by the T.A. and
by your peers. Anticipate spending a significant amount of time on this paper.
Exams
There will be two in-class exams. Exams will be based on fish identification, lectures, readings, and discussion.
Exam format will be short-answer or fill-in-the blank in a lab practical format.
Questions
Most weeks, you will turn in short answers to questions, based on the previous week’s lab. Please pay attention to
these short questions each week. Although they are only worth a few points each week, they can make the
difference between letter grades.
Other assignments
Assignment 1: A self-designed key to the fish families of Wisconsin.
Assignment 2: A peer review of another student’s draft 1 paper.
Grading scale
Your grade will be based on exam scores, the term paper, weekly questions, assignments, and class participation.
Point breakdown is as follows:
In-Class Exams (40 pts each)
Paper (Total)
Hypothesis
First Draft
Second Draft
Assignments (15 pts each)
Questions (3 pts each week)
Total points:
80
60
10
20
30
30
30
200
All assignments are expected to be turned in on their due date. Assignments can be turned in during lab or placed in
Matt or Brian’s mailbox at the Center for Limnology, 680 N. Park St., just inside the main entrance. For every day
that an assignment is late, we will take off 10% of the maximum attainable score.
Final grade cutoffs:
Grade
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
Incomplete
Points
186
176
160
150
136
118
<118
Percentage
93
88
80
75
68
59
<59
Readings
Readings will be placed on reserve at the Biology Library (Birge Hall) under ZOO 511. These books can
also be viewed in the Limnology library. You will be informed of additional readings as needed during the
semester.
Becker, G.C. 1983. The Fishes of Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin Press. Madison, WI.
Available online at: http://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/greatlakesfish/becker.html
Evans, D.H. (Ed.). 1993. The Physiology of Fishes. CRC Press. London.
Helfman, G.S., B.B. Collette, and D.E. Facey. 1997. The Diversity of Fishes. Blackwell Science, Inc.
Malden, MA.
Matthews, W.J. 1998. Patterns in Freshwater Fish Ecology. Chapman & Hall. New York, NY.
Moyle, P.B., and J.J. Cech. 1996. Fishes: An introduction to Ichthyology. Prentice Hall. Saddle River,
NJ.
Wooton, R.J. 1990 Ecology of Teleost Fishes. Chapman and Hall. London.