Env. Biol. Fish., Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 193-194, 1977

The Second European Ichthyological Congress

Jean-Claude Hureau

Labora toire d ‘Ich tyolonie G&&ale et Avvknke, Museum National d ‘Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France - -

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In 1973 the Yugoslav Society of Ichthyology orga- nized the first European Ichthyological Congress in Sarajevo. At that time it was decided to prepare the second Congress which was finally held at the UNESCO Buildings in Paris from September 8 to 15, 1976.

Preparations for this Congress were made by an international committee and the actual organization was carried out by a local committee supported by the recently organized French Society of Ichthyo- logy. Prof. Th. Monod presided over the Congress from offices put at his disposal by the Laboratoire d’Ichtyologie g&&ale et appliquee of the Natural History Museum in Paris.

There were 271 registered scientists from 35 coun- tries. The opening ceremony included speeches by Mr. M. Battisse, Assistant Deputy Director of UNESCO, Professor J. Daget, representing the Direc- tor of the Museum and Professor Th. Monod, Presi- dent of the Congress. Congress members present at the Museum on September 8th, viewed an exhibition of ichthyological manuscripts and documents put on display by the General Library.

Working sessions of the Congress consisted of 15.5 communications grouped according to subjects, and major lectures by the following invited speakers: E. H. Ahlstrom and G. Moser: Eggs and larvae of fish

and their role in systematic investigations and in fisheries;

C. Almaca: Speciation in the cyprinids of the Iberian peninsula;

G. P. Baerends: The significance of the color patterns in fish for the study of some fundamental issues in behavior;

J. Daget: The dynamics of fish populations; G. Krefft: Distribution patterns of oceanic fishes in

the Atlantic ocean, selected problems; and

Received 21.12.1976 Accepted 25.1.1977

D. E. McAllister: Modern methods of monitoring and utilization of fish collections. In addition to the working sessions meetings were

organized for specialists to vote on a number of resolu- tions. Thus the European Ichthyological Union was created, with Prof. T. Vukovid as its first president. One of the Union’s responsibilities will be to assure future Congresses, and overseeing matters pertaining to European fish collections. These then are the reso- lutions put forth and adopted by the Congress: 1. Creation of the European Ichthyological Union. 2. Preparation of a systematic inventory for collec- tions of extant and fossil fishes in European institu- tions. 3. Preparation of a complete description of the ichthyofauna of the N.E. Atlantic and Mediterranean (a logical sequence to the fish catalogue of this region published in 1973 as CLOFNAM). 4. The compilation of a catalogue of freshwater fishes of Africa (CLOFFOA). 5. Compilation of a catalogue of the fishes of the tropical Eastern Atlantic (CLOFETA). 6. Evaluation of the possibillity of compiling a catalogue of the fishes of the tropical South Ameri- can Atlantic coast.

At termination of the meetings participants spent three days in Brittany visiting some of the French research institutions. At Nantes, they were received by Mr. Cl. Maurin, Director of the Institut Scienti- fique et Technique des Peches maritimes (ISTPM). In Concarneau, they visited the fisheries museum and the fish market as the boats unloaded their catch. In Brest they were entertained by Mr. L. Laubier, Direc- tor of the Centre Oceanologique de Bretagne (COB), the most important station of the Centre national pour l’exploitation des Oceans (CNEXO) and in Ros- coff they toured the famous marine biological station run by the C.N.R.S. and the Universities of Paris.

The following arrangements were made for the publication of the proceedings:

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1. A special volume of the Revue des Traveaux de I’ISTPM will be devoted to the Congress. This will include the complete text of major lectures, abstracts of all the papers, full text of the resolutions and a complete list of the participants and authors, together with their addresses. The issue of this volume is planned for the winter of 1977. 2. Congress papers relevant and acceptable by the journal will appear in this and other issues of Fnviron- mental Biology of Fishes. 3. The remaining papers will, no doubt, appear in other journals: Cybium, the Bulletin de la Societe francaise d’khtyologie (first planned issue for January 1977), the Bulletin francais de Pisciculture and La Pisciculture francake, among others, express- ed willingness to publish contributions presented at the Congress.

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