North American Freshwater Fish Diversity and the AFS-Asih Names List

In 2013, the seventh edition of the Common and Scientific Names of Fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico was published. Major changes include the capitalization of English common names, the addition of French common names for each species found in Canada, and the recognition of occurrences in the Arctic Ocean as separate from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Some scientific names have changed with advancing knowledge of the phylogenetic relationships and most changes are straightforward, although a few are not unambiguous due to conflicting conclusions among researchers. The list has grown from 570 freshwater and marine entries in 1948 list (primarily better known sport, commercial, and forage fishes), to 1,892 species in 1960, 2,131 in 1970, 2,268 in 1980, and 2,428 species in 1991. The 2004 list increased to 3,694 with the addition of the Mexican fauna.  The 2013 list includes 3,875 species. The 2013 list will be used to explore the diversity of North American freshwater fishes, particularly those species that are not of recreational or commercial importance and, hence, are lesser known.