143rd Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society

September 08 - 14, 2013

The 2013 AFS, “Common and Scientific Names of Fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico, 7^th edition” contains 3,875 freshwater and marine species. Most of these species are neither commercially nor recreationally important and are, hence, lesser known. Our objectives are to highlight the issues associated with diversity and conservation lesser known species and to discuss how and why these species should be included in fisheries education and management. This symposium will provide an update on the current taxonomy of North American freshwater fishes (why did all the names have to change yet again?), state the case for the conservation of lesser known species,  examine some of rarest and most unusual groups, and weigh the dual roles of education and management in conserving the diversity of lesser known fishes.