History of the ecology of marine fishes

Despite its recent existence as an emerging discipline within biology, the foundations of ecology are quite remote. The accumulation of expertise through local and traditional practices, learning, and cultural transmission by ancient civilizations up to modern times and the continuous contributions of a large number of naturalists over the centuries have made it possible to build a significant corpus of knowledge. This is, in fact, the backbone of the scientific context that structured ecology as a science. The study of fish has been present throughout all these historical advances; the different actors involved, both scholars and animals, are briefly reported in this chapter. A selection of technical and technological developments that have been particularly disruptive to the study of fish ecology is also discussed. The history of the study of fish ecology is still not particularly well documented, and there is a need to fill these knowledge gaps. Historical and integrated socioecological approaches can contribute to current scientific advancements and to the science, conservation, and literacy of the oceans.