Saint Michael’s College is located just outside of Burlington, Vermont, on the Winooski River, and close to Lake Champlain.

Study the Biology of Fishes during Fall in Vermont
 

BI 331 –Ichthyology  (4 credits): This course will cover the structure, function, evolution, diversity, and ecology of fishes, with a strong emphasis on the identification and ecology of fishes from Lake Champlain and its tributaries.  The course is designed for advanced undergraduate students who have had at least one full year of Introductory Biology; one additional biology course at the intermediate level is recommended.  Beginning graduate students also are welcome.

Class will meet Tuesday and Thursday mornings, with labs on Thursday afternoons. 

Course texts: The Diversity of Fishes, 2nd edition (Helfman, Collette, Facey, and Bowen 2009, published by Blackwell Science Inc.); and Fishes of Vermont (Langdon, Ferguson, and Cox 2006, published by the Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife.)

Seining in Missisquoi Bay

Course lecture/discussion topics will include: 

  • General introduction (Chapter 1) and discussion of Systematics and Taxonomy (Chapter 2)

  • Basic anatomy of fishes (Chapters 3, 4)

  • Physiology (Chapters 5, 6, 7)

  • Functional morphology (Chapter 8)

  • Adaptations to special habitats (Chapter 18)

  • History and evolution of fishes (Chapter 11)

  • Introduction to major groups of fishes: Chondrichtyes (Chapter 12);  Extant primitive fishes (Chapter 13); Teleosts (Chapters 14, 15)

  • Zoogeography (Chapter 16) and Genetics (Chapter 17)

  • Reproduction (Chapter 21)

  • Life history trade-offs (Chapter 24)

  • Early life history (Chapter 9)

  • Growth (Chapter 10)

  • Fishes as predators (Chapter 22)

  • Fish behavior (Chapter 23)

  • Fish populations and assemblages (Chapter 24)

  • Fish ecology and conservation (Chapters 25, 26)

Field and Laboratory activities may include:

  • various fish sampling methods –  seines, backpack electrofishing, trap nets, trawls

  • fish anatomy and identification

  • fish physiology and behavior

  • looking at fish communities in different areas Lake Champlain

  • analysis of diets of fishes in Missisquoi Bay

  • examining changes in fish community structure with decreasing altitude and increasing river size (from mountain streams to lowland rivers)

 

 

 

 

Sampling on the Brown's River in Underhill, Vermont

Course instructor, Dr. Doug Facey, has over 20 years of experience working with Vermont fishes, and is a coauthor of the ichthyology textbook, The Diversity of Fishes (2nd edition, 2008).  His research interests include distribution and ecology of rare fishes, fish components of limnetic food webs, and physiological indicators of environmental stress in fishes. 

Backpack electrofishing is used to capture fishes in small rivers and streams

This lake trout from Lake Champlain has a lamprey scar below its dorsal fin.

For additional course information, or if you have any questions, please contact Dr. Doug Facey (802-654-2625; dfacey@smcvt.edu).

A chain pickerel caught seining in Missisquoi Bay