Synopsis This book is primarily meant for beginners in fish taxonomy, students, teachers and amateur naturalists who are interested to know the different aspects of fish, their diversity, diagnostic characters, methods of collection, preservation, future care, gears employed and means to identify them and give a correct scientific name. The various technical terms used in selection of types, how they are selected, the rules governing them, the regulations of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, the various systems of nomenclature, synonyms, homonyms, their categories are all explained with examples. A brief history of taxonomy and the different phases it has undergone are detailed. The utility of various characters for identification and the methods of using them in keys are explained. Different types of keys which are in vogue are shown with examples. The various body measurements and counts of fish are listed with illustrative diagrams. Useful hints for describing an already known species and a new one are given. Model descriptions of a scaled and a non-scaled fishes are appended. 41 illustrations are inserted at appropriate places in the text. An index of scientific names and also of technical terms is included. This book is perhaps the first of its kind to be published in India and is compact and comprehensive to accommodate all information that would be required for the above-mentioned clientele besides others.