Gene S. Helfman is an Emeritus Professor of Ecology in the Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia. He retired after 30 years of conducting research on and teaching about ichthyology, animal behavior, and conservation biology. His research focused on the behavioral ecology and conservation of fishes in lakes, streams, coastal oceans, and coral reefs. In addition to contributing to this textbook, Helfman in 2007 published a highly acclaimed reference and text, Fish Conservation: A Guide to Understanding and Restoring Global Aquatic Biodiversity and Fishery Resources. He received a BS from the University of California, an MS from the University or Hawaii, and a Ph.D. from Cornell University.

Bruce Collette is a Senior Scientist at the National Systematics Laboratory of the National Marine Fisheries Service based in the National Museum of Natural History, part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. He studies the systematics and evolution of several groups of epipelagic fishes such as tunas, mackerels, halfbeaks, and needlefishes and benthic fishes such as toadfishes and has published over 250 papers on these and other fishes. He has co-authored books on fishes of the Gulf of Maine and Bermuda. He received his BS and PhD degrees at Cornell University.

Doug Facey is a Professor of Biology at Saint Michael's College in Vermont where he studies the ecology and physiology of fishes of Lake Champlain and its tributaries. One ongoing area of interest is fish diversity in lower tributaries, including some rare darters. Doug received his BS in Biology at the University of Maine-Orono, his MS in Zoology at the University of Vermont, and his PhD in Zoology at the University of Georgia.

Brian Bowen spent the summers of his youth snorkeling in Cape Cod Bay, where he learned to appreciate fishes. Dr Bowen is a researcher at Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (University of Hawaii), with over two dozen research expeditions, and over 100 publications on the conservation genetics of fishes and other vertebrates. He holds a M.A. degree from Virginia Institute of Marine Science, a Ph.D. from University of Georgia, and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Currently Dr. Bowen works on fish five days a week, and on the weekend prefers to go fishing.