Species concepts and speciation of fishes: concluding remarks

The definition of the species category has stimulated more debate than perhaps any other topic in the biological sciences. There are currently more than 22 different species concepts and the debate continues on which concepts apply to all organisms, which concepts are operational and which concepts should be used in specific circumstances. The first major division of the types of concepts depends on whether one views species as constructs that exist for ordering biodiversity and information retrieval (i.e. classes), or views species as ontological individuals that exist in nature. If species are categories that can be defined, then theoretically, a single species can arise more than once in different places or at different times. If, on the other hand, species are individuals, then they are historical events, monophyletic and each species is unique.