For any observer of the literature on coral reef fishes it is easy to note that there have been a series of primary topics, each lasting about a decade. Back in the '70s, a lot of attention was given to competition. By the '80s, we had jumped onto the wagon of recruitment and the roles of post-recruitment mortality. And, by the '90s, the focus had shifted to the dispersal of reef fish larvae and their behaviors. This last decade was also very exciting. New discoveries, technologies, and international collaborations yielded important advances in the field of larval dispersal and macro ecological patterns. We also saw the emergence of new disciplines related to social–ecological systems and the impact of human disturbances. Our scientific understanding of reef fishes also rose to an all-time high given that such information is necessary if we are to effectively protect reef systems constantly subjected to anthropogenic stressors. Just consider that during the last decade alone our population grew by about 1 billion people, which undoubtedly has and will continue to put stress on coral reefs, especially since human populations close to most coral reefs could double in size before the end of this century.

Another thing to note about the field of reef fish ecology is that about every 10 years since 1980, Peter F. Sale has delivered general overviews on the state of the knowledge, but none has appeared in the last decade. So the observation that considerable advances have happened in the last decade and that no overview has been written drove me to ask Peter whether he was planning to work on this decade's overview and whether he would let me help continue his legacy. I wrote a nice email, on which I worked for over a week, indicating how necessary this book was and how I was his guy to help and that I will take care of the heavy lifting.