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Title: Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide by Gerald R. Allen, Roger Steene ISBN: 9-8100568-7-7 Publisher: Odyssey Publishing Pub. Date: 01 June, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $40.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.82 (11 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: relatively exhaustive guide
Comment: first of all: this is a gd book. i've been able to identify almost all critters with this book. but tt's as far as i can get.
Apart from photographic identification, there's little information provided abt the individual animals which would be very useful i.e. habitat, size range, colour range, symbiotism with another species etc. also there's a section which lists the animals as "misc" which well isn't entirely the fault of the authors. i'm assuming tt perhaps little info is available abt the relative species and hence they're unable to give it proper classification or the class is small so it's unnecessary to give them their own.
the pictures are all brilliantly taken which allows for easy identification except for some of the fusilers and gobies and other small critters tt are difficult to identify bcos of the angle fr which the pix are taken or that they are taken fr a wide angle i.e. an entire school of fish which can require quite a squint. i thought it wld be useful too if apart from the pix they could, like bird ident books, detail in writing the physical appearance of the fish. bcos fish can have rather different appearances in the various life stages. either that or there are variations to their colours etc. but this cld also be due to a lack of species information. which is why perhaps it wld be gd to buy a range of books so comparisens can me made and also for those who take pictures (and who are interested enough) to feedback the authors. the more info we have the better guide books we can make.
i thought it was nice to include a section on coast/sea birds. alot of time ppl fail to take notice of them. perhaps this section can be improved on to make ppl more aware of avain life ard the sea. marine mammals also needs more work. right now the porpoise ident is a page of grayscale illustrations. i know most of the times they're gray but... it's also not exhaustive which again, cld be supported by reader contributions.
still undecided by my review? just by the book then.
Rating: 5
Summary: For Serious Fish-watchers
Comment: Over many years, I have looked for a good guide to reef fauna. Last year, I settled for this one and probably won't look further.
This one is very good for identifying everything from sponges to turtles. Each type of creature (usually a phylum or an order) is organized into its own chapter, which begins with a couple of pages of general facts that generally cover reproduction, feeding, and interesting characteristics. Then come the pages of very good color photos of each variation (there are over 20 different clownfishes identified... not bad!) These are labeled with their common name and their Latin name.
But unlike Margaret Gremli's Marine Life in the South China Sea (albeit a less complete and orderly field guide), Allen and Steene's book does not offer any interesting tidbits of information NEXT TO the creature's photo. Each entry is just a name, sometimes with a height in centimeters. In other words, it's great for getting the exact name of the fish you just spotted forty feet down, and your dive log will gain some cred, but you won't immediately find any descriptive text or amusing information about that fish in its entry. Don't get me wrong, this is a great field guide, and it took me 10 years to find this. But some divers may prefer the "hey, did you know...?" format of Gremli's book (ISBN 9 789624 215427, published by APA Publications (H.K.) Ltd).
Rating: 4
Summary: By and large a reliable companion
Comment: ...BR>This book is intended to be used to identify marine organisms by comparing photographs with the live specimens seen or photographed while diving or snorkeling. Although a paperback it is quite a strong book and withstands extensive handling quite well without falling apart. It has helped me to identify most of the marine organisms I encountered in the waters around Bali. A zoologist by training I am not only interested in fishes, but also in all kinds of invertebrate organisms, such as soft and hard corals, nudibranchs, tunicates, echinoderms, worms, molluscs, etc. I therefore noted with particularly pleasure that these are very well represented. For instance, when for the first time you see what looks like white strings on corals or rocks you wonder what the heck that could be. The book informs you that these are spaghetti worms! Ever heard of them? In my experience photographs are more suitable than drawings for finding a resemblance between picture and live specimens. And whereas I realize that it is not easy to photograph fishes, especially not the shy species, I wished a few times the pictures to bear a closer resemblance to the real specimens. It would be to the book's advantage if improved photographs were included when a new edition is prepared. At present, however, there is no alternative to this book.
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Title: Coral Reef Animals of the Indo-Pacific: Animal Life from Africa to Hawaii Exclusive of the Vertebrates by Terrence M. Gosliner, David W. Behrens, Gary C. Williams, Cary C. Williams ISBN: 0930118219 Publisher: Sea Challengers Pub. Date: 01 July, 1996 List Price(USD): $45.00 |
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Title: Coral Reef Fishes : Indo-Pacific and Caribbean by Ewald Lieske, Robert Myers ISBN: 0691089957 Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr Pub. Date: 26 December, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-East Asia by Gerald R. Allen ISBN: 0730983633 Publisher: Western Australian Museum Pub. Date: January, 1997 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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Title: Reef Fish Identification - Tropical Pacific by Gerald Allen, Roger Steene, Paul Humann, Ned DeLoach ISBN: 1878348361 Publisher: New World Publications Pub. Date: October, 2003 List Price(USD): $45.00 |
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Title: Micronesian Reef Fishes : A Field Guide for Divers and Aquarists by Robert F. Myers ISBN: 0962156442 Publisher: Coral Graphics Pub. Date: June, 1999 List Price(USD): $49.95 |
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