A "few" of my favorite PNW critters

[MaxBottomtime]

Pacific Northwest Marine Life

 

[Trailboss123]

Pacific Northwest Marine Life

Awesome-- Do you have a good reference tool/book for critter ID purposes that you can recommend?

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Southern California Marine Life’s albums | Flickr
Merry Passage
Observations by maxbottomtime
Phil Garner Stock Photos & Phil Garner Stock Images - Alamy

 

[Trailboss123]

Southern California Marine Life’s albums | Flickr
Merry Passage
Observations by maxbottomtime
Phil Garner Stock Photos & Phil Garner Stock Images - Alamy

Thanks

 

[cmjstealth]

I know I'm replying to a really old post but for pnw critter id these are my recommendations. Not sure if the OP's response was actually intended as a follow up to your question:

• For fish: Coastal Fishes of the Pacific Northwest by by Andy Lamb and Phil Edgell
• For invertebrates: Beneath Pacific Tides: Subtidal Invertebrates of the West Coast Beneath Pacific Tides-12 You can also find this on amazon although if you buy here I understand the author gets more of the revenue.
• Reef.org also has some free resources such as recorded training classes and cheat sheets if you create a free account with them

A reference for identifying critters typically needs more than just pictures. So many species vary widely in color and shape and many fish can even change appearance on purpose. You need to know the specific, often small, characteristics to look for that makes each species unique as well as knowing similar "lookalike" species you have to "rule out". The above books do a pretty good job of this - something I certainly can't say for all critter identification books on the market. I have a bunch in my library that are honestly kinda useless other than having additional pictures to look at

I don't have a copy of "Coastal Fish Identification" by Humann and Deloach so can't speak to that one but their books in other regions are pretty good.

 

[Zach The Diver]

I know I'm replying to a really old post but for pnw critter id these are my recommendations. Not sure if the OP's response was actually intended as a follow up to your question:

• For fish: Coastal Fishes of the Pacific Northwest by by Andy Lamb and Phil Edgell
• For invertebrates: Beneath Pacific Tides: Subtidal Invertebrates of the West Coast Beneath Pacific Tides-12 You can also find this on amazon although if you buy here I understand the author gets more of the revenue.
• Reef.org also has some free resources such as recorded training classes and cheat sheets if you create a free account with them

A reference for identifying critters typically needs more than just pictures. So many species vary widely in color and shape and many fish can even change appearance on purpose. You need to know the specific, often small, characteristics to look for that makes each species unique as well as knowing similar "lookalike" species you have to "rule out". The above books do a pretty good job of this - something I certainly can't say for all critter identification books on the market. I have a bunch in my library that are honestly kinda useless other than having additional pictures to look at

I don't have a copy of "Coastal Fish Identification" by Humann and Deloach so can't speak to that one but their books in other regions are pretty good.

Can vouch- Coastal Fishes of the PNW is excellent.