Reef Fish Identification - Florida Caribbean Bahamas by Humann and De Loach is a fantastic book. However, NC draws in fish species from north and south and the book does not cover all the fish we see locally especially with pictures. The situation is worse with the lighter travel version which deletes several species including some we have. I have been looking for a while for a book that can fill the gap. I have finally found it. "A field guide to Coastal Fishes from Maine to Texas" by Kells and Carpenter, published by Johns Hopkins. The book has almost 1,000 fish with illustrations. The illustrations are excellent in terms of coloration and detail. Among the best fish id illustrations I have seen. It includes, as far as I can see, all of the fish we have locally. As just three examples it has several hakes and several lizardfishes that are found in NC and lt does include our local croaker. At $25 it is a bargain.
