Fish ID apps for smartphones & tablets.+

[DocVikingo]

Courtesy of the Aug, ‘14 issue of Undercurrent & DocVikingo

“Both Humann/DeLoach books on tropical Pacific reef fish and creatures are available for iPads. They're also available for Androids and iPhones, but one must first download an app made by Blio before you're able to download the e-book. As for computers, Blio only works on Windows, not on Macs. $30 each. ( www.fishid.com/blio.html )

The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute has two great -- and free -- iPhone apps. "Fishes: East Pacific" is a guide to shore fishes of the tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean, and was put together by Ross Robertson and Gerald Allen, two expert fish guys. Species can be browsed by common name, Latin name or family ( https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fish...494644648?mt=8 ). There's also "Greater Caribbean Fishes," which covers everything from the typically-seen queen angelfish and spotted drums to Florida's deepwater treasures Lipogramma regium and Plectranthias garrupellus. Nearly 1,600 species are covered in 5,500 pictures. ( https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fish...570048678?mt=8 )

For Hawaii-loving divers, "Reef Critter Hawaii" shows 374 invertebrate species on an iPhone/iPad, and each image is accompanied by a small description, organized by species and family, and comes with links to external video content. The same app developer makes "Reef Fish Florida and Caribbean," which settles those post-dive discussions about angelfish versus emperorfish with 400 photos and descriptions written by marine experts. It also comes with links to external videos, and options to store your favorites. Each app is $5 ( http://indigo.malinowski.com ).

Regards,

DocVikingo

 

[KeithG]

can you provide any insights on how easy these apps are to use?

We always carry the Humman/DeLoach books with us and so far have stuck to the paper version because we know how to quickly "jump to" the section we are interested when trying to identify an unknown creature.

I would love to shed a few pounds and leave the books at home, but my big fear is that the e-version will prove to be un-usable like 99% of the other first generation apps I have bought.

Seems like too many of these products are created by programmer weenies that have no clue about how real people will use the product. Hence they are useless.

Any opinions or insight would be appreciated.