Fish ID Self Study

[chrpai]

I'm getting ready for a trip to the Bahamas and I decided that I wanted to try to bone up a bit.

I purchased a book on Fish Id (Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas ) and I've also tried the Smithsonian app mentioned in this forum.

The book is fun to thumb through but it's really overwhelming. I wish I could filter it down to just the Bahamas and just the fish that are abundant or common. I feel like 3/4's of the species are fish I'm very unlikely to see on my trip.

I also wish there were flash cards (real or virtual) to help memorize. I also wish there were tablets you could take underwater to drill down and identify, take a picture of the fish and then use GeoLocation services to upload your findings and also use others findings to come up with the fish you are likely to see at a given spot.

So all of my "wants" are probably unrealistic. What is available and what can I do to try to bone up as much as I can?

 

[tracydr]

I found a flash card app for California reef fish available on the REEF website. You might try there.

 

[knotical]

For the first part of your wish list, the REEF database is your friend.

For example, here: Geographic Zone Report | Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF)
is a listing of the fish most commonly seen by REEF surveyors at Turtle Rocks on Bimini, in order of frequency of occurrence.

or all of Bimini: http://www.reef.org/db/reports/geo/TWA/4101

etc.

 

[chrpai]

Thank you!!!!

 

[Jaysun1327]

You could also try one of REEF's "Fishinars," The TWA: Caribbean Hit Parade - Top 25 might be useful. You'll need to join REEF in order to view these, but joining is free.

List of all Fishinars: REEF Webinars / Fishinars | Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF)[h=2][/h]

 

[ryan115]

Another supplement to the book you mentioned (I an assuming Humann and DeLoach) would be ReefNet Inc. | Reef Fish Identification - Interactive Edition
there are quizzes and logs and such.

There are many computers that you could take down a few feet...however if you are wanting ones to go into diving or even snorkeling depth check out WetPC or SEASLATE by Kord or Tritech's P-Sea. Most things can be bought if money is no object.

 

[Steve_C]

When I go to a new area I will look over a flash card or read up a bit. But mostly I take pictures when I see a fish or make notes. I then try to identify them later. I tried the memorize ahead and it drove me crazy. I would see things I had not read about and read about things I did not see. But I am a bad memorizer.

 

[agilis]

'Fishes of the Caribbean" by Dr. John Randall. The best I've seen, with a strong focus on those fish you are most likely to see on a Caribbean reef; brief but very useful details, comprehensive but not overly detailed, excellent photos. Not too big and not too small, written by a master.

 

[redacted]

One other technique I have had some success with is to pick out 2 or 3 fish from the book that you would like to record, learn their appearance and habits, and go searching for them. That technique works well with things basslets and the peppermint bass where you usually have to look in recesses to find them.

 

[Hawkwood]

Audubon has a terrific guide for the iPad and iPhone - "Audubon Fishes of the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico".

Not a self-study thing, but it sure makes it fast and easy to look up something. "Browse by Shape" is particularly helpful.