Fish recognition books.

[Kim]

Hi-
For some time I have been trying to find a decent book to help to identify fish. I would like something that covers the tropical/semi-tropical Pacific - from Okinawa, Japan to the Philipinnes/ Malaysia/Thailand - as well as the Pacific islands such as Pulau, Saipan, Guam etc. I live in Japan and can easily find it in Japanese - but not English! Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[kelpmermaid]

Have you tried a search on Amazon.com? That might give you an idea of what's available...

 

[Kim]

Have you tried a search on Amazon.com? That might give you an idea of what's available...

Well I wasn't really expecting a result from this - but - a combined search over Google and Amazon Japan has yielded a book called ' Reef Fish Identification - Tropical Pacific' - which I hope will be OK! It's a new book so I'm curious if anyone knows it?

 

[glbirch]

Picked one up in Thailand recently. Asia Pacific Reef Guide, by Helmut Debelius. I believe it covers most of the area you're looking for.

 

[Kim]

Picked one up in Thailand recently. Asia Pacific Reef Guide, by Helmut Debelius. I believe it covers most of the area you're looking for.

Thanks for the tip. I can't find it on Amazon though - so I'll have to go with the one they have for now. It is supposed to cover about 2000 fish - which should help to improve my lousy knowledge when it comes to my log book etc. You know the sort of thing:

'Saw a small green and blue one with yellow stripes' !! :blush:

 

[IslandHopper]

I'll check in the morning ... our LDS just got some new books ... one is just what you are looking for, with color photos.
I'll check the name/author and post it tomorrow.
You could pick it up on your next dive-vacation to Guam

 

[glbirch]

Thanks for the tip. I can't find it on Amazon though - so I'll have to go with the one they have for now. It is supposed to cover about 2000 fish - which should help to improve my lousy knowledge when it comes to my log book etc. You know the sort of thing:

'Saw a small green and blue one with yellow stripes' !! :blush:

It is for sale online through DiveBooty in the UK. http://www.simplyscuba.com/cgi-bin-ss/diveshop.cgi?SQLproduct=1528&refid=davegr plus a few other online stores. As well, the ISBN is ISBN: 3931702901. It's possible that a good local bookstore might be able to order it in for you.

I agree with you, BTW. I much prefer to be able to say "that was a cool Splendid Toadfish" instead of "what the heck was that ugly purple fish?" Hope you find a good reference book.

 

[IslandHopper]

Ok ... the one we have here is "Micronesian Reef Fishes", by R.F. Meyers.

It's quite a thick book, but includes fairly detailed descriptions and "bio's" of each fish... also contains a photo index ... looks like a couple thousand photos. Appears to be a pretty good book.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_1/103-8064982-0603007?v=glance&s=books

 

[Kim]

Ok ... the one we have here is "Micronesian Reef Fishes", by R.F. Meyers.

It's quite a thick book, but includes fairly detailed descriptions and "bio's" of each fish... also contains a photo index ... looks like a couple thousand photos. Appears to be a pretty good book.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0962156442/qid=1082514219/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-8064982-0603007?v=glance&s=books

Thanks for the info! I've ordered 'Reef Fish Identification - Tropical Pacific' from Amazon and should get it in a couple of days. I'll let you know what it's like when I receive it.