Looking for the best book for fish/ other creature id

[miserkris]

Is there one book that covers every area of the world or should i only buy area wise like Caribbean, indo, Australia, hawaii, Pacific etc?

If so what's the best one or else what's the best for caribbean side for id of reef creatures incl fishes?

Thanks....

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

Reef creatures: humann and Deloach. It has everything. Well presented. Get the box of 3 actually. It isn’t cheap, buts it’s everythi g you want. I use it religiously.

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

The Reef Set: Florida Caribbean Bahamas: Paul Humann, Ned DeLoach: 9781878348333: Books - Amazon.ca

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

And no, I’ve never found a comprehensive one to cover everything, but I suppose that’s because it would likely be the size of an encyclopedia

 

[Landau]

I like the Audubon guides. There is a North American version which covers cold water, fresh water in addition to reef fishes.

The format is like their book guide the first half is photos and the second half descriptions. It is also reasonably priced.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I also have the set of three books for the Caribbean.

In my world wide travels, I reference the books at the dive Ops I'm frequenting. Invariably, my favorite is also the Humann books.

 

[Damselfish]

There's just too many fish and critters out there for there to be one book. Like many people I have the 3 book Reef set for the Caribbean as well as Reef Fish Behavior which is an interesting one to actually read through. And assorted books for other parts of the world. I'd say books for the Carribean are much closer to "complete", there is just too much in the Indo-Pacific and they keep finding more ( which is part of the reason to go there.)

I used to travel with the books when luggage weight was less of an issue. Now I use the books available at my destination. If I were just starting now I might consider the ebook versions I could use on a tablet, but not everything is available that way and I'm not sure they are as inclusive, or as easy to browse through.

 

[tursiops]

If I were just starting now I might consider the ebook versions I could use on a tablet, but not everything is available that way and I'm not sure they are as inclusive, or as easy to browse through.

They are identical to the paper copies. A search by name is easier, but just flipping pages and looking for a similar picture is not.

 

[miserkris]

I also have the set of three books for the Caribbean.

In my world wide travels, I reference the books at the dive Ops I'm frequenting. Invariably, my favorite is also the Humann books.

I'm getting this i think, though not the latest edition but cheap!

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/372434807861

 

[KathyV]

I'm getting this i think, though not the latest edition but cheap!

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/372434807861

We have the same editions of those 2 books, the newer versions are thicker and contain more images, but those are very good references and cheap! There is a 3rd book in the set for identifying Caribbean reef corals. Like @Damselfish, we used to bring the books with us when we traveled but now we leave them at home and enjoy using them as a reference.

Luggage weight is a bigger issue these days and we want to keep down the baggage fees. Plus, as others have said, we always find copies of the same books, and other references available at the dive op or on the LOB when we travel.

But since you are a fairly new diver, you might want to buy them and browse through them on the plane while you travel, it will make it easier to identify animals that you spot while you are diving.

When is your trip?