RDRINK25
Contributor
What is the best identification for Roatan Marine Species? I have the Caribbean Reef Fish Identification and was looking for something else
Best Fish book
- Thread starter RDRINK25
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
- Messages
- 10,954
- Reaction score
- 4,130
- # of dives
- None - Not Certified
Assuming you mean you have the Paul Humann book. Do you also have his Reef Creatures? That'll keep you busy for a while. Reef Creature Identification: Florida Caribbean Bahamas 3rd Edition (Reef Set) (Reef Set (New World)): Paul Humann, Ned DeLoach, Les Wilk: 9781878348531: Amazon.com: Books
I've seen, read and owned a lot of different ones. This set has a lot of data. If you're looking for a wider, different spread of fish IDs, I believe you have to turn to one-at-a-time research on the internet. Many fish or crustaceans that he does not specifically identify have been more an issue of my being to fussy about specimen color deviation. There have been some critters that are not in the book, but this has been explained to me as "individuals do vary", notably in the Decorator Crabs (for me).
I've seen, read and owned a lot of different ones. This set has a lot of data. If you're looking for a wider, different spread of fish IDs, I believe you have to turn to one-at-a-time research on the internet. Many fish or crustaceans that he does not specifically identify have been more an issue of my being to fussy about specimen color deviation. There have been some critters that are not in the book, but this has been explained to me as "individuals do vary", notably in the Decorator Crabs (for me).
If it's not already this one you mean, "Caribbean Reef Life of The Bay Islands, Honduras" is indispensable. Caribbean Reef Life - Caribbean Reef Life - a field guide for Caribbean diving and fish identification We use it in our shop on Roatan multiple times a day.
PatW
Contributor
Human and DeLoach is the best and most complete dive I have seen. Most dive shops have a copy available for reference. The guide does a number of important things. It shows the critical diagnostic features on many species. It shows the range of color morphs. It also shows immature and adults. I have not seen anything else that comes close.
That's the problem... it's the most complete. Hundreds and hundreds of species, multiple variations of each, most of whom you did not see on the dive that morning.
I think what the OP is after and what I have often wanted is a more locally specific guide that basically says "on this island, these are the top 20 fish you'll see and this is what they look like here".
On a good reef you have a good chance of seeing a lot more than 20.
Most areas also have a dive card with a lot of the more common ones.
H and D also have a travel version of Reef Fish that is lighter and more abbreviated. Still a lot more than 20.
I know. Call it the top 50 then. My goal is not to ID every last fish on the reef. The top 50 if not top 20 probably accounts for the vast majority of fish life by abundance.
I was just making a point that too much info can be overwhelming. Introduce me to a few people and I'll probably remember their names. Introduce me to a busload of people and I might not remember any of them. I try to learn a couple of new fish each day and "top 20/50" would cover that.
I can ID more than the average diver but I'm not an expert or specialist and the pics in the book/card often don't seem to look just like the fish you see on the dive. There are so many variations of many species and they change from juvenile to intermediate to adult. Juveniles can be tough to ID because they often do not sport the colors or patterns by which they are named.
The "book" I use most is the interactive DVD from Reefnet because it includes video clips and multiple photos of most species. I find that a video clip tells me more about a given fish than any still photo because it better reflects what I saw. I didn't see closeup still photo of fish on my dive... I saw them swimming around. I can get a better sense of size relative to other fish. I can also get a better sense of abundance.
stevep4444
Contributor
Caribbean Reef Life - Caribbean Reef Life - a field guide for Caribbean diving and fish identification
Carribean Reef Life of the Bay Islands is what you are looking for.
Carribean Reef Life of the Bay Islands is what you are looking for.
Really?
"This 350-page guide book showcases the amazing underwater diversity of The Bay Islands and the entire Western Caribbean, with over 1000 species in full color, and descriptions for each species."
How is this better than Humann and Deloach, if overload is the issue?
---------- Post added March 10th, 2015 at 09:29 PM ----------
From the Reef.org database, the ten most commonly observed species in the tropical western Atlantic. The number in parentheses is the percentage of surveys on which that species is observed. Lots of data like this is on that website.
| Bluehead (85) | |
| Blue Tang (84.8) | |
| Stoplight Parrotfish (81.1) | |
| Bicolor Damselfish (79.9) | |
| French Grunt (74.6) | |
| Foureye Butterflyfish (72.4) | |
| Sergeant Major (70) | |
| Ocean Surgeonfish (69.8) | |
| Yellowtail Snapper (69.4) | |
| Yellowhead Wrasse (69.2) |
So if I see a school of thousands of silversides, that is all I need to know because of their abundance? No, the point of diversity is the number of species, not the number of fish. Knowing only 20 species is novice stuff, and easy to do. Knowing 100 is getting more interesting, challenging, and useful. Note that 398 species have been identified on one site in Bonaire!
Last edited:
Interactive only if you have a PC. It is not interactive on the Mac. On a mac you can see the video clips but all the interactive part is gone. I know because I bought it and now do not use it. Same with dive computers. I can download but the software that comes with them is often useless.
---------- Post added March 10th, 2015 at 09:18 PM ----------
Interesting list.
No blue chromis? In the Keys I see them every dive. Must be less common elsewhere.
Similar threads
- Question
