Customer Reviews

The Ultimate Guide to Hawaiian Reef Fishes: Sea Turtles, Dolphins, Whales, and Seals

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For many years, there have been two excellent guides to the fishes of Hawaii -- "Hawaii's Fishes" (by John P. Hoover) and "Shore Fishes of Hawai'i" (by John E. Randall). These are invaluable to divers and snorkelers; unlike other less complete books, they document virtually every fish that you'll ever see in Hawaii.

In this new book, "The Ultimate Guide to Hawaiian Reef Fishes", Hoover has really outdone himself. Some species are illustrated with multiple photographs -- for instance, six photos of the Undulated Moray eel, including color variations and a young specimen. The other books have photos of three or five species of flounders and soles, but this one has photos of eight species. Since most of these are uncommon, this completeness could be confusing to beginners, but it's great for more advanced fish-watchers.

Most fish ID books are somewhat dry -- a series of photographs, each accompanied by a brief description of the fish's appearance and behavior. This book has that information, but what really sets it apart is the many sidebars with information that will be interesting to both beginners and experts -- e.g., cooperative hunting between peacock groupers and moray eels, the feeding habits of eagle rays, and the dangers of stroking a porcupinefish or eating pufferfish. The book is full of interesting anecdotes that you won't find in other books.

Even the "dry" descriptions are a bit more informative than those in other books. For instance, the description of Thompson's Butterflyfish mentions that it often aggregates with Thompson's Surgeonfish. The latter is a very nondescript fish, but this description will help you find and identify it.

Finally, there is a short section about other vertebrates you might see underwater -- turtles, dolphins, whales, and seals. (For invertebrates, you need another book such as "Hawaii's Sea Creatures", also by Hoover.)

The only drawback is that this book weighs twice as much as the other fish books mentioned above. If weight is an issue, you might prefer to pack one of the other fish books in your luggage, but you'll want to look at this one before and after the trip.

With internet notification of this new book, we began searching the book stores on Maui for copies. I eventually ordered it direct from the author, hoping it would be just as useful as his previous fish and invertebrate identification books. Yes, it meets my expectations with beautiful photographs and species descriptions, and adds "talk story". I'm in the ocean several times a week for reef surveys, and John Hoover's books are a comfortable companion. For correct species identification, we learn first hand from local fish experts. But, we have to study the photograph's in John Hoover's books, along with other sources. The Ultimate Guide goes beyond a single photo of a single fish for each species. He has added photos of their behaviors and story boxes, to teach the reader there is more to fish identification than colors and shapes. The story boxes are in the Hawaiian style of "talk story". For visitors to the scuba and snorkel sites around the Hawaiian Islands, they will find the addition of sea turtles, sea snakes, and marine mammals a bonus feature. This is the first book you will pick up to identify near shore reef fish. Beginners and experts will find the book useful. I find it useful and fun to read.

There are quite a few books out there on Hawaii's reef fishes, but Hoover is one of the top authors. The photos in this books are spectacular and the number of species included is unparalleled. This is the underwater guide you don't want to be without especially if you are on a dive trip to Hawaii. Great for academic research, or just the casual marine enthusiast. I use all of Hoover's books on a weekly basis and I'm a marine biologist...but it's great to have references like his with great pictures for comparison of different species and to explain something to the lay person with pictures. This book also includes multiple photos of many of the species. The value of this is that there are often many different color morphs, and the juveniles, females and males may differ in color. The descriptions are accurate and helpful, both for identification and coloration as well as more technical biological information, behavior and feeding habits. If you are a diver or marine enthusiast. This is the book for you.

I've relied on John's other identification books for years and pack those along with John Randall's Shore Fishes of Hawaii on all trips to the islands. I write about the ocean for kids and keep a life list of fish, so these guides are important in helping me get identifications correct. All the stories in the Ulitmate Guide add greatly to the book, as do the many photos of species not generally shown in other guides. The addition of cetaceans, turtles, and monk seals is also a nice touch. Anyone wishing to truly understand the undersea world in the islands will want to take John's newest to the beach along with his Hawaii's Sea Creatures. This is true for first time visitors and those of us looking to enjoy and better understand all Hawaiian sea life.

Even better than his first as far as details, pictures, and varieties included. Organization is always the issue with a reef fishes book, and Hoover does a good job of combining groups and subgroups so I can find the fish I spotted while snorkeling. It will be my snorkeling bible.

My new husband and I used this book to help us identify the turtles and the incredible variety of fish we photographed on our big island honeymoon. The book has quite a bit of detailed scientific information, but still was very helpful and easy to use. We had started out with a different book called Hawaiian Reef Fish written by Astrid Witte and Casey Mahaney, but we were noticing that too many of the photographs in that earlier book were so dark or poor, we could not see the features well enough to help us identify the fish in our own photographs. We also had too many photos that looked nothing like any of the limited species in that book. That other book was a helpful starting place, but we were left with too many unknowns.

Hoover's book is much thicker, has many more species in it, and often includes multiple photographs for a single species. This is enormously helpful for the many cases where the male and female of a species look very different, and where the juveniles do not look like either parent. We learned also that many fish can change their coloring, and this book has photos showing those variations too.

We also liked the extra information provided at the beginning of each subsection of fish. We found the extra stories and information fascinating, and the warnings about certain fish helpful. We are strictly amateurs in photography and biology, but we still found the book's organization and content understandable.

This book might be a bit bulky to fit in your suitcase for the trip itself, but we think it is fantastic for identifying your fish photos when you get home. My husband and I very highly recommend this outstanding book.

The phots look very real. I enjoy finding a lot of fish I saw in Maui in this book.I will take this with me when I go to Hawaii next time!

I live in Hawaii and love to dive, we saw many fish..sometimes strange shape and color. This book explain all with many photos....
Love this !!! Recommended for people who love snorkeling, diving or just want to know about Hawaiian Reef Fish :)

It's a gift for my daughter but she's seen it and said it's the best Hawaiian fish book she's ever seen. She snorkels, dives
and spearfishes.

I've bought and read several books on Hawaiian fish, and this is my favorite. The illustrations are copious and clear, it contains common, scientific and Hawaiian names for the fish, and it discusses things such as their mating habits and diets, so you can learn about as well as identify the various fish.

If you have the privilege to go snorkeling in Hawaii, this is a great book to have. It will provide far more depth then the simple cards or guide books you will get at the snorkel gear stores, and it is one of the best ways for you to share your experiences with others (short of having an underwater housing for your digital SLR....)

It covers just about everything you will see, from fish to eels to turtles to dolphins.