National Audubon Society Field Guide to Tropical Marine Fishes: Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, Florida, Bahamas, Bermuda (Turtleback)

by NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Covering tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda, this field guide by C. Lavett Smith (curator emeritus, Department of Ichthyology, American Museum of Natural History in New York) sets the tropical-fish standard. There are 417 truly magnificent color photographs evincing the glories of the coral reefs and full-text descriptions for more than 400 species, each with its own range map. In addition, the guide includes maps of the regions, more than 100 fish anatomy illustrations, and close to 800 more brief species descriptions. Easy to use and understand, lightweight, and sturdily constructed for travel, the field guide is a great boon for one's snorkeling or scuba-diving vacations. --Stephanie Gold

Product Description
The most comprehensive field guide available to the tropical fishes of the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. All 417 photographs are in full color, capturing the natural beauty of the fishes on coral reefs and other habitats of tropical marine waters. The species photographs are keyed to full text descriptions of more than 400 species, each with its own range map. The text also includes brief coverage of nearly 800 additional species. Detailed endpaper maps, precise black-and-white drawings, and an illustrated family key supplement this authoritative and visually stunning resource.

The National Audubon Society Field Guides group species according to taxonomy and shape. Helpful thumb-tab silhouette keys make identification quick and easy.

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Product Details

• Turtleback: 720 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 1 edition (September 16, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067944601X
• ISBN-13: 978-0679446019
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 3.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #261,888 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #8 in	Books > Travel > Caribbean > Bermuda
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  #27 in	Books > Outdoors & Nature > Field Guides > Fish

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best one out there, January 20, 2002

By	Scott Slora (San Juan, PR USA) - See all my reviews

This is the best book I've seen for identifying fish in this region when snorkeling, diving, or tide-pooling. I own & use several, but if you're only going to buy one guide, this is the one to get.

The illustrations alone would make this better than anything else on the market. Most guides rely on artists' renderings or studio photographs of dead fish. This book illustrates each of over 400 species with a close-up color photograph of a live fish in the water. Incredible.

The lay-out is good for identification; fish are grouped together by shape. That means you don't have to know much about fish to quickly look up something you saw. You can then cross-reference it to a complete description.

The physical manufacture of the book is also a plus. Its small size and flexibility make it almost unnoticable in luggage or a beach bag. It's also a little water-resistant: my copy has seen more than its fare share of dunkings, and still acts like a book instead of a soggy mess.

Of the few criticisms I have of this book, one would be that the index isn't too good (if Rainbow Runner isn't listed under "R", then where is it?). This isn't too much of a shortcoming, though, given that a field guide is usually used to identify species by appearence, not the other way around.

If you plan on observing fish in this region, I highly recommend this book.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indespensible, January 13, 1998

By A Customer

As a diver and as a hobbyist of home reef systems, I find this book to be indispensible in identifying various reef fishes located in our Eastern waters. The book provides and focuses on distiguishing characteristics and certain behaviors that a diver or a hobbyist might see in encounters with these fish. Contains a great full-color plate section as well as basic outlines/silhouettes and of course brief yet detailed descriptions. An excellent work, now if I could just find its companion for corals....

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars OK, But Paul Humann's Book is Much Better, January 20, 2005

By	Kathryn L. Evans (Caroga Lake, New York United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A few years ago, I bought the Audubon Society Field Guide to Tropical Marine Fishes and found when I tried to use it in the Florida Keys that there were many fish I couldn't identify. People recommended I buy Paul Humann's book, "Reef Fish Identification." The book is more expensive, but I found it to be far more comprehensive and user friendly. For example, many fish look entirely different when in their "juvenile," "initial" or "terminal" phase, and the "Reef Fish Identification" book has clear photos of each of the three stages shown beside each other, and frequently includes photos of alternate color phases as well. The Audubon book usually just shows a picture of the fish in just one phase, and often not a terribly good photo at that. Next to each photo in the Humann book is an excellent line drawing of the fish, highlighting and labeling which features of a fish are most dependable for identification. The Audubon book includes no such diagrams to aid identification. Finally, the Humann book is based upon both an extensive bibliography and collaboration with field biologists, and if the detailed descriptions in his book of definitive features for discriminating species of fish are correct (and experienced scuba divers tell me they are correct) then some of the pictures in the Audubon guide are actually even misidentified as to species. For example, the Audubon picture labeled as a "Leopard Goby" is almost certainly a picture of an "Orange-sided Goby" (if the Humann book is correct about dark lines outlining the orange rectangles being a reliable discriminating feature). If there were no other reef fish identification book available, I would have given the Audubon book more stars, I am usually a great fan of the Audubon Field Guide series, but in comparison with the Humann book it just doesn't rate very well. I should add that I have never met, nor have any private or professional association with, the author of either of these books, so my opinion is not biased by any such affiliation.
Finally, I should add that I am pleased nevertheless to own both of these books because, for many species of fish, fish of the same species can be found in a wide variety of colors and patterns, so you can never study too many photos to get a handle on the range of appearances possible for any given species. Buy the Humann book if you can just afford one book, but owning both books is even better!