Reviews (16)

Great advice
New hobbyist should read this book for advice, then read it again in 6 months.

Wonderful Stony Coral and Clam Reference
The good?
Perhaps the best book on reef care
An exceptional book on the subject. It is comprehensive but I would not say not complete as no book on this subject could be. Still I believe this book to be the best work compiled in book form. Described by many as "the Bible" on the subject it indeed may be but it is not dogmatic as it offers several options and methods and leaves it for the aquarist to use.
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Subjects:  1. Animals    2. Captive marine aquariums    3. Coral reef animals    4. Fish & Aquariums    5. Identification    6. Invertebrates    7. Marine Fauna    8. Marine Life    9. Marine invertebrates    10. Nature    11. Nature/Ecology    12. Pets    13. Tropics   

Reviews (14)

not a beginner book
This book goes indepth about the anatomy and physiology of mushrooms, soft corals and anemones. Not a great reference guide for choosing specimens for your It tends to generalize by family and/or genus vs species. If you are new to saltwater and are looking for a reference to choose items for your tank this would not be my first choice.

THE reference for that field
Just like the vol. 1, that is a must-have book. Please note that the vol. 3 should be released late Nov. 2005.
One of the best of the best vol.2
This volume of the series covers the soft corals and sea anemones; very important topics indeed for reef aquarium. The two books together are still not complete as� there are many organisms found in a reef aquaria still not covered. In this series. A fine glossary accompanies this book. Much of what I had to gleen by trial and error and by reading arcane publications over the years is covered in this book. Approachable to the beginner yet� a lot of substance for the expert.
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Subjects:  1. Animals / Pets    2. Aquariums    3. Captive marine aquariums    4. Coral reef animals    5. Fish & Aquariums    6. Identification    7. Marine Fauna    8. Marine Life    9. Marine invertebrates    10. Nature    11. Nature/Ecology    12. Pets    13. Tropics    14. Fish    15. Tropical Fish   

Reviews (26)

Great resource for newbies.
While there is not piles of detail about each fish, there are important specific descriptions about the different fish within thefamily. (i.e. They don't always say the same thing about all the small angelfish like some websites I have visited.) I really like the rating about how easy or difficult each fish is to keep in captivity.
Don't go Fish shopping without it!
This book and also the 500+ Invertebrates are great books for all reef tank enthusiasts.It is so useful when you go into your LFS and see some gorgeous new fish,as you can determine how suitable it is to you. You know whether they are compatable with other tank occupants, how large they will grow, what kind of food it requires etc. Can help to save you $ in the LFS! I have steered clear of a few species that would not survive with the help of this book.

Marine Fishes: 500+
Great reference for determining which fish will fit well into your aquarium, ease of keeping, feeding, and compatability with others. A must have reference for looking up those fish at the LFS. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fish    2. Fish & Aquariums    3. Marine Life    4. Marine aquarium fishes    5. Marine aquariums    6. Nature    7. Nature/Ecology    8. Pets    9. Fishes & aquaria   

Reviews (10)

Endearing Ocean Story
What an endearing story about the ocean.As an avid SCUBA diver, I loved the idea of a baby whale following a swimmer along the coast because it lost its mother.
A book for everyone
This is a great book.Easy to read and it paints a beautiful story of one woman's experience.I could not put it down and wanted to read the end first to see what happened.I passed it on to my husband, 11 year old son and 14 year old daughter.It is a nice book with a nice story.Not too many of those books out there now.Will make a great gift for anyone who loves to read.

Take a pass on this one
The idea behind this book was a good one and the reason that I purchased it in the first place.The opportunity to swim with a baby whale in the wild is something many of us only dream about, yet Ms. Cox got to experience it firsthand and it makes sense that she would want to share that story.Unfortunately, this book does not get the job done.It is so poorly written that I had to force myself to keep turning the pages.I kept hoping that maybe I just needed to get used to her writing style, but there is no style... it's just written badly.The narration is often choppy, the paragraphs don't flow, and much of the detail about the ocean seems a bit over the top.As one other reviewer put it, it's as if every detail of her every swim in the ocean was combined into that one day.Not very realistic. If you are going to enjoy this book at all, perhaps a little suspension of disbelief is in order.Whole sections are just plain boring, and to add insult to injury, the illustration on the front of the book is not that of a gray whale (the species that Cox swims with in the book).It's a sperm whale.A small thing, yes, and a decision made probably more for marketing purposes than out of ignorance, but it still serves to make the overall package even less honest or appealing. After plodding through about half the book, I finally quit and returned it for a full refund.Save your money. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1957-    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. California    4. Cox, Lynne,    5. Fishes    6. Marine Life    7. Marine Mammals    8. Nature    9. Nature/Ecology    10. Personal Memoirs    11. Santa Catalina Island    12. Swimming    13. Women    14. Nature / General   

Features

• Box set

Reviews (17)

Hands down, the BEST books I will ever own!
I started diving 2 years ago.Up until I ordered these books, I really didn't know what I was seeing.These 3 books are the absolute best books to own if you like diving or boating and live in Florida or the Caribbean.Every page has 3 full color glossy photos of fish, or creatures on it.The photos and info are very comprehensive and detailed.
The Reef Set: The only set of indentification books to have
The Reef Set has been the most helpful set of books I have owned thus far.They have not only helped me in fish, creature, and coral identification for personal use, but also in my school work.They have excellent illustrations and descriptions.I have recommended them to everyone I know!

Reef Set
Overall, I think this set is great for Bio students like myself who aren't very familar with the descriptions of Tropical Fish. Thanks to the colorful pictures and straight to the point descriptions, I've been able to identify fish that I saw on a collge trip to Belize in January. This set has been of great help in completing my final portfolio for my Tropical Marine Ecology class. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Marine Life    2. Nature    3. Nature/Ecology    4. Reference   

Reviews (13)

Good for quick reference
If you already know a bit about corals, this is a nice book to have around for quick reference.I especially like that it lists similar corals and gives some basic information on how to tell them apart.It can be deceptive, though.The information it gives on the specific corals is very general, and should not be considered a good source for research on a coral you're planning to actually buy.Don't get me wrong, though.I'm happy I have this book, but I'd suggest supplementing it with a text such as Eric Bourneman's "Aquarium Corals: Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History".This text will actually give you much more specific information on requirements to care for the corals, as well as some better techniques to identify certain corals, since many look very similar, and there's no way any book could show every possible shape and color for many species.

good picture book
Book has lots of good pictures to help you identify corals.IN this manner it can be used as a min-coral atlas.
Good First Reference Text, pity about poor quality binding and packaging
A wonderful first reference text from Julian Sprung. The necessary information is well presented and communicated in a clear manner. A word of advice, don't get the hardcover version as it looses pages through poor binding and Amazon's inability to package adequately results in the corners being damaged in transit. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Coral reef animals    2. Earth Sciences - Oceanography    3. Identification    4. Marine Life    5. Marine invertebrates    6. Nature    7. Oceans & Seas    8. Reference    9. Science    10. Science/Mathematics   

Reviews (8)

sizes missing
Does not contain more than photos and a small text box per creature. There is no mention of sizes, something of great importance when stocking an aquarium. For me, it is too quick of a reference quide. The information (and much beyond that) contained here can be found in Nilsen's "Reef Secrets".

Good reference text, pity about poor packaging
This is a wonderful first reference text from Julian Sprung. Well set out and communicates the necessary information in an undestandable way. A word of advice, don't get this text in a hardcover version as the pages are poorly bound and Amazon's inability to adequate package the book results in damaged corners. Why pay more to get damaged goods and the Amazon run-around?

Invertebrates: A Quick Reference Guide
After 30+ years as a salt water enthusiast, I can easily say thAt this book answers the majority of questions about the proper ways to keep inverts alive and well in a home aquarium setting.
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Subjects:  1. Marine Life    2. Nature    3. Nature / Field Guide Books    4. Science/Mathematics   

Reviews (3)

The book all aquatic chemists should keep on reading
Stumm and Morgan remains the best aquatic chemical book ever written. Reference Yes, Teaching Text, No
This book is an excellent reference text for people who already know something about aquatic chemistry. It contains more material and covers more topics than any other book in the field. As a teaching text, however, it is severely lacking. Excellent reference book for chem. & physics of nat. systems
This book is an excellent reference. It presents a thorough discussion ofa complex topic. The authors provide many worked examples, with allrequired numeric inputs and resutls, that permit the reader to quicklyverify his or her understanding of the material. The consistent and properuse of units throughout the book is refreshing. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Chemistry - General    2. Chemistry - Organic    3. Fish    4. Marine Life    5. Military Science    6. Science    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Water chemistry    9. Environmental science    10. Hydrology (freshwater)    11. Pollution of rivers & water supplies    12. Sanitary & municipal engineering    13. Technology / Military Science   

Reviews (7)

STREAM MONITORING
This book is invaluable to citizen volunteers who monitor the streams of Virginia.

Freshwater Invertebrates of North America
I purchased this title as a fly fisherman wanting to learn more about entomology.This was a very helpful book written at a high school level which is good for someone wanting to tackle the subject for the first time and to get a good grasp of the vocabulary and science before moving on to more detailed college texts on the subject.
Extremely useful to both amateurs and professionals
This book is an excellent guide to family-level invertebrate identification.It has wonderful pictures and excellent background information on the organisms.
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Subjects:  1. Freshwater animals    2. Freshwater invertebrates    3. Identification    4. Invertebrates    5. Lakes & Ponds    6. Marine Life    7. Nature    8. Nature / Ecology    9. Nature/Ecology    10. North America    11. Rivers    12. Ecology    13. Freshwater life    14. Reference works   

Reviews (7)

Colorful, Silly Fish Illustrations Grab Baby's Attention!
My 19-month old is WILD for this book; it's the reigning favorite at the moment.The silly fish pictures are great and she loves the pages where there are LOTS of fish on the page (including the inside back pages), pointing out to me her favorites from the story.She also has fun picking out the "extra" fish that look like strawberry fish, pineapple fish, etc.The sing-songy rhymes are as fun as the artwork and a definite winner in our house!

This one's a winner!
Our 16-month-old son absolutely adores this book! We read it using silly voices for each fish, and he just smiles all the way through. When he wants to read this book, he'll bring it to my husband or me, making kissing noises. It's a shame that this book isn't available in a board book format--we've had to tape and re-tape several of the pages from all of the use it gets!

lovely look at the sea

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Subjects:  1. Animals - Fishes    2. Children's Baby - Nature    3. Children's Books/Baby-Preschool    4. Children: Kindergarten    5. Children: Preschool    6. Fiction    7. Fishes    8. Juvenile Fiction    9. Marine Life    10. Mother and child    11. Preschool Picture Story Books    12. Stories in rhyme    13. Juvenile Fiction / Animals / Fishes   

Subjects:  1. Earth Sciences - Geology    2. Life Sciences - Ecology    3. Marine Life    4. Science    5. Science/Mathematics    6. Ecological science, the Biosphere    7. Fry    8. Science / Ecology    9. aquatic ecology    10. biogeochemistry    11. fractionation    12. geology    13. isotope    14. mixing    15. stable isotope    16. tracers   

Reviews (10)

Great Guide
I'm starting to get interested in amphibian id and was looking for a book to help as I join in on frog monitoring and other citizen science projects.So, I haven't gotten to use this book in the field yet since it's still midwinter but the book seems like just what I need.It's a typical field guide in that it has the species plates.Pictures in this section are well drawn with color variations and patterns clearly shown and also described in words.Then there are the species-specific entries where each animal is described, habitats and location maps are provided, foods are described, etc.What I especially like about this book is that in this section they also have actual photographs of the animals shown.The photos are close-up so you can see the eggs or the young of snakes for example.I especially love the section on salamanders and decided not to bother trying to get a book dedicated to salamanders just yet.This has all the info I'll need to get going on understanding and identifying these creatures.Looking forward to a trek out to the vernal pools in March and bringing this book with me.

Great for kids and their parents too!
I bought this book for my 7 year old god son.I'd seen and used other Peterson Field Guides, and I can only say they keep improving what was great to begin with.Even though my god son can't read all of the words in this guide, the wonderful color photographs with the reptile or amphibian name make it easy for him to understand.He was absolutely thrilled with this book.There are nice sections on how to capture then set up a terrarium, and to care for reptiles and amphibians in captivity. I highly recommend this for any age!

Everything a field guide should be!
This is the best field guide I've had for herps. The layout is typical; there are color plates of the species and some written commentary and advice on field herping in the front of the book, followed by species accounts and range maps. Fairly typical layout. However, the way in which subspecies were handled is new, at least to me, and incredibly practical and useful. Those subspecies that are readily distinguishable in the field are given full seperate entries and individual range maps, which is particularly nice with certain large species groups (milk and king snakes, Pitouphis, etc.)
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Subjects:  1. Amphibians    2. Canada    3. Identification    4. Nature    5. Nature/Ecology    6. Reptiles    7. Reptiles & Amphibians    8. United States    9. Aquatic creatures    10. Nature / Reptiles & Amphibians   

Reviews (1)

Wonderful basic guide to study corals and coral reefs
This is a basic and comprehensive book about the processes that affect coral reefs. Exelent edition by Birkeland, includes some of the most restpectable scientists in the field. the book includes plentifulreferences very useful if you need to start a search in any of the topicsincluded in the book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Coral reef biology    2. Coral reef ecology    3. Earth Sciences - Geology    4. Life Sciences - Ecology    5. Marine Biology    6. Marine Life    7. Nature    8. Nature/Ecology    9. Science    10. Science/Mathematics    11. Applied ecology    12. Biology, Life Sciences    13. Nature / Marine Life    14. Science / Ecology    15. Science-Earth Sciences - Geology    16. Science-Life Sciences - Ecology   

Reviews (7)

Fascinating facts about the ocean.
The book is truly fascinating. Turning the pages of the book you will see the beauty that lies within the depths of water. Even in the most ugliest of blue whales you will find beauty which you will enjoy...

Water world
A wonderful book with absolutely staggering photography throughout.You can snorkle and scuba-dive without even leaving your armchair.Just flicking through it when it first arrived I saw page after page of creatures I had never seen before.Packed with information, beautifully presented on good quality paper. What else can you expect from a product linked to the BBC, David Attenborough, and Discovery Channel. DK publishing excel again.The authors Andrew Byatt, Alastair Fothergill and Martha Holmes deserve a round of applause. This is a much valued addition to my collection of books.

Truly a great book
After watching the 'Blue Planet' documentaries on TV I developed an interest about life under the sea.Some of the documentary footage was truly groundbreaking work in terms ofcapturing the animals on film and bringing it to our homes in such a unique way.Read more

Subjects:  1. Life Sciences - Zoology - General    2. Marine Life    3. Marine animals    4. Marine biology    5. Marine ecology    6. Nature    7. Nature / Field Guide Books    8. Nature/Ecology    9. Ocean    10. Oceans & Seas    11. Nature / Oceans & Seas   

Reviews (1)

A must have for every student of marine mammalogy!
This book is easy to use and provides comprehensive information for such a variety of topics that every student of marine mammals should have it in their library.I recommend it to students who are just starting their journey into marine mammal studies! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Encyclopedias    2. Life Sciences - Biology - Marine Biology    3. Life Sciences - Zoology - General    4. Mammals    5. Marine Mammals    6. Nature    7. Reference    8. Science    9. Science/Mathematics    10. Marine & freshwater mammals    11. Reference works    12. Science / Zoology   

Reviews (6)

Water World
I first heard of the late Jacques Mayol from the now classic cult movie "The Big Blue". Judging by this encyclopedic work, the real Jacques Mayol was a more interesting character than his celluloid image. "Homo Delphinus"is clearly a work of love and a beautiful book. It is published in a large glossy format with stunning photos. It is difficult to classify the book as it is a combination of science, semi-science, ecology, philosophy and mysticism. Mr. Mayol is successful in producing a touching work that summarizes his life long romance with the aquatic world and his hopes and visions for the future.
Disappointing
I am a great admirer of Mr. Mayol. Since a child I felt always impressed about his contributions to science and conservationism. However, I just felt so disappointed when I read Homo Delphinus. Through it, he tries to cover many topics, but in such a superficial way that it made me anxious for not getting into any point at all. And his theory about the "homo delphinus" is only a collection of cliches and general thoughts. A MUST
Being a diver and a fan of the sea, having met Jacques Mayol the guru of breath-hold dives in Oct 2001 in Elba and upon learning that this famous book was now available in English, the next day I procured one from this site.Having since learnt of Jacques's passing on the 22nd of Dec 2001 I feel that anyone who dives or simply loves the sea and its creatures should get hold of this very remarkable book - before it goes out of production.Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography/Autobiography    2. Marine Life    3. Photography    4. Sports & Recreation / Water Sports    5. Subjects & Themes - Plants & Animals    6. Subjects & Themes - Travel - World/General    7. Diving    8. Dolphins    9. Mayol, Jacques    10. Reference    11. Spirituality    12. Sports & Recreation    13. Underwater childbirth    14. Yoga   

Reviews (8)

Breathtaking
The more crowded life gets the more I love to look at these beautiful pictures. Genuine grace at its best. It is one of my most favorite coffee table books. If you love the sea you must have this book.

The Undersea World of Wyland
This is absolutely a "MUST HAVE" book! The dust jacket alone is beautiful, but just wait until you see the artwork inside! "Breathtaking!" Wyland fans, you're really missing out if this book's not in your collection.

Beautiful artwork, thoughful quote, intesting info on artist
This is a wonderful book for anyone who loves dolphins, whales and other sea life. It has lots of beautiful artwork with thoughtful quotes beneath. There is also some interesting information on Wyland. Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Contemporary Art    4. Dolphins in art    5. Fine Arts    6. Individual Artist    7. Marine Life    8. Marine art    9. Special Subjects In Art    10. Techniques - Painting    11. Techniques - Painting - Specific Subjects    12. United States    13. Whales in art    14. Aquatic creatures    15. Themes, motives    16. Wyland   

Reviews (6)

Awesome
This books is very informational.I have gotten a lot of information from it and the pictures are fabulous!I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Marine Mammals.My daughter wants to be a Marine Biologist/Marine Mammal Trainer and this book gave her all the right information at the right time.

Much more than expected!
Audubon has certainly delivered their best in this marine life field guide! When I bought this, I expected it to be the usual good Audubon repeat of their previous field guides. I was quite impressed by the number of species inserted, and the special illustrations used along with it. There are a surprising number of families and subspecies listed also. Very informative, but a few minor quibbles
I picked this book up at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago (inspired by the walrus exhibit).It is a very informative guide and beautifully illustrated.Read more

Subjects:  1. Identification    2. Mammals    3. Marine Life    4. Marine Mammals    5. Nature    6. Nature/Ecology    7. Marine & freshwater mammals    8. Nature / Marine Life   

Subjects:  1. American - General    2. Art    3. Art & Art Instruction    4. Drawing By Individual Artists    5. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    6. History - Contemporary (1945- )    7. Marine Biology    8. Marine Life    9. Marine mammals in art    10. Marine resources conservation    11. Subjects & Themes - Plants & Animals    12. Art / Subjects & Themes / Plants & Animals   

Subjects:  1. Coastal Ecology    2. Coral reef biology    3. Coral reef ecology    4. Environmental Engineering & Technology    5. Fish    6. Marine Life    7. Nature    8. Science/Mathematics    9. Applied ecology    10. Freshwater biology, limnology    11. Marine biology    12. Meteorology    13. Oceanography (seas)    14. Science / Meteorology