Field Guide to Atlantic Seashore

Kenneth L. Gosner has written and had compliated the best Atlantic Seaboard field guide ever written on the indi- gines sponges, seas urchins and all other creatures from the area. Sections include: HOW TO USE THIS BOOK; COLLECTING AND PRESERVING SPECIMENS, DIS- TRIBUTION AND HABITATS, SEAWEEDS, SPONGES, POLYPS, HYDROZOANS, HYDROIDS, JELLYFISH, ANTHOMONES, FLATWORMS, NEMERTEANS, ENT- OPROCTS, BRYOZOANS, ARROW WORMS, LAMP SHELLS, CHITONS, GASTROPODS [see Hawai'i Five-0 episode 'Cloth of Gold'...], PHYLLO- CARID SCALLOPS, TANAIDS, AMPHIPODS, EUCARIDS and more! I highly recommend this tome, espe- cially if you are more than the casual beach- comber! Rich Salzer, Historical Review Library, Moyock, North Carolina, USA 2010, A.D.

I was looking for a book that would help me learn about living things all along the Eastern seacoast. I had learned quite a bit about coastal areas in Florida but needed a more general book that would cover areas I would explore with my grandchildren and friends. This book covers a great deal of area and, while that's good in many ways, I miss the seashore book I have about Florida alone which makes things so much easier to find. I would love to see seashore books about specific areas (e.g. Maine, Cape Cod etc.) so that referencing would be much easier, especially for younger children. However, that said, it IS a good book to take along in the backpack while exploring all kinds of coastal areas and I DO eventually find what I'm looking for in it.

This book, "A Field Guide to the Atlantic Seashore" is a great field guide. It presents an excellent overview of the life one commonly finds along the Atlantic coast of the USA. The book is arranged taxonomically, and each entry contains a description of characters useful in determining what you are looking at. As a professional biologist, I find this book to be superior in many ways to the Audubon Guides. For example, this Peterson guide includes both common AND scientific names by each entry, the book is arranged taxonomically rather than by other less important characters like color, etc.This book is not, however, what many casual naturalists are looking for in a field guide. They often look for a book filled by page after page of photographs or illustrations. This book is filled by page after page of information more useful to the more advanced amateur or to the professional. There are several illustrations, many are simple line drawings that show details of important characteristics used to tell one kind of organism from another.All in all a great field guide for the advanced amateur and professional. This is not, however, a book that is as likely to be embraced by the casual observer.5 stars for the more professional audience, but 4 stars for the casual observer.You might be happiest doing what another reviewer suggested... to use this book along with a photo field guide such as an Audubon Field guide to the region.Happy splashing!Alan Holyoak, Dept of Biology, Manchester College, IN

[email protected]. The Peterson field identification guide to the Atlantic Seashore by Kenneth L. Gosner is a useful tool in fieldwork. Seaweeds and animals are arranged taxonomically and described in detail regarding their distinguishing characteristics. All weeds and animals are called by both their scientific and common name and are described in an easily understood manner. The plates with drawings of creatures found along the Atlantic seashore are helpful to establish visual identification of seaweeds and animals. It is useful that the book explains different marine habitats that you may encounter as well as going into detail on important physical marine features such as water currents, salinity, tides etc. The details on how to maintain and preserve animals are an additional plus of this book. The Peterson field guide is a good tool for the use in class as well as for you personal exploration of the seashore. I would recommend its use in combination with the Audubon Guide to Shore Animals of North America. These books would complement each other since the Audubon Guide displays a similar identification system but enhances it with pictures of animals rather than drawings. The combined use of these books would increase the accuracy of your identification.