Coastal Fish Identification: California to Alaska

This is the best fish ID guide for scuba divers and others for use along the Pacific coast of North America. That said, the 2nd edition (Coastal Fish Identification California to Alaska 2nd Ed.) came out in late 2008, and, unless you're on a really tight budget, that would be the one I would get, as it has been significantly expanded.

This book is great for identifying underwater creatures. There are full color photos and it is organized well for easy use. I would suggest this book for any diver or snorkeler as a great resource.

I wish we had bought this book before our recent dive trip to California. The little fish id cards just don't have as much info and the quality of pictures in this book. As a fan of the Humann id book series, I can say that all of his books are the best on the market and any snorkeler or diver should own them all.

As an avid diver in the Puget Sound, I have found this book to be very useful. It features great photos to help me identify the fishes that I encounter while underwater. The format is easy to use because it is geared toward the underwater naturalist. I recommend it to all my diver friends.

As a freediver along the coast north and south from San Francisco, I frequently refer to this book for reference of the fish I find in the kelp beds. I am able to find every fish I saw in the water in this book. The color photos are great for that purpose. Other books in my collection are sometime visually vague due to the lack of photographic images (paintings and/or black & white sketches). In ths book the text along with the pictures are also informational: distinctive features, description, abundance & distribution, habitat & behavior, reaction to divers.