Coral Reef Animals of the Indo - Pacific - Animal Life from Africa to Hawaii Exclusive of the Vertebrates. 1996

This book is exactly what I had hoped it would be. It has beautiful photos and adequate descriptions of the reef life. I used it to identify photos that my husband took on a recent dive trip. I would recommend it very highly.

excellent reference of all sea life in this part of the world. I would highly recommend it.

Great photos, wide coverage, this book is a very simple and easy guide for any lover of the coral reef animals [even if its not a biological or academic textbook with full description and additional detail]. It gives key for coral reef animals identification and provide enough basic information to assist any non specialist, in particular diver.

The book is written from the prospective of the conservator rather than that of the coral reef keeper. However, the information is pertinent to both. The photographs are clear and provide a tool in identifying salt water invertebrates.

I only have positive thoughts about this great reference. It is simply the best book ever written on the invertebrates of the Indian Ocean and especially the Indonesian area. It is like an oversized version of Debelius` field guides,but this one truly rocks!It does not only include 1105 interesting invertebrate species,but also some great information about them. Some species are such new to science that they`ve not even been described. For example,there are 10 undescribed little octopi. If any animal are more strikingly colourfull than reef fishes,these are the ones. I love all animals but I especially like the chapters about flatworms,crustaceans,and molluscs,of which many species are new to me. I already have a great knowledge of animals for beeing such young,and this book gives me much more. When I take a trip to Thailand for the next winter,I`ll bring this book and see how many invertebrates I`ll recognize from it. Over all,this is a great book and would recommend it to any serious scientist,aquarium hobbyist,invertebrate lover,or the one that just likes strong colours. The price is high,but believe me,it`s definitly worth it!