Michael McFadyen's Scuba Diving - Book Review - Fishes of PNG
One of the big problems in diving overseas (I know that this is a bit of an Oxley Moron - sorry, oxymoron) is that you see so many fish that you have no idea what most of them are nor can you in most cases find out what the fish were called. Generally there are no books that can be relied on for most countries and even if you can find a good book, they are too big to take with you on an overseas trip.
On my last trip to Papua New Guinea I finally found a book that covers tropical fish in the western Pacific area. This book is called Reef Fishes of New Guinea by Gerald R. Allen and Roger Swainston. The book is published by the Christensen Research Institute which was established in 1986 at the Jais Aben Resort at Madang, Papua New Guinea. The book has more than 678 colour drawings of fish and includes detailed descriptions of the fish, their habitat, feeding habits and geographic distribution.
All the main species of fish (and many rarer species) are covered, including sharks, clownfish, butterflyfish and pelagic fish. The layout of the book is virtually identical to its sister book Sea Fishes of Southern Australia by Barry Hutchins and Roger Swainston.
The book is an excellent guide to not only the fishes of PNG, but of nearby Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Thoroughly recommended. Note, as far as I am aware, the book is only available from the Jais Aben Resort at Madang in Papua New Guinea.
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