Fishes: East Pacific is a free iPhone app from the Smithsonian which is a guide to the shore fishes of the tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean. This fish identification guide was put together by Ross Robertson and Gerald Allen, two of the most knowledgeable fish guys on the planet. We’ve explored Fishes: East Pacific on an iPad, the graphics scale up well to the iPad’s larger screen and the content is so good that the app really supports the notion that the best things in life are free. Android users shouldn’t despair at being left out of the free fish finding fun because there is evidence that an Android version of Fishes: East Pacific is in the works.
If you’re into funky little gobies, blennies, triplefins and barnacle blennies, there’s a wealth of species waiting to be discovered in this guide to the seas that brought you such as hits as Clarion angelfish, Catalina gobies and blue spotted jawfish. Consider the cool fish that are covered in this free guide like the beautiful Panamanian jawfish, Opistognathus panamaensis or the gorgeous little Lythripnus rhizophora – there’s even guidance given on differentiating the northern and southern species of the Scythe butterflyfish, Prognathodes falcifer and P. carlhubbsi. There’s simply an abundance of wonderful tropical and subtropical marine fishes from the Eastern Pacific Ocean that saltwater aquarists know nothing about, but now you have no excuse. [iTunes]
