Conservation International yesterday released what is currently the most comprehensive and definite species reference of the Coral Triangle to date. Reef Fishes of the East Indies is a three volume work coauthored by Drs. Mark Erdmann and Gerry Allen that covers the Coral Triangle (including Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands) as well as the South China Sea (including Brunei Darussalam to Vietnam and Singapore), the Andaman Sea (including Thailand, Myanmar, and the Andaman Islands of India) and Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.
Reef Fishes of the East Indies contains descriptions of all 2,631 species (25 of which are new ones) in the area and includes over 3,600 photographs- approximately 40% of which have never been photographed. Furthermore great care was taken to photograph the different color morphs of each species. As major fish geeks we absolutely cannot wait to get our hands on a copy and drool over some of the amazing species and photographs in the books, and we applaud Drs. Mark Erdmann and Gerry Allen for their great effort. We imagine that it will prove to be a must have for any serious reefer or fish geek. Full press release after the break.
Press Release.
Fish to Dive For – A New Publication describes over 2500 Reef Fishes, including 25 species new to science.
This three-volume book set serves as the most comprehensive guide to reef fishes in the Coral Triangle ever produced, a region known as the global epicenter of marine biodiversity.
Jakarta, Indonesia, (Monday, 25 June 2012) – Today Conservation International (CI) announced the release of the “Reef Fishes of the East Indies” book set by CI scientists Dr. Gerald Allen and Dr. Mark Erdmann, representing the culmination of a combined 60 years’ of effort to document the biodiversity of the mega-diverse coastal waters of the East Indies.
An essential reference for biologists, naturalists and divers that frequent the region, the “Reef Fishes of the East Indies” is the most up to date guide offering comprehensive information on every known reef fish species from a region known as the global epicenter of marine biodiversity. The book set contains concise descriptions of each of the 2,631 currently known reef fish species from the region, and features over 3,600 color photographs – of which approximately 40% have never before been seen in print. Careful attention to detail has been paid to illustrate the morphological variances between species and within species to differentiate between the sexes, life stages, as well as those species that have multiple regionally specific color patterns.
“The need for an up-to-date reference to the reef fishes of this region has been obvious for decades, as scientists have traditionally relied on outdated monumental works such as M. Weber & L.F. de Beaufort’s ‘Fishes of the Indo-Australian Archipelago’, published as 11 volumes between 1911 and 1962. Publishing this book has been a dream I’ve nurtured since I was a graduate student at the University of Hawaii in the 1960’s,” said Dr. Gerald Allen, “and I’m proud to note that we’ve nearly doubled the number of reef fishes previously reported from the region.” Allen is an acclaimed author of 35 other guides, but “Reef Fishes of the East Indies” represents his greatest achievement yet, capping a long and illustrious career in ichthyology.
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