I told Chris Hill I would give him the names of some Caribbean fish books,
and here they are. I thought I would send the message to tweeters, for any
of you who might be planning Florida or Caribbean trips that would include
snorkeling or scuba diving. I can't vouch for the in-print status of any
of them, but all were popular enough that I would hope they are in print.

Greenberg, Idaz. 1986. Guide to Corals & Fishes of Florida, the Bahamas
and the Caribbean. Seahawk Press, Miami. This one is thin and water
resistant, the fewest species (260) of any of the fish books but still the
great majority of the fishes you would see by snorkeling in Belize. A best
buy, and I have seen it for sale in the past all over the Caribbean. Size
like a very thin paperback novel.

Goodson, Gar. 1976. The Many Splendored Fishes of the Atlantic Coast
including the Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, Bermuda, the Bahamas
and the Caribbean. Marquest Colorguide Books, Palos Verdes Estates, CA.
This has slightly more species described and illustrated, with a bit more
information.

Robins, C. R., G. C. Ray, and J. Douglass. 1986. A Field Guide to
Atlantic Coast Fishes. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. This is in the
Peterson series, the most complete by far, with lots of the little obscure
fishes that aren't in the first two. Quite well illustrated but may be
more difficult to use just because it has many more species.

Kaplan, E. H. 1982. A Field Guide to Coral Reefs of the Caribbean and
Florida. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. Another Peterson-series field
guide, this one is great for coral-reef ecology and invertebrates, as well
as common fishes. Highly recommended for biologists who go snorkeling or
diving.

The bird thread? Watch for parrotfishes, cardinalfishes, peacock flounder
and harlequin bass.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416