The South Pacific has long been in need of a comprehensive guide to reef and shore fishes. This volume covers the inshore fish fauna of New Caledonia, the Loyalty Islands, the southern Gilbert Islands (Kiribati), Tuvalu, Fiji, the Wallis Islands, Tonga, Samoa, American Samoa, the Tokelau Islands, the Phoenix Islands, the Cook Islands, the Austral Islands, Rapa, the Society Islands, the Tuamoto Archipelago, the Marquesas Islands, and the Pitcairn Islands. It contains accounts of nearly 1,500 species of fishes, illustrated with more than 2,000 color photographs, taken mostly underwater. (A few drab species are illustrated by only black and white photographs or drawings.)
Species accounts are headed by the English common name, the scientific name, the author or authors who described the fish, and the date of the description. This is followed by a concise list of the characteristics needed to identify the species, the total length it attains, its distribution, habitat, and in summary form what may be known of its biology. More than 600 references are given for those seeking more information on individual species. The introduction contains a two-page color spread of the main external features of fishes. An extensive glossary of scientific terms precedes the index.
Randall, John E.: -
John E. Randall has described 555 new fishes--more coral-reef species than anyone else in history. He has authored 635 publications in marine biology, 9 of which are regional guides on the fishes of the Caribbean Sea, Hawaiian Islands, Red Sea, Oman, and Great Barrier Reef of Australia. Since 1970 he has been senior ichthyologist at the Bishop Museum, Honolulu.
"After getting a B.S. degree in zoology from UCLA in 1950, John Randall sailed his 37-foot ketch to Hawai'i for doctoral study at the University of Hawai'i. His first academic position was assistant professor at the University of Miami, Florida. Four years later, he accepted the position of professor of zoology at the University of Puerto Rico as well as director of the Institute of Marine Biology. He returned to Hawai'i in 1965 as the director of the Oceanic Institute. From 1970 to 2009 he served as the senior ichthyologist with the Bishop Museum. Dr. Randall is the world's foremost authority on tropical marine fishes. He has authored 745 publications in marine biology, which have included the descriptions of 27 new genera and 686 new species of fishes, ten of which have been discovered in Hawai'i in the last decade. He has written regional guides to the fishes of the Caribbean Sea, Red Sea, Oman, Maldive Islands, and the Great Barrier Reef of Australia." --Dr. Bruce A. Carlson, science officer, Georgia Aquarium
