Fishes of Australia's Southern Coast

Comprehensive Reference of Australia’s Southern Waters Marine Life

Sep 17, 2008

This comprehensive guide enables accurate identification of fish species found along the southern Australian coastline.

Fishes of Australia’s Southern Coast (New Holland, 2008), edited by Martin Gomon, Dianne Bray and Rudie Kuiter, facilitates the easy identification of fish species found along Australia’s coastline with data contributed by 29 recognised authorities on the subject of fish taxonomy.

Exploring Australia’s Southern Waters

Fishes of Australia’s Southern Coast offers up-to-date and comprehensive information including current naming protocols from experts in identification of fish species, providing an indispensible guide to recognising 873 species in 215 fish families, as well as providing identification guides to over 1000 species.

The text covers the coastline from Recherche Archipelago at the western end of the Great Australian Bight to Wilson’s Promontory on the Victorian coastline in the east. These temperate waters cover a range of marine habitats including kelp and macrophytic algae, rocky reef, sand, mud and soft silt, seagrass beds, shallow open water, deep ocean, deep sea floor and seamounts.

A brief summary is provided outlining the habitats and water conditions experienced in the southern coastal marine regions, general fishing and marine environment care and legislation requirements and an explanation of fish classification requirements. Information is presented in a style that aims to be informative rather than entertaining, resulting in a reference for those who need to identify specific fish rather than those with a general interest in Australia’s marine habitats.

Comprehensive Fish Identification Details

With some variations for relevance, the following details are offered for each entry:

Keys – to enable quick differentiation of varieties (genus) within a particular fish family group.

Descriptions - specific details for anatomical parts and countable measurements including dorsal fin, anal fin, caudal fin, pectoral fin, ventral or pelvic fin, lateral-line scales, vertebrae, gill rakers and for some pyloric caeca. Four summary pages in the text introduction offer diagrams to demonstrate the areas indicated by the various measurement and anatomy references.

Colour, Weight and Length (may be recorded as standard length, fork length or total length as appropriate).

Distribution – an illustration of Australian distribution is provided with summaries within the text of geographical distribution outside the focus of this reference guide.

Notes, other common names and original citations as well as colour photographs of each entry. There are additional drawings for some entries, including drawings of a selection of teeth from the left jaw for sharks.

Fishes of Australia’s Southern Coast

A complete list of the orders represented is listed below. These are divided into family groupings within the text. A comprehensive index including both scientific and common names ensures that the correct entry can be found quickly and easily.

While many of the species listed are found along other Australian coastlines, it is important to note that the text is targeting only a specific stretch of Australia’s southern coastline and is not intended as a general reference for all coastal areas.

A Text for High School and University Students and Serious Fish Enthusiasts

Fishes of Australia’s Southern Coast is a comprehensive reference text easily comprehended by anyone with a basic understanding of fish anatomy and characteristics. Great care is taken to provide information to assist readers to interpret the information provided, however this remains predominantly a reference for marine studies students and serious fish enthusiasts rather than a weekend fisherman or those with a general interest in the marine environment.

As a compilation of expert research data in the identification of fishes inhabiting Australia’s southern waters, this text will prove itself to be invaluable to those who need to accurately identify and classify fish in this region.

The copyright of the article Fishes of Australia's Southern Coast in Reference Books is owned by Susan Whelan. Permission to republish Fishes of Australia's Southern Coast in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.