australiapng

From the unusual mating systems of weedfish that give birth to live young, to the man-killing reputation of the awe-inspiring Great Barracuda, Australian marine fish cover a spectacular and diverse range of sizes, shapes and colours. A quarter of the world’s marine fish are found in Australian waters.

This Wild Australia Guide provides a simple but amazingly informative introduction to the common marine fish that inhabit our near-shore waters. Their lives are bursting with interesting facts for you to discover.

Using superb photographs and comprehensive text, this practical field guide gives readers an insight into the fascinating world of Australian marine fish.

This title is currently out of stock. REPRINT UNDER CONSIDERATION, NO DUE DATE. Roger Swainston’s breathtaking artwork provides a fascinating overview of the extraordinary diversity of Australia’s marine and freshwater fishes. Here, more than 1500 remarkable illustrations portray every family of fishes ever recorded from Australian waters. The names of all known species are listed alongside detailed information on the taxonomy and biology of each family.

This book brings together the latest scientific knowledge on more than 860 species inhabiting Australia’s temperate southern waters, from the Recherche Archipelago at the western end of the Great Australian Bight to Wilson’s Promontory in the east, many found nowhere else. Those included range in size from tiny gobies and clingfishes less than 3 centimetres long, to the Whale Shark, the largest fish in the ocean reaching a length of 12 metres. Thirty expert ichthyologists from within Australia and overseas have written accounts of all species known to occur within the area.

Each species treatment is accompanied by one or more images (most in high-quality colour), a distribution map and a description that includes information on recognisable body features, size attained, colouration, habitat and other common names, as well as anecdotal information of interest to the reader. Where relevant, counts for fin elements, scales, teeth, photophores and other body parts are given. Illustrated keys are included at all levels of classification from subphylum to genus and species.

Introductory chapters outline the scope and geographical coverage of the book, describe the variety of aquatic habitats in southern waters, discuss conservation and other issues associated with human impacts on fishes, interpret fish classifications and provide detailed instructions on how to use the book.

Fishes are the largest and most diverse group of vertebrate animals. In Australia, they are found in almost all aquatic habitats. This work delivers a list of fish names and a brief summary of ecological, distributional and bibliographic information for use by other fish taxonomists, fishery personnel, government agencies and others., Fishes are the largest and most diverse group of vertebrate animals, with an estimated 25,000 extant species (Nelson 1994), about equal to the number of all other vertebrates combined. In Australia, they are found in almost all aquatic habitats. The first fish volume of the “Zoological Catalogue of Australia” was published in 1989 (Paxton et al. 1989). In that work, now revised and comprising the “Zoological Catalogue of Australia, Vols 35.1. 35.2 and 35.3”, an estimated number of 3,600 species of fishes was given for Australia. We now know this figure under-estimated the Australian fauna by over 20 per cent. Currently, the list of known species stands at 4,368 described species and approximately 300 species of uncertain identity. In total 2,048 species, 637 genera and 99 families are included in this volume. The purpose of this work is to deliver an authoritative list of fish names and a brief summary of ecological, distributional and bibliographic information.