Rudie H. Kuiter

This is the mother of all fish identification book for Indonesian waters. Any fish we saw which we couldn’t find in other books we can find here. The A4 size hardcover book comes in a set of three volumes, a total of 900 pages. Volume 1 covers eels to snappers (Muraenidae-Lutjanidae), volume 2 covers fusiliers to dragonets (Caesionidae-Callionymidae) and volume 3 covers jawfishes to sunfishes (Opistognathidae-Molidae).

Each species has multiple good quality photos showing it from different angles or at different stages of their life. A text is available explaining the tell tale features to note to help identification and the differences to look for in differentiating similar species (see examples here: http://www.indonesian-fishes.com/).

Even though it says Indonesian reef fish it actually covers the surrounding areas as well with examples taken from Malaysia, Philippines and the Pacific, and hence may be applicable for Indo-Pacific region.

Rudie Kuiter is a well known Australian underwater photographer and a respected icthyologist and marine naturalist. He has written several books on marine creatures and his photos can be found in many other underwater books. Co-author Takamasa Tonozuka is a well respected Japanese underwater photographer living in Bali.

Unfortunately the book is quite expensive; discounted price was 2.5 million rupiah (around USD280). However this book is a must for dive centres.
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