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Fish ID books

Started by Guest_dredcon_* , Aug 22 2006 09:49 PM

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31 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_dredcon_*

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Posted 22 August 2006 - 09:49 PM

What book(s) do you use to id your fish? Does it have a dichotomous key and do you use it?

I use Inland Fishes of Mississippi by Dr. Steve Ross, yes it has and key and yes I have used it so much I had to have the book rebound.

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#2 Guest_sandtiger_*

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Posted 22 August 2006 - 10:53 PM

I use Peterson's Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes and The Inland Fishes of New York State by C. Lavett Smith. Lavett Smith's book has all of NY's freshwater fish and those that enter freshwater as well. It has a family key as well as a species key for eatch family. It's a great book, I suggest it even if you don't live in NY but I believe it's out of print. My copy was actaully a college textbook that I needed. I also have Audubon's Feild Guide to North American Fishes. It does include both fresh and saltwater fishes but not all the species that occur on the continent and it has no keys. The photographs are nice but it's really not all that usefull for ID in my opinion.

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#3 Guest_dsmith73_*

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Posted 23 August 2006 - 06:21 AM

I think we all probably have a slightly different set of books or other resources we use. A good all around book for just about anywhere is the peteron's guide. It can be rather vague though so if there is a state or region specific book, these are almost always better. I personally started with Rodhde's book on the fishes of SC, NC, VA, MD and DE. It is an excellent book and well worth the few bucks it costs now. The fishes of SC is in the works and will hopefully be out in the next year or two. I also have the fishes of AL(Boschung version), VA, AR, NC, MO, CA, NY, and several others. I am somewhat of a "Fishes of" addict. I want them all and I iuse them all on a regular basis.

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#4 Guest_Skipjack_*

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Posted 23 August 2006 - 06:25 PM

I use Peterson's Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes and The Inland Fishes of New York State by C. Lavett Smith. Lavett Smith's book has all of NY's freshwater fish and those that enter freshwater as well. It has a family key as well as a species key for eatch family. It's a great book, I suggest it even if you don't live in NY but I believe it's out of print. My copy was actaully a college textbook that I needed. I also have Audubon's Feild Guide to North American Fishes. It does include both fresh and saltwater fishes but not all the species that occur on the continent and it has no keys. The photographs are nice but it's really not all that usefull for ID in my opinion.

I am trying to convince myself to throw that Audubon book in the trash, but the photos are nice to look at.

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#5 Guest_Etheostoma_*

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Posted 23 August 2006 - 06:30 PM

For ID'ing I use Peterson's for most fish and Handbook of Darters by Dr. Page for some darters. I then use American Aquarium Fishes by Goldstein, Harper, and Edwards to figure out how to care for what I catch.

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#6 Guest_sandtiger_*

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Posted 23 August 2006 - 07:45 PM

For ID'ing I use Peterson's for most fish and Handbook of Darters by Dr. Page for some darters. I then use American Aquarium Fishes by Goldstein, Harper, and Edwards to figure out how to care for what I catch.

I forgot about American Aquarium Fishes. I have that one as well.

It's a great book, though It's annoying that they leave the larger species out (bullhead, black basses etc) but still feel the need to add sturgeon and bowfin.

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#7 Guest_Gambusia_*

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Posted 24 August 2006 - 10:43 AM

I use Peterson's and some local books.

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#8 Guest_Irate Mormon_*

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Posted 29 August 2006 - 01:13 AM

Obviously Dr. Ross' book on MS fishes. Before that, the old AL book by Metee et al. .. N. longirostris - a very different fish from the AL version...

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#9 Guest_dsmith73_*

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Posted 30 August 2006 - 04:22 PM

Curious there Irate. What exactly do you mean about N. longirostris. I have caught both longirostris and ammophilus in AL and they are very nice looking fish. Do you guys have a different form in MS? Just curious.

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#10 Guest_Irate Mormon_*

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Posted 01 September 2006 - 06:26 PM

Curious there Irate. What exactly do you mean about N. longirostris. I have caught both longirostris and ammophilus in AL and they are very nice looking fish. Do you guys have a different form in MS? Just curious.

Yes - at first I had trouble IDing the fish - this was before Dr. Ross' book came out. It was similar to, but decidedly different from, the fish shown in Metee et al. One of my friends at the Museum ID'd it for me as N. longirostris - it appears that this is actually a species complex. I think Steve Ross is working on seperating them? Or maybe it's Rick Mayden.

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#11 Guest_dsmith73_*

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Posted 01 September 2006 - 07:16 PM

Working on separating longirostris into more species? Other than ammophilus? I can really only tell these two apart by their geography. I have to believe if it's being split more, it has to be Mayden's folks doing it.

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#12 Guest_tricolor_*

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Posted 02 September 2006 - 11:59 AM

There is one other species in Mississippi fish book that is in the same group as longirostris & ammophilus, but I forget the name so you have to look in that book though.

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#13 Guest_dredcon_*

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Posted 02 September 2006 - 06:37 PM

There is one other species in Mississippi fish book that is in the same group as longirostris & ammophilus, but I forget the name so you have to look in that book though.

It may be the sabine shiner, Notropis sabinae, I will look and see next time I am in my office.

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#14 Guest_tricolor_*

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Posted 03 September 2006 - 11:47 AM

I mean the Yazoo shiner, Notropis rafinesquei, which seems to be found mostly in MS and not in AL. From the book the male coloration may be the nicest of the group

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#15 Guest_dsmith73_*

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Posted 07 September 2006 - 10:52 AM

I feel like I need to see this fish then. I am very impressed with both the longnose and orangefin shiners. Do these fish come into AL at all or are they restricted to MS?