The Rockpool Fishes of New Zealand

Forest and Bird, Issue 268, 1 May 1993, Page 41

The Rockpool Fishes of New Zealand

Barry Weeber

by Chris Paulin and Clive Roberts (Museum of New Zealand) 1992, 177pp, $49.95 Of the 1,000 fish species in New Zealand waters, 83 are found in the narrow rock pool area between the tides, and over two-thirds of these latter species are endemic. This is the best book to date about them. Paulin and Roberts have included a wide range of information to assist snorkellers, coastal fossickers and others

identify and understand the fishes of the intertidal zone. The large format publication is devoted unreservedly to live fish, providing relief from the lengthy descriptions of edibility in many other books on fish. Easy to use for the layperson or amateur marine biologist, the book gives details of the ecology of fishes, including unusual features of feeding or mating. For each species there is specific

information, a clear line drawing (by Helen Casey), a photograph of the fish in the wild and a map of its New Zealand distribution. The authors have also included a short history on the collection of fish specimens and a description of the coastal environment. A simple key helps to distinguish similar fishes and the book is well referenced for the coastal naturalist who wants further information.