A 6-Stage Beginner's Guide to Marine Fish Identification – Recommended Reading List & Study Tips

the Editor says: More and more people are taking up scuba diving these days, camera in hand, snapping photo after photo of stunning underwater creatures — only to surface and tell their friends, "I just saw that fish," "There was this huge fish in the cave," or "You know, the one that's red and green with a round head!" For those of us who truly want to get to know the ocean, that's a real shame. Fortunately, Master Ding, Instructor Ding Fengjun shared a marine fish identification reading list and study method on his Facebook page, walking us through a six-stage learning journey so we can all become true masters of ocean Pokémon! The full text is reproduced below, with the original source: Instructor Ding Fengjun's personal Facebook

A Guide to Reading Your Way into Fish Identification:

Start by getting to know the fish commonly seen near your local dive shop or favourite dive sites. I personally went through nearly every fish in the Maldives field guide within two years. Regional guides cover a smaller area, making them much easier to look things up in and use for identification.
Bear in mind that field guides may only show photos of adult fish. You'll sometimes encounter juvenile fish that aren't in the guide — such as juveniles of sweetlips, angelfish, or boxfish — so it's worth supplementing with a juvenile fish guide.

Once you're fairly familiar with the fish at your regular dive sites, you can move on to field guides covering a broader region. The series published by FishID in the United States is excellent, and many Southeast Asian dive shops stock the Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Fish guide for guests to browse.

Although the US West Coast and Mexico both border the Pacific, the US West Coast is not a coral reef environment, and the coral reef fish of Mexico's Pacific coast fall within the Eastern Pacific zone. Because Western Pacific species cannot efficiently migrate there, the fish you see diving at Socorro in Mexico will feel familiar — reminiscent of the Coral Triangle — yet not quite the same.

Once you've got a decent handle on fish classification, you can start exploring fish behaviour. As Confucius said, the desire for food and sex is human nature — and fish are no different. They're essentially thinking about three things: What do I eat? How do I avoid being eaten? And how do I find a mate?! In other words: feeding behaviour and reproductive behaviour!

After that, you can transition to more advanced field guides and introductory ichthyology texts — for example, Professor Shao Guangzhao's Introduction to Fish Observation, or the Shogakukan Encyclopedia of Japanese Fishes, which features remarkably scientific and thorough organisation and imagery.
If you later develop an interest in blackwater diving, you can explore the larval and juvenile fish stage — before they've settled into life on the coral reef.

Finally, if you're truly keen on diving into a professional textbook on fish diversity, pick up The Diversity of Fishes: Biology, Evolution, and Ecology. For detailed taxonomic study, consult the fifth edition of Fishes of the World.

Below is the reading list for each stage: (Supplementary resources: aquarium interpretation signage and publications)

Stage 1: Adult Fish in a Small Regional Area

• Taiwan Coral Reef Fish Guide, authors: Shao Guangzhao, Shao Yida, Lin Peili
• Fishes of the Maldives: Indian Ocean, authors: Rudie H Kuiter, Tim Godfrey
• National park publications are also excellent references — for example, the Kenting National Park Marine Fish Guide. There are also waterproof slate-style snorkeling fish guides available.

Books.com.tw purchase link: Go here

Stage 2: Juvenile and Sub-adult Fish in a Small Regional Area

幼魚ハンドブック, author: Kobayashi Yasumasa
ベラ&ブダイ: 日本で見られる192種+幼魚、成魚、雌雄、婚姻色のバリエーション, author: Katō Shōichi

Stage 3: Adult Fish Across a Broader Region

The FishID field guide series:

• Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Fish Guide
• Baja California to Panama Coral Reef Fish Guide
• Florida, Caribbean & Bahamas Coral Reef Fish Guide
• Galápagos Coral Reef Fish Guide
• California to Alaska Coastal Fish Guide

• 改訂新版 海水魚 ひと目で特徴がわかる図解付き (ネイチャーウォッチングガイドブック), author: Katō Shōichi

Books.com.tw purchase link: Go here

• スズメダイ (ネイチャーウォッチングガイドブック), author: Katō Shōichi
• 日本のハゼ―決定版, authors: Senō Hiroshi, Yano Yuki, Suzuki Toshiyuki, Shibukawa Kōichi

Stage 4: Fish Behaviour

• Reef Fish Behavior — Florida Caribbean Bahamas, 2nd Edition
• 魚たちの繁殖 ウォッチング: 求愛から産卵まで、その知られざる営み, author: Abe Hideki

Stage 5: A Systematic Introduction to Adult Fish

• Introduction to Fish Observation, author: Shao Guangzhao
• 小学館の図鑑 日本魚類館, author: Nakabō Tetsushi
• Oceanpedia — Northern Taiwan & Oceanpedia — Inshore Coral Reef, authors: Wox Lee & Spark Chao

Books.com.tw purchase link: Go here

Books.com.tw purchase link: Go here

Pre-order with dual-author signature, limited to 30 November 2021: Go here

Stage 6: Larval and Juvenile Fish

• 真夜中は稚魚の世界, author: Sakagami Jirō
• 美しい海の浮遊生物図鑑, authors: Wakabayashi Kaori (text), Tanaka Yūshi (text), Abe Hideki (photography)
• 海のミクロ生物図鑑: チリメンモンスターの中に広がる世界, authors: Nishida Momoyo, Ida Hitoshi (supervision)

Stage 7: Advanced Academic Textbooks

• Fishes of the World, authors: Joseph S. Nelson, Terry C. Grande, Mark V. H. Agoke Wilson
• The Diversity of Fishes: Biology, Evolution, and Ecology, authors: Gene Helfman, Bruce B. Collette, Douglas E. Facey, Brian W. Bowen

Cover photo credit: Yang Zhima

Recommended reading purchase links:

• Taiwan Coral Reef Fish Guide — Shao Guangzhao, Shao Yida, Lin Peili
• Saltwater Fish & Marine Creatures Complete Guide — Kobayashi Yasumasa
• Saltwater Fish Field Guide — Katō Shōichi
• Introduction to Fish Observation — Shao Guangzhao, Chen Lishu
• Oceanpedia — Northern Taiwan, by Wox Lee & Spark Chao
• Oceanpedia — Inshore Coral Reef (Pre-order)
• Instructor Ding's personal Facebook