Pacific Coast Fish Finder: Identifying Marine Fish of the Pacific Coast (Nature Study Guides)

Russo, Ron

ISBN 10: 0912550406 ISBN 13: 9780912550404

Publisher: Nature Study Guild, 2024

Synopsis

Identify marine fish of the Pacific Coast with this pocket-size guide.

Whether you’re snorkeling with your family or on a fishing trip in the Pacific, you’re bound to encounter a variety of marine wildlife. If you’re curious about the fish you see, then Pacific Coast Fish Finder by Ron Russo is just what you need. With the handy, easy-to-use book, you can identify common marine fish, sharks, and rays by sight.

The booklet begins with introductions to fish anatomy and biology, followed by an at-a-glance identification chart to fish species by shape and a guide to shark teeth. A field guide section presents 130 marine fish, organized by families such as sharks, salmon, rockfish, and tunas. Professional illustrations by Ann Caudle and visual descriptions help you to identify each species.

Book Features:

• Simple guide to marine fish identification
• 130 species of common fish, sharks, and rays
• Introductions to fish anatomy, biology, distribution, and more
• Professional illustrations with key markings for identification
• Small format that fits into a pocket or pack

This guide is applicable to the West Coast states of Alaska, California, Oregon, and Washington, as well as coastal Baja California and Canada.

About this title

About the Author

Ron Russo is well-known for his broad knowledge and enthusiastic teaching. He has written more than 40 articles for various magazines and journals—including a feature article in Natural History magazine—as well as five technical papers on leopard shark biology. Ron is the author of such books as Pacific Coast Fish Finder, Pacific Coast Mammal Finder, and Plant Galls of the Western United States.

Ron served as a naturalist of the East Bay Regional Park District for 37 years, including 17 years as Chief Naturalist, before retiring in 2003 to focus full-time on his passions of plant galls and shark biology. He is the recipient of the distinguished Fellow Award from the National Association for Interpretation (1989) and served as an instructor of California state park rangers for 25 years at the William Penn Mott Training Center at Asilomar, California. Ron was also a wilderness guide for 18 years, leading trips to observe and study Alaska's rich array of plants and animals, including humpback whales and grizzly bears.

Ann Caudle is the program director and an instructor for the Science Illustration Certificate Program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A member of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, Ann helped to establish the program in the 1980s and has run it with fellow UC Santa Cruz alumnus Jenny Keller ever since.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Starry Skate (Raja stellulata)

To 76 cm (30 in). Brown, gray-brown, often with light spots; has two eyespots with yellow centers and brown rings. This is our spiniest skate; much of its upper surface is covered with prickles. Eats crabs, shrimp, clams, and fish. Oviparous. Eggs have lines; one embryo per egg case. In north, born June–July. Found on sand-mud bottom to 400 fathoms, from Bering Sea to Baja California.

Green Sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris)

To 213 cm (84 in). Grayish-white to olive-green. Key features are bony plates on back and along sides, concave snout, and long barbels. Has a skeleton that is mostly cartilage, like that of sharks, but sturgeons are primitive bony fish. Eats clams, shrimp, crabs, and worms in bays and estuaries by slurping them out of mud with protrusile mouth. Moves into freshwater to spawn, where it eats crayfish, snails, and insect larvae. Taste buds are outside of mouth. Large females lay 2–5 million eggs, which hatch in two weeks to three months. From Bering Sea to Ensenada.

Edition details

• Publisher: Nature Study Guild
• Publication date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0912550406
• ISBN 13: 9780912550404
• Binding: Staple Bound
• Illustrator: Caudle Ann
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 112