FAQs about
Non-Vertebrate Animal
Reference
Related Articles: Marine Invertebrates, Quarantine of Corals and
Invertebrates, Feeding
Reef Invertebrates, Lighting
Marine Invertebrates, Water Flow, How Much
is Enough,
Related FAQs: Marine
Invert.s 1, Marine Invert.s 2,
& FAQs about: Non-Vert IDs 1,
Non-Vert IDs 2, Non-Vert IDs 3, ... Marine Invertebrate Behavior, Marine Invertebrate Compatibility,
Marine Invertebrate Selection,
Marine Invertebrate Systems,
Feeding Reef Invertebrates,
Marine Invertebrate Disease,
Marine Invertebrate
Reproduction, & Marine Plankton,
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Taxonomy: Book Recommendations for Marine Invertebrate ID --
7/31/10
Hello.
<Hi Donald, Lynn here today.>
I am interested in learning how to identify marine invertebrates.
<My kind of guy!>
I was writing to ask which text(s) you would recommend.
<See below.>
I am getting into (not quite drowning) saltwater and currently am
keeping a 29 gal mixed tank. I am sick of looking at pictures for hours
trying to figure out what the heck is in my tank. It makes it much
easier to reference how to care for something or whether it is good or
bad if you actually know what it is.
<Absolutely>
With that being said I am seeking your opinion(s) on which books I
should, You would, invest in for identifying marine invertebrates. I am
interested in the taxonomy of reef invertebrates in particular if you
know of a text/reference more specific to that area.
<I'll give you my top three:
1. Invertebrate Zoology, by Edward Ruppert and Robert Barnes. It's
not strictly marine, but it's the best book I know of for
invertebrate study. It's actually a textbook with what may
initially seem like more information than you need, but if you want to
get into invertebrate ID, this is a must. There are seven editions that
have been released over the years that you can usually find used at a
very reasonable price. I'd go with the latest edition you can
afford.
2. Reef Invertebrates, An Essential Guide to Selection, Care and
Compatibility, by Robert Fenner and Anthony Calfo. What can I say, this
is a great book!
3. Marine Invertebrates: 500+ Essential-To-Know Aquarium Species, by
Ronald L. Shimek. This is a terrific, quick ID source book.
There are many other books I could recommend, but these three are a
good starting spot for helping you to recognize the various
groups/phyla that you might run across in your tank. As far as strictly
marine invertebrate books, they're out there, but most of the ones
I've run across tend to offer fairly general information, as
opposed to the detailed textbook level of the Ruppert/Barnes book. It
really is a terrific information source.>
Thank You.
<You're very welcome. If you need any other recommendations,
please let me know!>
Donald
<Take care, Lynn Z>
Re Invertebrate Ref. works 8/1/10
Oh, and Lynn, one book I'd add to your list of invertebrate books
would be Ralph Buchsbaum excellent "Animals Without
Backbones". The earlier editions especially, e.g., the ones with
Ed Rickett's photos, are timeless classics. Perhaps not up-to-date
in terms of science, but for a broad review of what makes a flatworm a
flatworm and all that sort of stuff, I think Buchsbaum is amazingly
readable.
Cheers, Neale
<I do concur. For one-volume references, any/all by Robert Barnes,
Buchsbaum, and Ricketts are worthwhile. B>
Re: Reference
Thanks Neale, I've got that book and you're right, it's
terrific!
-Lynn
Hi Bob and Neale,
I've got a ton of favorite books, I just didn't want to
overload Donald with too many since he's a beginner. I'll make
a list of my favorites by category in the next day or two and send to
y'all.
-Lynn
Sounds good. B
ID Related Books 8/2/10
Hi Bob,
Here's the promised list of books that I refer to most often (see
attachment). I've got a ton of online links but that's for
another day!
Take care,
-Lynn
ps...I bet you're surprised to get such a short *anything* from me
- query, article, email, etc!
<Heee! Will post w/ credit to you. BobF>
Re: ID Related Books
Thanks Bob, Neale, At the risk of sounding like an ignoramus, where
would something like that be posted? -Lynn
I think at the "head" of the Ref FAQs file I built:
http://wetwebmedia.com/MarInvertRefF.htm
at the end of the Unknown Invert (ID) FAQs here: http://wetwebmedia.com/marinvind1.htm
B
Re: ID Related Books
Makes sense -
thanks, Lynn
<Thank you Lynn... If you have better, even just diff. ideas on how
we/I might go about the arrangement of matter on WWM, pls don't
hesitate to make this known to me. Given the present structure of
media, my limitations, guesses re the future, what others may best be
served by, I do what I can... but fully realize others have ideas of
worth. Cheers, B>
Re: ID Related Books 8/3/10
<<carets>>
Makes sense - thanks,
Lynn
<Thank you Lynn... If you have better, even just diff. ideas on how
we/I might go about the arrangement of matter on WWM, pls don't
hesitate to make this known to me. Given the present structure of
media, my limitations, guesses re the future, what others may best be
served by, I do what I can... but fully realize others have ideas of
worth. Cheers, B>
<<Well, actually, I have to apologize because I did to you
yesterday what I've had done to me on more than one occasion. That
is, being presented with a suggestion from someone that means well, but
doesn't realize: 1. The amount of work necessary to make it happen,
2. That you're already over-loaded with work, and 3. That
you've already been working to solve the issue at hand. The thing
is, I always appreciate the suggestions but in the back of my mind I
can't help but think something along the lines of "I'll
get right on that, as soon as I have a couple hundred extra hours
available!". I know you and Neale are doing the best you can to
make the site work for everyone and don't have a lot of extra time
so for right now I think we're doing just fine. If and when I ever
get a big chunk of time available, I might just see if I can put
together some bulleted sheets like this one:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/zoanthidcompfaqs.htm and send them along to
you. Honestly though, I can't imagine having that much time
available any time soon! Take care, -Lynn>>