Reef and Shore Fishes of the Hawaiian Islands
J. Randall is one of the greatest ichthyologist of our time,  having described 20 genera and 628 species. This latest work  covers the reef and shore fishes of Hawaii, including Midway and  Johnston atoll. Hawaii is the best known region for its ichtyofauna  in the tropical Pacific along with southern Japan. Mundy (2005)  produced a checklist of 1,473 species for this region, however Randall's book is restricted to coastal species, i.e. 622 species, and does not cover pelagic or freshwater species. The book  starts with two interesting chapters on the history and biogeography  of the fishes from this region. One should note that over 20%  of the species are endemic, ranking Hawaii second after Easter  Island in endemism rate for shore fishes in the Pacific. Most endemic  species from Hawaii are closely related to other species in the  Indo-Pacific and their study is very instructive for our understanding  of the biogeography of tropical Pacific fishes. Hawaii is also one of the rare cases of voluntary and successful introduction of coastal marine fish species, with the numerous problems this has caused. This book includes keys for all the families. Given that  over 500 coastal fish species from Hawaii have a wide geographic  distribution, these keys will be useful for many other regions in the  Pacific. One may notice also that for some families (e.g., Scorpaenidae)  the excellent drawings indicating the various morphological features used in the keys. For each family J. Randall gives general information on taxonomy, geographical distribution, ecology and  biology. Within each family each species is treated separately with:  1. a picture, occasionally a drawing, illustrating the species, sometimes  the juvenile phase or the two sexes if sexual dimorphism is pronounced; 2. a detailed description of the morphology; 3. geographical distribution; 4. annotations on life history traits. The pictures are often outstanding and some are unique in that they show rare or deep water species in their environment. J. Randall gives many  details on closely related species, synonymies and the history of the  taxonomy. This book contains also a great deal of unpublished  information on the geographical distribution of many species,  which is very useful for biogeographical analyses. In this latest book, J. Randall gives far more information on the biology and ecology of these fishes than in most of his previous books. In particular, diet and behavior are often well covered and this is most useful  for many species for which this type of information was not yet available. Bibliography is complete (approx. 750 references) and the 5 pages of glossary are helpful. --Cybium 2007, 31(4):396There are books about fish in Hawaii, but now there's the bible: John Randall's Reef and Shore Fishes of the Hawaiian Islands. It is scientifically up to date, reporting on the 612 species of fish from the entire Hawaiian Archipelago and Johnston Atoll, and waters to a depth of 650 feet not just reef fish, not just the fish you'll catch trolling or bottomfishing, not just the common fish, but the whole shebang. Only offshore fish are missing.  For Hawaiian fishes, nothing else comes close, said Waikiki Aquarium director Andrew Rossiter. This impressive, authoritative book, published by the University of Hawaii Sea Grant program, comes at the princely price of $125 for its 546 glossy pages. Randall, the former director of Oceanic Institute and senior ichthyologist (fish scientist) at Bishop Museum, is uniquely qualified to do a book like this. He has been in the Pacific studying marine fish since the 1950s, when he sailed a ketch to Hawaii to get his doctorate. He has described 628 species of fish not previously known to science.  Reef and Shore Fishes is a course in Hawaiian marine life, with chapters on history, how species got to  the Islands, marine conservation, fish identification. The book is extensively illustrated with excellent photos, more than 900 of them in color. Would you have guessed there are more than a dozen flounders known from Hawaii, plus three species of sole? Or that they use their amazing camouflage not just to hide from predators, but as predators  themselves to sneak up on prey?  There are 45 pages of eels alone, and nearly as many pages of wrasses. You'll learn that the colors of male and female parrotfish are often so different that you'd never guess they were the same species. And then there are the gobies. They represent the largest family of marine fish, but there are only 34  species in Hawaii. The reason: The span of pelagic larval life is generally short. ... Therefore the larvae  of relatively few gobies have made it across the vast stretch of open ocean that separates the Hawaiian Archipelago from the nearest shoal areas. I was fascinated with infant fishes, a clan of tiny fish with transparent bodies that are sexually mature when they still look like larvae. They are related to gobies. There are just two species in Hawaii, neither  more than an inch long. They're attracted to light at night, which is the only way most folks would notice  them. If you're interested in marine fish, save up your money for this book, available soon. --Honolulu Advertiser