Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico: Texas, Louisiana, and Adjacent Waters

Description

For twenty years, Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico has been the premier reference work for identifying and classifying fish of northern Gulf waters. This new work, revised in both format and content, is based on two decades' research and greater attention to deepwater habitats and now provides accounts of 539 species, with information on 62 species not covered in the first edition. These additions include 10 newly described species and 52 which had not previously been collected in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico.

Taxonomic nomenclature has been revamped for more than 40 species, based on recent research and sampling. Dives around reefs and many new offshore oil structures have contributed new knowledge about species that favor these structures as habitat. Other habitat conditions have changed because of severe freezes, hurricanes, intensive fishing, and government regulations on fishing. The continued accumulation of data from sport anglers and commercial fisheries is also reflected in this new volume.

The main focus in this book is the rich marine fauna of the northwestern Gulf—Texas and Louisiana bays and continental shelf. Besides the species profiled in individual accounts, identification keys include fishes more commonly found in the northeastern Gulf, along the southeastern U.S. Atlantic coast, or in tropical waters, making this guide widely useful to anglers, divers, students, and naturalists in adjacent Gulf states and Mexico. Keys also cover deeper-dwelling fishes sometimes known to occur closer inshore and some freshwater species also found in low-salinity waters such as estuaries.

An expanded section of color plates with 225 new photographs offers the first means of approaching identification of an unknown species of fish. From there one can go to the family or species keys or directly to the species account. Text for each species account gives distinguishing characteristics, distribution, life history information, and reference. Sections on ecology and conservation have also been updated to include the results of recent and ongoing studies. An added feature is the inclusion of alternate common names (including Cajun and Spanish terms) for some fish, in addition to the standard scientific and common names recognized by the American Fisheries Society.

Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico is the most complete work available for identifying Gulf Coast fishes and learning more about where they are likely to be found.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
H. DICKSON HOESE is a professor emeritus of the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette. RICHARD H. MOORE is professor of biology and an administrator at Coastal Carolina University, Conway, South Carolina.