| Corals
A Quick Reference Guide
by Julian Sprung
1999, Ricordea Publishing, Miami, FL, USA, laminated boards, 240 pages, cover size is about 8½ by 9¾ inches (22 by 24.5 cm) color photographs on almost every page.
Here is a relatively inexpensive guide to coral identification to hundreds of coralline species and genera found throughout the world.The book is organized using the generic level as its key guide to identification It is a beautifully illustrated work and each of the genera is well described . You will find pictures of the living corals some in situ and some in aquarium settings of one or several species belonging to each of the genera. One feature that I found especially nice was a phonetic listing of the pronunciation of each of the genera found in this book. This is something that our shell authors might want to consider adding to their works as a helpful guide laymen. Also given are the common names, the region in which they are found, a detailed description and a brief description of similar corals. There is also a chart given for each genus to aid those who want to grow corals in their aquariums. The author has done a remarkable job of giving us a lot of information in a small and easy to handle package. No, this is not a replacment for the Vernon's "Corals of the World", but for many of us the information in this book will more than serve to serve our needs and encourages us to study these interesting and beautiful creatures that play an imporant role in th eecology of our planet. This is a used copies but in about new condition. It has a small crayon mark on the front end-paper that can be covered with a bookplate which will be sent with the book. |
