Fish Identification

Scuba Lessons Inc. Co-Op Believes it is our responsibility as underwater explorers to protect and serve the areas of ocean we visit and love. As a service to those who have gracefully joined our conservation club and Reef.org to do fish survey’s we have included links to various fish identification sites across the web for your use. We will be incorporating later a database that will be searchable along with a training module that will be interactive.

Check back soon for this!  You can join the club FREE by clicking here.

  • Bahamas Ocean Website – this page is maintained by a budding naturalist, Louis Johnson, who lives on Eleuthera in the Bahamas and features information on fishes he sees in the bay in front of his house
  • CoralRealm -good site for fish ID and ecology
  • Division of Fishes – Smithsonian Institution – catalog of fishes deposited at the Smithsonian
  • FishBase -online database of all described fishes (marine and freshwater)
  • Florida Museum of Natural History, Ichthyology Department Gallery-a searchable gallery of underwater images
  • Guide to Field Guides – a very comprehensive listing of field guides by subject including fish
  • Marine Life Learning Center – New World Publications – reef fish quizzes and identification tips
  • Nature Gallery – a personal webpage with a great gallery of photos from Florida including fish
  • Pennekamp Reef Fish – photos of reef fish
  • ReefNet Galleries – an incredible collection of weird fish and critters that the Wilks have found on their adventures
  • Underwater Photography Guide – Marine life links and articles for California, Pacific NW, Hawaii, Indo-Pacific and more

Here are some other great links to keep your brain swimming underwater…

  • NOAA’s Coral Reef Links http://coris.noaa.gov/data/noaa_coralreefs.html
  • Amazing Environmental Organization WebDirectory! – Environmental Links, much more than just marine issues
  • Under the Sea – Links to information and lesson plans about a wide variety of ocean-related topics

    Educational Resources

  • Blue Planet- BBC’s great resource with games, species facts, and more
  • Bridge -Ocean Sciences Education Teacher Resource Center
  • Bridge – REEF Data Tip – Teaching module using REEF data from 3 National Marine Sanctuaries
  • Center for Sustainable Fisheries – Fish Trouble – A Teacher’s Guide for Grades 5-12
  • Environmental Education Resources – K-12 education web resources and activities
  • Florida Museum of Natural History, Ichthyology Department – great site with lots of information on fish, a kids section, and a super image gallery
  • Ocean Exploration – NOAA’s website for ocean exploration

    Environmental Organizations

  • Clearwater Marine Aquarium
  • Coral Reef Alliance
  • Earth Communications Office
  • International Marinelife Alliance
  • Living Oceans Society
  • National Environmental Trust Marine Conservation
  • National Marine Institute
  • Natural Resource Defense Council
  • The Ocean Conservancy (formerly Center for Marine Conservation)
  • Ocean Futures
  • Ocean Voice International
  • Oceana
  • Oceanic Resource Foundation
  • Oceanographic Expeditions
  • Project AWARE Foundation Online
  • Project S.E.A.-Link, Maui
  • Reef Ball Development Group – Artificial Reef Index Page
  • Reef Check
  • Reef Relief – Protect Living Coral
  • Seacology
  • CORAL’s NGO Directory

    Marine Ecology, Conservation and Marine Protected Areas

  • Abandoned Vessel Project – a volunteer program to report abandoned and derelict vessels
  • Australia Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) – information on the world’s largest barrier reef including long-term monitoring data
  • Australia’s Fish Collections Webpage – a good reference for Australia museum collections complete with a nifty fish finder
  • Coral Bleaching Virtual Stations (NOAA) – near-real-time information on thermal stress that induces coral bleaching for 24 selected reef sites around the globe.
  • Coral Reef Ecology Lecture Notes – online version of a reef ecology class with lots of useful hyperlinks, maintained by a marine sciences professor
  • Coral Reef Information System (CoRIS) – NOAA site, contains photos, charts, bleaching info, and monitoring projects
  • Coral Reef Report – an online magazine about coral reefs
  • Eco-Surf -educational resource about coral reefs and threats facing them, website chronicling two surfers sailing the globe to raise the awareness about coral reefs
  • Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) Information- provides background information on what is EFH and why NMFS is trying to protect it
  • Florida Oceanographic Society – Florida marine resources
  • Marine Biology Links – this page has tons of links to marine animal and marine biology related sites
  • Marine Protected Areas of the United States – provides information on MPA’s in the US
  • Marine Protected Areas Newsletter – online newsletter about MPAs
  • Monterey Bay Aquarium – Five Things You Can Do To Help Conserve Ocean Life -a good resource on the issue of overfishing
  • MPA Tool Kit – a resource produced by the WWF that summarizes the scientific case for no-take marine reserves, includes case studies, a slideshow and book, free to download
  • National Academy of Science MPA Report 2000 – online document of NAS report “Marine Protected Areas: Tools for Sustaining Ocean Ecosystems”
  • National Council on Science and the Environment – a great resource on science and the environment
  • NMFS Gear Effects – information on the effect of fishing gear (trawls, traps, etc.) on the quality of habitat
  • Northwest Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve – details about this newly designated MPA
  • Northwest Straits Marine Protected Areas Project – an initiative to get MPA’s in Washington State
  • Oceana – an advocacy group dedicated to protecting the world’s oceans
  • Oceanlife – Institute Marine Protected Areas Page- features a great overview article about the value of MPAs and the threat of overfishing written by Dr. Jim Bohnsack
  • OceanLink – Marine Science – marine science information for the Pacific Northwest
  • ReefBase -online information system for corals, a source of data and educational information
  • Reefs At Risk – online version of a publication by World Resources Institute 1998
  • Reefnet – Internet information service on coral reefs
  • Sea and Sky – contains news, educational resources, images, and games for ocean and sky exploration
  • South Florida Aquatic Environments- information about the Florida Keys, the Everglades, and Florida Bay put together by the Florida Museum of Natural History
  • Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2000 – online document, updated Oct. 2000
  • UN Atlas of the Oceans – a great information system on the uses, issues and geography of the ocean
  • U.S. Coral Reef Task Force – legislative plan to improve protection and understanding of coral reefs
  • Vone Research – dedicated to increasing awareness of Florida’s maritime history and the importance of the Florida reef ecosystem
  • World Commission on Protected Areas – IUCN international organization that supports MPAs
  • Year of the Ocean – official site of the 1997 event also see MCBI’s links page for a great list of web resources on marine conservation biology resources

    Career Resources

  • Becoming A Marine Biologist – Virtual mentors
  • Bridge -Ocean Sciences Education Teacher Resource Center
  • Environmental Consulting Career Tips – Professionals tell it like it is
  • Environmental Education Resources – great page with links to college programs, grant opportunities, K-12 activities
  • Hillsborough Community College Aquaculture Program – an academic program geared for the aquaculture industry
  • Marine Biology Web – with many links including internships and other oportunities
  • Marine Lab Experience Home Page – marine ecology program in Key Largo, FL
  • MCBI’s List of Academic Programs – complete list of grad. & undergrad. Programs in conservation and marine bio
  • National Association of Marine Laboratories – comprehensive page of all US marine labs
  • Society for Conservation Biology Job Page – a great resource for job hunters
  • Texas A&M University Wildlife and Fisheries Job Board – a great employment opportunities site
  • Volunteering for the Coast – NOAA volunteer opportunities

    Artificial Reefs

  • Artificial Reefs of the Florida Keys
  • Charlotte Marine Research Team
  • The Organization for Artificial Reefs
  • Reef Ball
  • Southwest Florida Artificial Reef Association
  • Starfish Reef Builders Ltd.

    Aquaria and Marine Life Collection

  • American Marinelife Dealers Association – provides a directory of marine life vendors who promote sustainable trade, also gives an Ecolist of fishes that outlines captivity requirements
  • Captive Bred Wholesalers – links to companies that distribute captive bred marinelife
  • Coral Reef Task Force Report on Trade – online pdf report on the trade of coral reef species 1999
  • Fish Information Service (FINS) – aquarium resources on the Web
  • Hillsborough Community College Aquaculture Program – an academic program geared for the aquaculture industry
  • International Marinelife Alliance – supporting sustainable collection of marine life
  • Marine Aquarium Council – developing a certification system for marine life collectors and vendors
  • UNEP Report: From Ocean to Aquarium- the Global Trade in Marine Ornamental Species – a PDF report that was released in October 2003

Scuba Lessons Inc. team members are very touched to have received this letter from some amazing kids and not only do wewish to honor them by posting the research they so generously shared; I feel it only appropriate to post the entire letter.  Please find it below as well as the information they contributed. Good Stuff!

Good day, from Mrs. Rutkowski’s Independent Environmental Science Class!

Mrs. Rutkowski is our advisor for the environmental science independent study class. She advises us with our science course the six of

us are taking at Elm Grove Area Community Services Center, in order to obtain college credit. We are currently working on a research project that was assigned to us about the environment. We all have a 20 page paper we have to write and a presentation to follow concerning conservation, pollution, and global warming.

We have spend countless hours at home and with Mrs. Rutkowski doing research, which is where some of us came across this page (http://www.scubalessonsinc.com/fishid.html).

We shared it with the rest of our classmates, and we all agree it was indeed very helpful for our project. Thank you for providing this page for us!

We brought an idea to Mrs. Rutkowski, which is why she wrote to you on our behalf.  We have all found plenty of research, and we wanted to add what we found to your page. We wanted to share with others about environmental awareness and protection so people can be proactive now.

Here is what we found that we thought would be the best fit:

Thank you for reading our idea and we hope this will help anyone who comes across your resources looking for more information. Mrs. Rutkowski has offered to give us extra credit until Thursday for this project if our resources are added to your page. We hope together we can share new ideas about how to save our environment!

Kind regards,

Adelina Rutkowski and the Independent Environmental Science Class Adrianna, Francis, Adam, Kevin, Cynthia, Robert-

This is what Scuba Lessons Inc. Conservation Club is all about.. theses guys all HONORARY MEMBERS! Let me know when you guys are ready to learn to scuba dive!