This was the first marine reference guide I purchased and, contains some very interesting reading material. When you first start dabbling in reef tanks you have all sorts of questions like what’s that mushroom looking thing or what’s that snail creature?
The great thing about this book is it helps you understand those weird and wonderful things we all discover in our marine aquariums like Foraminiferans (Forams) which often come attached to live rock or the sponges that many people tend to not to notice but, form a part of any reef ecosystem. The book also covers things like corallimorphs, clams, anemones, starfish, zooanthids, nudibranchs, different types of snails and obvious things like crabs plus, many of those interesting creatures you discover at night.
As you know this book was written from a US perspective but, does a great job at covering a broad spectrum of invertebrates which you would find (i am assuming) all over the world including the land down-under.
Now this book isn't going to give you all the information you need to know about how to maintain this wonderful inverts. However, it will give you the important tid bits that will help you along the way. For instance Julian indicates the following for all the inverts:
- “Scientific name
- Common name
- Hardiness in captivity
- Regions (where it is found in the wild)
- Desirable/undesirable features
- Similar organisms
- Feeding requirements
- Special considerations”
And, of course loads of great pictures.
The book contents/index goes as follows (a few sections have been omitted):
“Chapter One – Foraminiferans”
“Chapter Two – Sponges”
“Chapter Three – Cnidaria”
“Chapter Four – Flatworms”
“Chapter Five – Mollusks”
“Chapter Six – Worms”
“Chapter Seven – Arthropods”
“Chapter Eight – Echinoderms”
“Chapter Nine – Tunicates”
I would recommend purchasing this book and, the other Julian Sprung book “Corals - a quick reference guide” if you’re serious on going on the reef aquarium journey.
Reference: Oceanographic Series – Invertebrates: A Quick Reference Guide
Copyright 2001 Reference Guide
First Printed June 2001
Published by Ricordea Publishing, Miami, Florida, USA\
Author: Julian Sprung
Book Design by Daniel N. Ramirez
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