Although in the 70s and 80s it was the "Dark Continent" of Africa which continually provided new and beautiful killifishes never before seen, since then it has become increasingly apparent that South America is also home to killifishes which are in no way inferior to their Old World cousins in terms of interesting behaviour and coloration. In the last few years not only new species, but also several new genera, have been discovered there. At present a total of 36 different genera are known from the New World, as opposed to "only" 22 on the other side of the Atlantic. The latter have already been covered comprehensively in the two AQUALOG volumes of "Old World Killies". The American killifishes are also extraordinarily diverse in form, as will be quite apparent from this latest volume. This book is the first in the entire history of the aquarium hobby - and ichthyology - to provide this kind of full and comprehensive overview of the New World killifishes using colour photographs. This applies to the North American species as well as those of the South American continent. A full overview of the genus Cyprinodon is provided, even including some forms that are now extinct.
As well as the aforementioned Cyprinodon, the species of the genera Cynolebias, Pterolebias, Rivulus, and Simpsonichthys, as well as the Fundulus species of North America, are focal points of this volume, which, however, also includes the representatives of the many other smaller genera.
As with all AQUALOG pictorial volumes, supplements to this book will be published over the years to come in order to ensure that it remains totally up- to-date.
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Unbeatable Books for the Aquarist
All of the Aqualog books are excellent value, although they are not particularly cheap. They are full to the brim with first class colour photographs and to reproduce these in a book is an expensive process. Whether they are about the beautiful Killifishes now coming into the aquarist trade or some other species of fish they are the most comprehensive identification books you can buy. They never become dated because as new fish become available to the aquarist trade the books are updated. There is not a lot of literature on Killifishes so this book is invaluable.
They do not deal with the basics of fish keeping, there are many and varied books that do that. They are in the main a fish identification encyclopaedia for a particular species. But for those aquarists who are particularly interested in a single species they are indispensable.
[Monday, January 22, 2007]
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