What was that black squishy thing ...

The Sea Life series has been arranged in groups of similar animals or plants, each group containing about five items. This limit has been chosen in an attempt to help divers identify similar creatures, without causing the brain to go into overload. It may be helpful to print the appropriate page and take it with you to assist writing up your log. If you are just starting on the Wellington dive scene then it would be practical to become familiar with the 'High Five' and 'Five More' groups first.

Of the fish reference books I have, there is one which stands out from the crowd. It is Malcolm Francis's Coastal Fishes of New Zealand - A Diver's Identification Guide. (ISBN 0 7900 0013 x) It is published by Heinemann Reed and is available from Bennett's Book Shop on Lambton Quay. It has good fish descriptions and the best colour prints I have seen in a fish identification guide. I use the Mobil New Zealand Nature Series Seashore Life by R.K. Dell, published by Reed Books (ISBN 0 7900 01519) for my non-fish references. If you buy a reference book, I recommend you take it with you when you go diving and consult it while you have your cuppa' afterwards.

Contents

• The High Five - Spotty, Banded wrasse, Blue cod, Terakihi, Blue moki.
• Five More Fish - Butterfish, Yellow-eyed mullet, Leatherjacket, Scarlet wrasse, Marblefish
• Five Gems - Conger eel, Octopus, Stargazer, Sea horse, Rock cod
• The Flappers - Short-tailed Stingray, Eagle ray, Common sole, Yellowbelly Flounder, Fur Seal
• The Triplefins - Oblique-swimming, Blue-eyed, Common, Variable and Long-finned Triplefins
• The Crustacea - Red rock crab, Common swimming crab, Hermit crab, Pink barnacle, Common crayfish
• Univalve Shellfish - Paua, Shield shell, Limpets, Whelks, Tiger shell
• Bivalve Shellfish - Horse, Green-edged, Black-edged, Nesting and Ribbed mussels, Scallop
• Neat Anemones - Striped, Wandering, Red Beadlet and Jewel anemones
• The Sponges - Slaty, Finger, Golf ball and Orange pointy sponges
• Five Slowpokes - Sea urchin, Sea cucumber, Chiton, Sea tulip, Sea squirt
• Sea Stars - Reef, Cushion, Biscuit, Brittle and Uri stars
• Floaters - Common jellyfish, Bluebottle, By-the-wind sailor, Salp
• Seaweed - Sea Rimu, Paddle weed, Bull kelp, Bladder kelp Venus necklace, Flapjack
• Nudibranchs - Archidoris wellingtonensis, Dorids, Chromodoris, Aeolidia

Hey, don't forget to visit ...

• The Improbable Egg Page - things your mother never told you about eggs
• Fact, Fiction or Fallacy - briny brain teasers

Dive Sites      Home      Shipwrecks      Artifacts