Reef Fish: A Celebration of Indo-Pacific Fishes by Wayne Osborn
Reef Fish is a celebration of fishes of the Indo-Pacific region. Photographic images of 827 fish species are presented in this revised 2021 edition. They range from the famed Coral Triangle (Raja Ampat and Sulawesi), Australia and the Coral Sea.
In over 40 years of diving, fish have been my constant underwater companions. Even under miserable conditions of cold water, limited visibility and foul currents, fish going about their daily routines and curiously assessing this alien interloper have provided endless amusement and a sense of comfort.
Much of my diving has been done alone in less than ideal visibility which invokes a certain edgy state of mind. It was always reassuring to find friendly faces at the end of the anchor line and providing entertainment on many an otherwise unrewarding dive.
I became particularly attached to a red snapper living on a reef in Southern Australian waters and one day arrived to find him being hauled to the surface on the end of a fishing line. A diver’s knife came in handy and he was restored to his rightful place on the reef. We met again many more times.
All errors in species identification are my own and feedback is most welcome as I will update and correct this book from time to time.
The images are mostly from digital SLR’s (since 2005). All Pam’s images have been taken whilst free diving (from the surface to a depth of 12 metres). We strive to capture the best quality images we can.
She is always prompt to point out that she has little time to prepare and compose her shots against the luxury of my nearly unlimited bottom time.
ANZEC Member - Wayne Osborn
Wayne has been an active SCUBA diver and Underwater Photographer since 1974. He resides in Perth, Western Australia with his wife Pam. They have an interest in whale conservation and have travelled to the Azores, the Great Barrier Reef and Tonga to document sperm, minke and humpback whales. Wayne and Pam donate many of their images to whale researchers and have documented the migration of humpback whales along the Western Australian coast since 2006. Pam has photographed 2,500 individual humpbacks in that time. Their images have been included in numerous reference books and Wayne's image of a dwarf minke whale is on the cover of the 2nd edition of Marine Mammals of the World.Wayne was the Australian Geographic Australasian Nature Photographer of the Year in 2012.They have published a number of iBooks including "In Pursuit of Whales" and "A Long Lens in Africa - Birds of East & Southern Africa."
