Review of Inland Fishes in Washington State
A Great Book for People Interested in the Fish of Washington.
If you have ever been interested in fish, or more specifically fish from the state of Washington, then this is definitely a text for you. Inland Fishes of Washington State is a 322 page text discussing, describing, and defining all of the known native and introduced fishes found in freshwater locations of Washington State. Though presented in a large bound textbook format, the book is actually more of a guide that tells and shows you everything about the 91 different fish that can be found currently in Washington. The descriptions are quite in-depth, covering everything from the size of an average species, to how often you will see those fish and during which season.
Information in the Text
The text is broken into a few main sections that help to teach people about the fish thoroughly. First there is an introduction that covers the human impact of fish, habitat management, and fisheries or locations where the fish are found in Washington. This covers the rivers, stream, and lakes were you can find each of the different families of fish. That leads into a "key" of the families of freshwater and anadromous fishes that are in Washington. You can see here what puts a fish in a specific category, or why a fish has any of its given names. The best section of the book follows, with a species key and life history account of each of the families of fish. This covers what they look like with detailed color photographs of every single fish you can find here. It is interesting to even just sit back and look at all of the different types. It is actually quite amazing just how many that there are.
Education Through Imagery
The picture section is followed by a section that details all of the facts surrounding each one of the fish. This includes how old they can live to be, their habits and habitats, how they reproduce, what they eat, and specific remarks that distinguish each one of the fish from the nest one. These are all split into paragraph format, and there is a section designated for each one of the fish. If that still isn't enough information for you and the back of the book are a lot of pages for appendixes that give even more information and lists more sources that you can go to if you need to learn more about any of the fish. It is also a well organized section that provides pretty much an unlimited amount of information for anyone looking to learn a lot about these fish.
The Best Facets of the Book.
--113 color illustrations of the fish
--A life history description of all 91 fish found in Washington State.
--85 maps showing distribution of the fish throughout the state.
--Keys for identifying each of the specimens.
--Lists of fishes in surrounding areas such as Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia.
--Age and growth tables, and record catches for each of the fish.
Final Thoughts on Inland Fishes of Washington State
If you are die-hard into learning about the Fish of Washington, then this really is a good that you should consider picking up. It really goes in-depth about anything you can find in the state, and takes the extra steps of not only helping with identifying the fish, but explaining when and where you will be able to find them. Fish identification can be a difficult thing for people that don't work with them all the time, and this book can serve as a valuable tool to someone who either knows a lot about fish and wants to learn more, or to someone just starting to get interested in fish. Inland Fishes of Washington State is slightly on the expensive side listing at about $39.99 normally, but I think that it is well worth it. So, if you are into fish, or know someone who is, this could be a great text for them!
Inland Fishes of Washington State
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