Identify a fish, lobster, crab, shrimp and more with our series of marine life identification books. Our reef fish, creature and coral field guides for recreational scuba divers are produced by underwater photographers Paul Humann and Ned DeLoach. The ultimate reference books for Fish ID, Creature ID and Coral ID are now available in print and digital format.
We publish marine life identification and behavior books for recreational scuba divers, snorkelers and naturalists. Our black cover books feature flex-binding allowing the book to lie flat for use. We also have a series of waterproof guides that can be taken with you on a dive.
Click any of the below book covers for additional info.
Reef Fish Identification Florida Caribbean Bahamas
Reef Creature Identification Florida Caribbean Bahamas
Reef Coral Identification
Florida Caribbean Bahamas
Reef Fish Behavior
Florida Caribbean Bahamas
Reef Fish Identification
Travel Edition
Florida Caribbean Bahamas
Reef Fish Identification Galapagos
Reef Fish Identification
Baja to Panama
Reef Fish Identification
Tropical Pacific
Reef Creature Identification
Tropical Pacific
Nudibranch & Sea Slug Identification
Indo-Pacific
Coastal Fish Identification California to Alaska
Snorkeling Guide to Marine Life
Florida Caribbean Bahamas
The Reef Set
Florida Caribbean Bahamas
Nudibranch Behavior
We now offer our black cover book series in Adobe DRM PDF eBook format. It is only available to order and download directly from our online store. Retail Stores, resorts and retailers can become affiliates and promote our eBooks by clicking the affiliate link on our store.
Reef Fish Identification Florida Caribbean Bahamas
Reef Creature Identification Florida Caribbean Bahamas
Reef Coral Identification
Florida Caribbean Bahamas
Reef Fish Behavior
Florida Caribbean Bahamas
Coastal Fish Identification
California to Alaska
Reef Fish Identification
Tropical Pacific
Reef Creature Identification
Tropical Pacific
Nudibranch & Sea Slug Identification
Indo-Pacific
Reef Fish Identification
Baja to Panama
Reef Fish Identification Galapagos
Available for Apple and Android devices. Download Adobe Digital Editions, get an Adobe ID then purchase our eBooks. You will be able to use on 5 different devices.
eBook Download Instructions
“Our goal is to help make diving a lifelong learning adventure”
-Ned DeLoach, Author/Photographer
Our company is created by divers for divers. We started our business in 1989 with the publication of Reef Fish Identification -Florida Caribbean Bahamas. We now have 13 marine life books and 3 waterproof field guides.
Paul Humann and Ned DeLoach are the primary photographers, Anna DeLoach is our researcher and shoots video, and Eric Riesch is our managing director of the business operations.
Retail catalogs through the years.
In the early 1980's a mutual friend introduced Ned DeLoach to Paul Humann. A few years later, when the new owners of Ocean Realm magazine appointed Ned to the position of editor-in-chief, he invited Paul to join him as co-editor. When Ocean Realm was eventually sold, the pair made the decision to leave the magazine business and concentrate their efforts on developing a series of marine life field guides for divers.
During Paul’s decade-long stint as owner/operator of the Cayman Diver he amassed an extensive library of underwater images. Combining his knowledge of marine wildlife and the dive business with Ned’s background in education and publishing, the pair published the first edition of Reef Fish Identification - Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas in 1989.
Since then that book has gone through 17 printings of four editions. It was awarded the Independent Book Publisher's Benjamin Franklin Award for best reference book of 1994. The innovative, user-friendly fish identification guide was soon followed by two companion volumes, Reef Creature Identification (1992) and Reef Coral Identification (1993), which together make up the now famous Reef Set.
The popular, user-friendly format conceived for the tropical western Atlantic identification books spawned a series of fish identification books for other regions including the Galapagos Islands, the West Coast from California to Alaska and the Gulf of California to Panama.
In 2003, Paul and Ned partnered with the late John Jackson of Odyssey Publishing, ichthyologist Gerry Allen and Australian photographer Roger Steene for the publication of Reef Fish Identification - Tropical Pacific. New World has also published Nudibranch Behavior by Dave Behrens, Sea Salt by Stan Waterman and Diving Pioneers and Innovators by Bret Gilliam. They also helped distribute works for friends Howard Hall, Cathy Church, Marty Snyderman, Helmut Debelius and Constantinos Petrinos. Anna DeLoach produced the DVDs, Sensational Seas (2004), Reef Fish Identification - A Beginning Course (2007) and Sensational Seas Two (2010).
In November of 2010, after five years of extensive field photography in the Pacific, New World Publications published Reef Creature Identification - Tropical Pacific, the most comprehensive field guide ever published about the marine invertebrate community of the vast region stretching from Thailand to Tahiti.
In 1996 Ned wrote Reef Fish Behavior - Florida Caribbean Bahamas about what was currently known on the reproduction, feeding, life cycles, symbiosis and other behaviors of reef fishes. Together with his wife Anna DeLoach, they produced a 2nd edition in 2019 with updated and new information.
All of our photos are taken in the species’ natural habitat. We are constantly striving to get a sharp photo showing key characteristics to help readers with accurate identifications.
Books on the press.
We continue to update and improve our books with the latest scientific information. A reprint will feature minor text and photo changes. A new edition will be updated cover to cover.
Our storage of past printings and old editions.
In early 1990, Ned and Paul joined by good friend and advisor, Jim Dalle Pazze, formed REEF (Reef Environmental Education Foundation), a non-profit organization dedicated to marine conservation through implementing hands-on programs to involve local communities in conservation-focused activities. REEF is headquartered in Key Largo, Florida and its mission is to protect biodiversity and ocean life by actively engaging and inspiring the public through citizen science, education, and partnerships with the scientific community.
Citizen science fish monitoring on recreational scuba dives throughout the world.
Invasive lionfish removals, detection, and removal of other potential invaders.
Endangered species spawning aggregation research.
New World Publications, Inc.
1861 Cornell Rd.
Jacksonville, FL 32207
Copyright © New World Publications, 2021
Are airline weight restrictions forcing you to leave your prized Reef Fish Identification book at home? The digital age is upon us, but divers still want a book in their hands when they return from a dive to look up the fishes they encounter. At 3/4 of a pound, our new Reef Fish Identification - TRAVEL EDITION - Caribbean Bahamas South Florida is the answer!
The Travel Edition is a Portable, lightweight field guide rugged enough for luggage, gear bag and boat. Now with paperback binding and lower retail price!
427 species, 560 photographs, 132 pages in a 6 " x 9" format. Information on each species including their common, scientific and family names, descriptions, identification markings, preferred habitat and the animal's range.
Fish In A Pocket is a series of mini-books printed on waterproof paper with stainless steel staples designed to go underwater. They are designed for divers and snorkelers f with the most commonly seen species in the region.
From the beautiful cool waters of Catalina Island to the frigid straits teaming with life in British Columbia this book covers it all. The most up-to-date, accurate and comprehensive pictorial fish ID guide ever published for the fishes of the eastern Pacific Ocean from California to Alaska. The concise text accompanying each species portrait includes the species’ common, scientific and family names, size, range, description, visually distinctive features, preferred habitat, typical behavior, depth, range and geographical distribution. The new edition (Nov. 2022) features 15 new species, more than 50 new photographs and many scientific name changes and improvements throughout the book.340 photographs, 273 species, 284 pages , 6″ x 9″ format.
Nudibranchs are among the most beautiful creatures on the reef, with colors and shapes that dazzle and delight. Unlike fish that may disappear before our eyes in a flash, the showy nudibranch glides slowly along the substrate, allowing us the time to savor this extraordinary sight. With their shell-less unprotected, bodies how do they survive in seas filled with hungry mouths? How do these sightless creatures navigate the reefs to find food and mates? What and how do they eat? How do they reproduce? What special relationships have they developed with other reef inhabitants? These and many more questions are answered in this informative and lavishly illustrated book. You will never look at nudibranchs the same way again.
In 2015 three leading scientific experts on nudibranchs and sea slugs collaborated to produce this comprehensive guide for divers and scientists to the Indo-Pacific region. Now in a 2nd Edition-- updated and reorganized, to include 185 new species and taxonomic changes. Includes additional photographs of species, an identification key, and an up-to-date classification.
The Indo-Pacific represents the largest expanse of tropical ocean in the world, stretching from the Indian Ocean coast of southern Africa and the Red Sea to the central Pacific of the Hawaiian Islands, Easter Island and the Marquesas. This region supports the most diverse marine fauna of any place in the world for most groups of marine organisms. The nudibranchs and sea slugs are no exception. There are about 3,000 described species of these organisms in the world and at least 40% have been found exclusively in the Indo-Pacific tropics. This book illustrates 2,138 Indo-Pacific nudibranchs and sea slugs, including many undescribed species.
You take the family snorkeling, but instead of thanks you get a barrage of wide-eyed questions about the wonderful things they see. Next time, be ready with the answers! Our Snorkeling Guide to Marine Life will make you an instant underwater naturalist. The 280 color photographs show just about everything you will see in 15 feet of water or less.
Snorkelers of any age can quickly learn to identify fish, creatures, plants, and corals with this practical guide. 80 pages, 6" x 9"paperback.
The diversity, quantity and vitality of fish life in the seas that bathe the Galapagos archipelago is every bit as dramatic as the exotic wildlife above! Completely updated 2nd Edition with many new photos added. A much improved identification book for one of the world’s natural underwater wonders. If you are even thinking of diving the Galapagos this beautiful, comprehensive fish identification guide is a must.
A comprehensive field guide to the fish life in the rich waters of Galapagos Archipelago. 240 pages in a user-friendly format.
The most comprehensive field guide ever compiled for identifying reef fishes from the Gulf of California to the Pacific coast of Panama. More than 500 photographs of 400 species taken in their natural habitat. The concise text accompanying each species portrait includes the species’ common, scientific and family names, size, range, description, visually distinctive features, preferred habitat, typical behavior, depth, range and geographic distribution. 364 pages , 6″ x 9″ format.
The long-awaited, 500-page reference detailing 1,600 animals with 2,000 photographs and descriptive text is not only the most comprehensive visual field guide to marine invertebrate life inhabiting the waters from Thailand to Tahiti, but also a pictorial tour de force skillfully bridging science and the aesthetic.. The text focuses on mobile species, highlighting crustaceans, mollusks, worms and echinoderms, however the pages include an overview of attached marine animals, and also explore facets of marine invertebrate behavior.
The guide provides a boon of information for diving photographers and underwater naturalists, known as critter hunters, who enjoy one of the most challenging games in the sea - searching for charismatic mini-fauna of the reef. For armchair adventurers, the brilliant gallery of images brings an unseen, unimagined world to the surface like never before.
The 2nd edition of Reef Fish Identification – Tropical Pacific (first released in 2003), features more than 200 additional species, hundreds of improved photos, scientific name changes and range extensions. The popular field guide contains the most current and comprehensive information available for divers, naturalists and aquarists chronicling marine fishes ranging from Thailand to Tahiti.
Reef Fish Identification - Tropical Pacific now includes 2,000 species with 2,500 photographs of fishes in their natural habitat. The user-friendly guide groups species in 20 color-coded identification groups based on similar physical or behavioral characteristics. Multiple photographs for many species show variations in color and markings, life cycle phases and gender. Accompanying species accounts include common and scientific names, family, size, visual descriptions, geographic ranges and distinctive characteristics, making the visual identification of a particular species easier than ever before.
Beautiful and sturdy Shelf Case holding 3 books - Reef Fish Identification, Reef Creature Identification and Reef Coral Identification all for the Florida, Caribbean and Bahamas region.
Reef Fish Identification 4th Edition (2014) now includes 683 species beautifully documented in more than 1000 underwater photographs. This book features 89 new fish species and more than 200 new photos, representing a significant update to the 2002 3rd edition. The easy-to-use quick reference format is the most comprehensive and beautiful visual ID reference published for the region.
Reef Creature Identification 3rd Edition (2013) now includes 900 species beautifully documented in more than 1200 underwater photographs. This nearly doubles the total from the previous edition. The easy-to-use quick reference format is the most comprehensive and beautiful visual ID reference published for the region.
Reef Coral Identification 3rd Edition (2013) now includes 656 photographs of species in their natural habitat. The new book includes additional photos documenting new species and growth variations.
Exactly 20 years after the publication of the 1st edition, New World Publications has released a new, updated and enlarged 2nd edition of Reef Fish Behavior – Florida Caribbean Bahamas.
The new, 448-page edition includes 588 photos, emphasizes reef fish life cycles, reproduction, cleaning symbiosis, colors & camouflage, senses and sound communications, marine wildlife management plus 17 fish family overviews.
Reef Fish Behavior presents an overview of what is presently known about the nature of reef fishes for recreational divers, underwater naturalists, photographers, and budding marine biologists. It is also meant to serve as a companion reference to Reef Fish Identification – Florida Caribbean Bahamas 4th edition.
Identify the animals that actually form a coral reef. The 3rd edition helps you identify every species of stony coral, gorgonian, fire coral, black coral and even marine plants inhabiting the tropical western Atlantic.
Reef Coral Identification now includes 656 photographs of species in their natural habitat. The updated edition includes additional photos documenting new species and growth variations.
The expanded text incorporates the most current scientific research, includes updated information about diseases and reproductive behavior of corals. 188 pages in a 6 " x 9" format weighing less than 1 1/2 pounds. Information on each species including their common, scientific and family names, descriptions, preferred habitat and the animal's range.
Identify the lobsters, crabs, shrimps, jellies, sponges, tunicates and mollusks that inhabit the reefs of Florida, the Caribbean and Bahamas.
Reef Creature Identification now includes 900 species beautifully documented in more than 1200 underwater photographs. This nearly doubles the total from the previous edition. The easy-to-use quick reference format is the most comprehensive and beautiful visual ID reference published for the region.
Les Wilk has joined Paul Humann and Ned DeLoach as an author on the new edition. 308 pages in a 6 " x 9" format weighing less than 2 pounds. Information on each species includes their common, scientific and family names, descriptions, preferred habitat and the animal's range.
Reef Fish Identification now includes 683 species beautifully documented in more than 1000 underwater photographs. This book features 89 new fish species and more than 200 new photos, representing a significant update to the 2002 3rd edition. The easy-to-use quick reference format is the most comprehensive and beautiful visual ID reference published for the region. 548 pages in a 6 " x 9" format. Information on each species includes their common, scientific and family names, descriptions, habitat and behavior, abundance and distribution, and reaction to divers.
Paul Humann took up scuba diving and underwater photography in the early 1960s. Within a few years, several of his fish portraits were featured in Skin Diver magazine’s memorable Fish of the Month series. Paul became one of PADI’s early dive instructors, holding certification #2222. In 1972 he left a successful law practice in his hometown, Wichita, Kansas, to pioneer today’s live-aboard diving craze as captain/owner of the M/V Cayman Diver, the Caribbean's first successful live-aboard dive cruiser.
Paul’s underwater photographs have appeared in numerous magazines including Skin Diver, Ocean Realm, Sport Diver, Rodale’s Scuba Diving, National Geographic, Audubon, Natural History, National Wildlife, and Ranger Rick. An ABC sports special featured Paul introducing famed Jaws author Peter Benchley to the marine life of Galapagos. Paul has authored two large-format underwater pictorial books and co-authored, with Ned DeLoach, ten marine life field guides including the popular Reef Set trilogy, Reef Fish Identification, Reef Creature Identification and Reef Coral Identification - Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas.
Paul’s work established visual identification criteria for many marine animals. Long hours of observation, documentation, cataloguing and corresponding with dozens of taxonomic scientists were essential steps in the long process. In many instances picture/voucher specimen collection was required to make positive identifications. As a result, many of his pictures were the first ever published of living species in their natural habitat. The specimens from this work now reside in the Smithsonian’s National History collection. These efforts made it possible for underwater naturalists to make valid non-impact biodiversity assessments of reef ecosystems.
His concern for the welfare of the marine environment led him to co-found with Ned DeLoach, the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) in 1990. In 2007 Paul received the 2006 DEMA Reaching Out Award for his lifetime achievements in the dive industry and was inducted into the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame. In 2009, he was honored with the NOGI award for sports and education.
Since 1994, he has been transforming a 2-acre former horse meadow in Davie, Florida into a collection of bamboos, orchids, ferns, bromeliads and over 350 species of palm trees. Named Mango Manor for its 12 producing mango trees, the property now has a water lily pond, fountains and hand-laid mosaic walkways, making it one of the best private tropical gardens in South Florida. A favorite stop for several important garden society tours, Paul’s garden has received acclaim from the Miami Herald, the Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel and the New York Times.
After graduating from Auburn University in 1993 with a Public Relations degree, Eric joined New World Publications. He expanded our book distribution from scuba retailers into bookstores, libraries and tourist aquariums. As the managing director and photo editor of New World Publications, Eric handles all aspects of our publishing business. He maintains our website and social media sites, as well as manages the company’s vast photo library.
In 1999 he helped develop our identification series into a set of waterproof mini-books entitled the Fish-In-A-Pocket series. In 2012 he worked to bring our books into the digital eBook format with the release of Reef Fish Identification: Tropical Pacific on Blio.com. He designed the layout for the 2016 release of the Apple books version of Reef Fish Identification - Florida Caribbean Bahamas and has since produced ten PDF eBooks for our company.
His above and below water photographic work has appeared in books, magazines, websites, catalogs, on DVDs and in tourist aquariums. He has judged several international underwater photographic competitions and authored a series of articles for Divephotoguide’s “Critter Corner”. In 2021 he co-founded WiseDivers.com with Marty Snyderman to produce a series of eBooks for divers. He is the co-author of 101 Tips for Underwater Photographers and Amazing Animals You Can See Underwater, Volumes One and Two.
You can contact Eric about our website, our photos, or our book business at eric@fishid.com.
Shortly after graduating from Texas Tech University in 1967, Ned DeLoach moved to Florida to dive. During his 20-year teaching career at the high school level in Jacksonville, Florida, Ned was active in the Florida cave diving community, taking photographs, editing educational material for the National Speleological Society’s Cave Diving Section and chronicling the exploits of cave explorer Sheck Exley. During the summers he traveled the Caribbean and Bahamas writing destination pieces for dive magazines.
In 1972 Ned began publishing a 48-page booklet Diving and Recreational Guide to Florida Springs soon followed by Diving Guide to the Florida Keys. After several separate editions, the books were combined and expanded in 1979 into Ned DeLoach’s Diving Guide to Underwater Florida. During these years he produced several 16mm underwater films, including Hidden Rivers of the Maya in 1988, the first full-length documentary shot in the water-filled caves of Yucatan, Mexico.
In 1985, Ned was appointed editor-in-chief of Ocean Realm magazine. He invited Paul Humann, whom he had been introduced to by a mutual friend, to join him as co-editor. After two years they left the magazine business to independently publish marine life field guides. Their first publication, Reef Fish Identification, appeared in 1989.
Over the past two decades the prolific authors/photographers have co-authored twelve field guides, and co-founded the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) in the early 1990’s. Late in that decade, Ned and his wife Anna lived for an extended period in Bimini, Bahamas where the couple studied and photographed the behavior of reef fishes, which in 1999 resulted in the seminal work Reef Fish Behavior. Over the years Ned and Anna have written a series of columns about marine life for dive related magazines in the United States and Asia. Currently their writing and photography appears in Alert Diver.
Their dive travels are chronicled at blennywatcher.com.
Formally educated in computer science, Anna took an early retirement from her mainframe computer career to work as a researcher for New World Publications. She started shooting underwater video to assist her husband Ned in studying and documenting fish behavior for their book, Reef Fish Behavior: Florida, Bahamas, Caribbean. Her comprehensive video footage proved indispensable for analyzing marine life behaviors detailed in the book and a series of articles that she and Ned wrote for Ocean Realm and Scuba Diving Magazine.
In 2004 Anna produced Sensational Seas; a DVD anthology of underwater video contributed by filmmakers from around the world. Following the success of that production, she co-produced Sensational Seas Two, which was released in March 2010. The proceeds from those projects are donated to marine conservation organizations including REEF (Reef Environmental Education Foundation), an organization to which she serves as chair of the Board of Trustees.
In 2007, she produced another DVD for REEF, Reef Fish Identification: A Beginning Course, which received a Telly award. National Geographic, the Discovery Channel, NOAA’s Ocean Media Center, The National Aquarium, the Smithsonian Oceans Hall and numerous national newscasts have used her video. In 2009 Anna recorded the welcome message that greeted guests visiting the National Aquarium in Washington, D.C. She is very proud to be among the 2011 inductees into the Women Divers Hall of Fame.
Anna and Ned currently write a marine wildlife behavior column for Alert Diver. Anna continues to travel extensively and lead trips with her husband Ned, and in 2011 created their blog, blennywatcher.com featuring their marine life encounters.
