Wade Doak's World of New Zealand Fishes

Hodder & Stoughton, 1991.

Fish were the first vertebrates on Earth. Yet the world of the sea and its inhabitants remains shadowy to man. When the first fish moved onto reefs from swampy shores or the open ocean, they found multi-level cities, where survival opportunities abounded. These reefs provided a huge range of niches for marine life. Drawing on his intensive studies of the community of reef fishes in a marine reserve off New Zealand's north coast, Wade Doak takes the reader on a journey through one of his country's natural wonders and illuminates the beauty of this finely balanced realm.