Top 100 Hot Spots for Sea Fishes in Australia A fishwatching guide for divers, snorkelers and naturalists

Australia is blessed with an abundance of fishes. More than 5,000 species of fish are found Down Under – around 15% of the known species – making Australia one of the best places in the world to see fishes, and lots of them. But where are the best spots to see a diverse range of fishes around Australia? This book is the first guide to fishwatching in Australia. Now fishwatching may be a new term for most people, but just like birdwatching it best describes what divers, snorkellers and naturalists do when they study, observe and document fishes. This book is designed especially for the fishwatcher. It is not a fish identification guide or a dive site guide, instead a sort of blending of the two – a guide to the best spots to observe sea fishes in Australia. Each of the one hundred hot-spots listed is home to a diverse range of fishes, and for each location a sample of typical fish species and families are described. However, most of these hot-spots have been selected because they are also the best place to observe unusual fishes. Throughout the pages of this book the reader will learn about the wonderful fishes of Australia, the best places to see them, how to find them and how t

Nigel Marsh is an Australian underwater photographer and photo journalist who's work has been published in numerous magazines,newspapers and books,both in Australia and overseas.Nigel has dived extensively around Australia,especially the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea,and also throughout Asia,Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean and Caribbean.His underwater photographs have won a number of international photographic competitions.

Introduction 9 What Is Fishwatching? 11 Sorting Australian Fish Names 12 Finding Unusual Fishes 17 Photographing Fishes 20 QUEENSLAND 1 Raine Island, Far Northern Reefs 30 2 Deep Pinnacle, Great Detached Reef, Far Northern Reefs 33 3 The Pinnacle, Great Detached Reef, Far Northern Reefs 35 4 North Horn, Osprey Reef 38 5 Cod Hole, Lizard Island 41 6 Challenger Bay, Ribbon Reefs 44 7 Pixie Pinnacle, Ribbon Reefs 47 8 Gorgonian Wall, Ribbon Reefs 50 9 Steve’ s Bommie, Ribbon Reefs 53 10 Barracuda Bommie, Agincourt Reefs, Port Douglas 56 11 Castle Rock, Agincourt Reefs, Port Douglas 59 12 Troppos, Norman Reef, Cairns 62 13 Twin Peaks, Saxon Reef, Cairns 65 14 Oasis, Milln Reef, Cairns 67 15 Wheeler Reef, Townsville 70 16 Viper Reef Lagoon, Townsville 73 17 SS Yongala, Townsville 76 18 Northern Bommies, Marion Reef 79 19 Stepping Stones, Bait Reef, Whitsundays 82 20 Heron Bommie, Heron Island 85 21 Heron Island Harbour, Heron Island 88 22 Entrance Bommie, Lady Musgrave Island 91 23 The Blowhole, Lady Elliot Island 94 24 Lighthouse Bommies, Lady Elliot Island 96 25 Barolin Rocks, Bundaberg 99 26 Cochrane Artificial Reef, Bundaberg 101 27 Wolf Rock, Rainbow Beach 104 28 The Pinnacle, Jew Shoal, Noosa 107 29 Mudjimba Island, Mooloolaba 110 30 Hmas Brisbane, Mooloolaba 113 31 Flinders Reef, Brisbane 116 32 Henderson Rock, Brisbane 119 33 Curtin Artifical Reef, Brisbane 122 34 Turtle Caves, Flat Rock, Brisbane 125 35 Shag Rock, Brisbane 128 36 Manta Bommie, Brisbane 131 37 The Seaway, Gold Coast 134 38 Scottish Prince, Gold Coast 137 NEW SOUTH WALES 39 Tweed River, Tweed Heads 142 40 Northern Ledges, Cook Island, Tweed Heads 145 41 Nine Mile Reef, Tweed Heads 148 42 Julian Rocks, Byron Bay 151 43 Fish Soup, North West Rock, Mullaway 154 44 The Canyons, North Solitary Island, Mullaway 157 45 Boulder Wall, South Solitary Island, Coffs Harbour 160 46 Fish Rock, South West Rocks 163 47 Green Island, South West Rocks 166 48 Latitude Rock, Forster/Tuncurry 169 49 North Rock, Broughton Island 172 50 The Pipeline, Port Stephens 175 51 Fly Point, Port Stephens 178 52 Halifax Park, Port Stephens 181 53 Shelly Beach, Manly, Sydney 184 54 Chowder Bay, Clifton Gardens, Sydney 187 55 Bare Island, La Perouse, Sydney 189 56 Sutherland Point, Kurnell, Sydney 192 57 Shiprock, Lilli Pilli, Sydney 195 58 Blue Metal Loader, Bass Point 198 59 The Docks, Jervis Bay 201 60 The Nursery, Jervis Bay 204 61 Lighthouse Wall, Ulladulla 207 62 Seal Bay, Montague Island, Narooma 210 63 Tathra Wharf, Tathra 213 64 Merimbula Wharf, Merimbula 216 VICTORIA 65 Flinders Pier, Flinders 220 66 Rye Pier, Rye 223 67 Blairgowrie Pier, Blairgowrie 226 68 Portsea Pier, Portsea 229 69 Pope’ s Eye, Portsea 232 TASMANIA 70 Bird Rock, Bicheno 236 71 Nobbies Wall, Eaglehawk Neck 239 72 Cathedral Cave, Eaglehawk Neck 242 73 Bellerive Beach, Hobart 245 74 Tinderbox, Hobart 248 SOUTH AUSTRALIA 75 Port Noarlunga Reef, Adelaide 252 76 Rapid Bay Jetty, Rapid Bay 255 77 Edithburgh Jetty, Edithburgh 258 78 Port Hughes Jetty, Port Hughes 261 79 North Neptune Island, Port Lincoln 264 WESTERN AUSTRALIA 80 Michaelmas Island, Albany 269 81 HMAS Perth, Albany 272 82 Boneyard, Albany 275 83 Hmas Swan, Busselton 278 84 Busselton Jetty, Busselton 281 85 Lena, Bunbury 284 86 Ammo Jetty, Freemantle 287 87 Shark Cave, Rottnest Island 290 88 The Slot, Rottnest Island 293 89 Blizzard Ridge, Ningaloo Reef 296 90 Navy Pier, Exmouth 299 91 Fraggle Rock, Murion Islands 302 92 Rob’ s Bommie, Mackerel Islands 305 93 Black Flag, Mackerel Islands 308 94 Clerke Wall, Clerke Reef, Rowley Shoals 311 95 Blue Lagoon, Clerke Reef, Rowley Shoals 314 96 Flying Fish Cove, Christmas Island 317 97 Flying Fish Cove By Night 320 98 Perpendicular Wall, Christmas Island 323 99 The Rip, Cocos (Keeling) Islands 326 100 West Cay, Cocos (Keeling) Islands 328 Glossary 331 Index Of Common Names 332 Index Of Scientific