Octocoral Finder
Author: Russell Kelley
Finally, a practical, easy-to-use guide to Indo Pacific soft corals, sea fans, whips and pens. The Octocoral Finder delivers genus level ID with the same ease-to-use made famous by the Coral Finder. Enjoy.
- Over 1150 images illustrating 78 tropical Indo Pacific reef associated octocoral genera. 182 pages.
- Innovative user friendly visual search & plain language design.
- Reflects recent advances in molecular taxonomy.
- Designed for non specialist use by field workers, students, scientists, aquarists, conservation professionals & naturalists.
- Not for underwater use!
Octocoral FINDER INFO
WHAT IS IT?
The world's first easy-to-use, searchable smartguide for octocoral ID (soft corals, sea fans, whips & pens), that anyone can use.
WHAT DOES IT DO
Lets the untrained user identify octocorals to genus level, regardless of growth form, in the Indian & Pacific oceans. The Octocoral Finder's visually driven design eliminates most of the ugly terminology from the ID process.
HOW DOES IT WORK
Choose the shape, texture or lifestyle that matches your octocoral from the Key Page. Then consult the relevant pages of the Visual Index using your eye-brain visual supercomputer. Compare and contrast from the grid of images and choose the best match. Note the page number and go to the respective genus gallery for large clear images, detailed description / comparisons and ID tips / tricks.
WHO IS IT FOR?
Everyone! - naturalists, divers, aquarists, dive instructors, dive boats and businesses, snorkelers, reef walkers, students, scientists, coral industry professionals.
WHY SHOULD I BUY IT?
Because it works. The Octocoral Finder is the only octocoral ID tool: (a) with a practical user-friendly design; (b) with easy-to-use visual search, (c) that is terminology / jargon free; (d) that is up-to-date (molecular compliant - see McFadden et. al. 2022); (e) with 'see-what-I-say' large, shot-for-purpose images illustrating ID tips, &, (f) it's the only guide on the market.
THE VISUAL INDEX
Example Visual Index page
A 18 page Visual Index allows the user to constrain the search for an octocoral to coarse physical categories.
THE GALLERY PAGES
Example Genus Gallery page
Genus galleries amplify the options presented in the Visual Index.
THE GLOSSARY
Example Glossary page
A 9 page illustrated Glossary defines and illustrates a small number of technical terms which complement the clarity of the Octocoral Finder’s overall plain language style.
Fast Start
1. Read the introductory material p 172-182.
2. Take an image sequence of the octocorals you want to ID. Always get a pic with polyps retracted! (see Practical ID Tips p 172).
3. Choose a Key Group that describes your coral (front cover).
4. Note the page number & consult the Visual Index (p 2-19).
5. Compare & contrastthe octocoral genera.
6. Note the page numbers of the best candidates & consult the respective Genus Galleries (p 20-171).
7. Read the Description & Compare text. Pay attention to: (a) the bold text (b) the superscript numbers (which correspond with the yellow tip arrows on the images), & (c) the scale bar reference included in some of the images.
8. Familiarity gives rise to better, more informed pattern recognition - so practice!
9. Eat, sleep, dive, take octocoral photos, repeat.
The rest is mainly visual
