A thorough treatment of the many plant and animal species found in Hawai'i.

The Hawaiian islands, isolated by thousands of miles of ocean for millions of years, posses a unique assemblage of native flowers and plants. This text describes more than 130 indigenous and endemic species of Hawaiian plants, their characteristics and habitats, and how they came to be. The photographs aim to provide an easy and accurate means of recognizing a given plant and serve as a permanent record of the Hawaiian islands' fast-disappearing native flora.

The Complete Hawaiian Reef Fish Coloring Book includes over 200 colorable illustrations to help the reader learn to identify these colorful and fascinating fishes. Each illustration is accompanied by a complete description of the fish, including the scientific, common and Hawaiian names. Their anatomical features, coloration, body designs, feeding habits and reproductive strategies are also explained in a fully illustrated section devoted to these topics. In addition, an overview of coral reef ecology is provided to help the reader understand the relationship between the fishes and the coral reef. This book may be used by the casual snorkeler, diver, or marine enthusiast. Students of marine biology will also find it to be a useful tool for academic work and practical monitoring projects. This book can also be used in the classroom to supplement a course in marine biology or ecology, or it may simply be used by younger audiences who just want to enjoy coloring in the fishes.

"Native Hawaiian plants make up a unique flora because of the extreme isolation of the Hawaiian Islands. When the Polynesian settlers arrived, they encountered many plants that they did not know before. Over the course of generations, the Hawaiian people learned how to use the native flora to meet their needs. Along with the crops that the settlers introduced from the South Pacific, native plants became the basis for Hawaiian society and economy. In addition to describing the plants and their habitats, this guide relates the significance that native and Polynesian-introduced plants had to traditional Hawaiian culture, and tells how these plants are still used today." --Back cover.

Forty-four excellent illustrations of islands' characteristic flora and fauna: mango, breadfruit, prickly poppy, tree fern, pineapple, slipper lobster, damselfly, cone-headed grasshopper, house gecko, much else. Captions.