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    Home / Products / Octocoral Finder
    Octocoral Finder
    Octocoral Finder
    Octocoral Finder
    Octocoral Finder
    Octocoral Finder

    Octocoral Finder

    $150.00 AUD

    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!

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    NOTE: All orders will convert to Australian Dollars (AUD) at checkout. 

    NOTE: Australian orders will add GST at checkout. 

    NOTE: Orders are Printed-on-Demand via a world-wide network of print facilities. See FAQs.

    Scroll down for product info

    ALSO: check out the Coral Finder and the Reef Finder

    The Coral FinderThe Reef Finder

    WATCH & LEARN

    Intro to the Octocoral Finder

    The Octocoral Finder is an easy-to-use guide to Indo Pacific soft corals, sea fans, whips and pens. Teach yourself to ID to octocorals genus with the same ease-to-use made famous by the Coral Finder. Enjoy.

    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



    Testimonials

    "Traditional octocoral taxonomy relies heavily on the microscopic examination of sclerites, creating a barrier for non-specialist scientists, students, field workers, and aquarists. In contrast, the morphology-based Octocoral Finder—featuring large, purpose-shot images—highlights identification features visible to the naked eye or through a camera. It also uses the modern, taxonomic classification derived from recent molecular research. "

    Phil Alderslade
    Co-author: Soft Corals & Sea Fans

    +++

    "What an amazing achievement - it's become such a user-friendly, detailed, comprehensive, and beautiful book! It will become the go-to source of reliable info on octocoral ID, essential for anyone working on tropical Indopacific octocorals. Thanks Russell l! 🎉 "

    Katharina Fabricius
    Co-author: Soft Corals & Sea Fans

    +++

    "A new must-have field guide for the coral nerds."

    Joe Rowlett
    Author Indo Pacific Corals

    +++

    "You have produced a very useful condensed guide that will advance the state of knowledge among aquarium hobbyists, naturalists and divers. Good on ya!"

    Julian Sprung
    President, Two Little Fishies Inc.

    +++

    BE YOUR OWN GUIDE!