Fish ID Apps for Your Smartphone and Tablet

Reader Nadine Walley (Scottsdale, AZ) asked us, "Where I can buy fish ID apps? I'm hoping there's a Reef ID app for Paul Humann and Ned DeLoach's Reef Fish Tropical Pacific and Reef Creature Tropical Pacific for my iPad Mini." Fish ID apps are still not so plentiful yet, and Android lags behind Apple in offering them But here are our favorites and where to find them.

Both Humann/DeLoach books on tropical Pacific reef fish and creatures are available for iPads. They're also available for Androids and iPhones, but one must first download an app made by Blio before you're able to download the e-book. As for computers, Blio only works on Windows, not on Macs. $30 each. ( www.fishid.com/blio.html ).

The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute has two great -- and free -- iPhone apps. "Fishes: East Pacific" is a guide to shore fishes of the tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean, and was put together by Ross Robertson and Gerald Allen, two expert fish guys. Species can be browsed by common name, Latin name or family ( https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fishes-east-pacific.-identification/id494644648?mt=8 ). There's also "Greater Caribbean Fishes," which covers everything from the typically-seen queen angelfish and spotted drums to Florida's deepwater treasures Lipogramma regium and Plectranthias garrupellus. Nearly 1,600 species are covered in 5,500 pictures. ( https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fishes-greater-caribbean/id570048678?mt=8 )

For Hawaii-loving divers, "Reef Critter Hawaii" shows 374 invertebrate species on an iPhone/iPad, and each image is accompanied by a small description, organized by species and family, and comes with links to external video content. The same app developer makes "Reef Fish Florida and Caribbean," which settles those post-dive discussions about angelfish versus emperorfish with 400 photos and descriptions written by marine experts. It also comes with links to external videos, and options to store your favorites. Each app is $5 ( http://indigo.malinowski.com ).