Читать книгу Marine Fishes of South-East Asia - Gerry Allen - Страница 21

COLOUR PATTERNS

A major shortcoming of any field guide to fishes is that it is virtually impossible to illustrate all of the variations in colour that commonly occur within a single species. With a few exceptions the colours shown here are the “normal” or average ones displayed by live fish in their natural habitat. Anglers especially will be well aware that many fishes can drastically alter their coloration after being caught. Variation in colour pattern within individual species may also be related to age, sex, environmental conditions, or geography. Angelfishes (Plates 21-22), damselfishes (Plates 23-28), wrasses (Plates 28-32), and parrotfishes (Plates 33-34) are particularly notorious for dramatic changes in livery between the juvenile and adult stages. Wrasses and parrotfishes are also well known for their often different male and female patterns. Mainly due to budgetary restrictions it was not possible to illustrate all the variations related to sex and age, but they are included for a number of the more common species.