With so many tropical fish books out there, a lot of times native fish are overlooked. Anyone who has seen sunfish, darters or even shiners (see the one type of shiner AmazonCichlids.com is keeping - Notropis chrosomus) in breeding dress know they have just as much color, if not more then their tropical cousins. That being said, I have yet to read this book but do plan to. I have a few books that I need to read prior to this one. Perhaps a better review will be made there after.

By just browsing through the book, you notice a few things, one being all fish are lined drawn and each species has a distribution map. Printed in 1981, I am sure new species have been discovered & distributions may have changed but this book is perhaps the best tool for Ohioan fish. Within the 782 pages, one finds a wealth of information on each species including how to identify species based on characteristics, color, lengths & weights, along with distribution & habitat of where to find them. A great book on Ohio fish & while out of print, if you have the ability to get a copy, it is makes for a great guide for Ohioan fish.