PlanetCatfish.com

Anyone read this yet? How good is it?

PS. Jools, I volunteer to write a review for PC once I obtain a copy.

Had a first look at the book in a bookstore here in NYC (my copy will be waiting for me once I get back). Looks good (better than those written by David Sands at least). Of course, given Oliver's occupation, not surprising that there is a slant towards South American cats.

Gary's a good writer as well. They've already covered Barbs and Anabantoids, some of the fish for the illustrations actually originated from a source not a million miles away from me here.
These are just the start of Oliver's master plan for world domination. He was considering doing a poor-quality rewrite of Innes' old classic, but he decided that any company that tried that didn't deserve to publish aquarium books....

For those of us in the UK, here is a link to buy the book in the UK. Bear in mind that buying via either of the links on this page ensures Planet Catfish gets a little bit from the sale WITHOUT you having to pay any more.

Better in our hosting fund than in amazons pockets!

Jools

Silurus wrote:Jools, I volunteer to write a review for PC once I obtain a copy.

You're on. It is on my birthday list, so I hope to have a copy in late August too.

Jools

This one is excellent. The writing style is very smooth and pleasant. A general review of breeding methods for zebra pleco and bristlenose is well done.

I just wish they had put a little more pictures.

Jools already modified my initial post such that PC gets commission when you purchase the book from Amazon.com. Just click the link in my post.

Just got this today and I have to say that my initial impression is very positive. I would certainly say that it is the best "Catfishes 101" type book I have seen. It is a bit slanted towards South American catfishes, especially loricariids, but I think that it should be as these are the cats that most new catfish "fin-atics" get acquainted with. I plan to read it cover to cover ASAP. You may also notice that in the acknowledgements section about half of the PC Moderators are mentioned by name.
-Shane

Very well written little book, crammed full of interesting and useful information.
This would have to be one of the books to recomend for a newcomer to Catfish.

Read this book and their Barb book last week. Better than the Mark Smith volumettes in the same Barron's series. A good introduction for a catfish novice, though frankly, I'd still recommend Ferraris' Catfish in the Aquarium over this one. Since the latter is not easily available, this is certainly a good alternative.

There was only one significant error I found in the book. Their "Synodontis petricola" is the undescribed "dwarf" species that is called "petricola" in the trade but is unequivocally not the real thing. A photo of Matthes' holotype is contained in Erwin Schraml's recent DATZ article. Rusty, Silurus and I have examined at first hand the paratypes and many preserved specimens, and while there is some variation, none look like the "dwarf".

Dinyar

While we're on the subject of mislabelled photos, the picture on page 52 labelled as Phractura sp. is actually that of Belonoglanis (probably B. tenuis).
But given that the difference is not obvious at a casual glance, this'd be splitting hairs.

So, anyone want to step up and write a review so I can add the title to the book reviews sections? It would also be useful to have this so that we can point folks to it from the forum.

Jools

I promised one but I have been dragging my feet. Sorry...
Will try to get you one by Monday.

Silurus wrote:I promised one but I have been dragging my feet. Sorry...
Will try to get you one by Monday.

Cool, if you can get it to me before Monday night (GMT) I should get it up then (book reviews get highest priority if I get commission from them!!!). If not then the champions league intervenes and I won't be working on Planet until Thursday night I think. So, having it for Thursday would be cool if you don't want to bust a gut.

Thanks all,

Jools

There are also a couple of typos, namely Platystacus cotylephorus and Corydoras burgessi and LDA25 has since been described as Parotocinclus jumbo.

I put these in here as I will ask Oliver to look at this topic so that he has a list of corrections for what we all hope will become the second edition. I would suggest others do likewise.

Jools

Does this include erroneous information? I was saving it for the review...

Yes, it is worth discussing and I have already told Oliver about this specific forum topic so he can get feedback from it. I would also think the review would make light of most of the types of errors we are pointing out here given the intended audience and the % errors in relation to certain other books.


Jools

Well, Chandramara is stated as being hardy, but my experience has shown that it's not really so. And neither is it an inhabitant of slow moving waters. Like the closely related Batasio (I suspect that Chandramara IS a Batasio, but that's another story), this is a bagrid that is adapted for living in fast-flowing streams/rivers generally located at foothills.

Shane wrote:You may also notice that in the acknowledgements section about half of the PC Moderators are mentioned by name.

Yeah, but who's this Julius Dignall bloke? I didn't actually notice this, Rusty pointed it out to me. Quite like it actually...

Jools

Jools, gave you the review last week, but it's still not up...

Silurus wrote:Jools, gave you the review last week, but it's still not up...

You did, it's in line after the cotm, recent forum topics L260 and <I>Peckoltia vittata</I> pieces of work are done, might have it online today.

Jools

This review is now online in the books -> catfish section.

Jools