Reef Creature Identification

Paul's underwater photographs have appeared in numerous magazines including Skin Diver, Ocean Realm, Sport Diver, Rodale's Scuba Diving, National Geographic, Audubon, Natural History, National Wildlife, and Ranger Rick. An ABC sports special featured Paul introducing famed Jaws author Peter Benchley to the marine life of Galapagos. Paul has authored two large-format underwater pictorial books and co-authored, with Ned DeLoach, ten marine life field guides including the popular Reef Set trilogy, Reef Fish Identification, Reef Creature Identification and Reef Coral Identification - Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas.?? Paul's work established visual identification criteria for many marine animals. Long hours of observation, documentation, cataloguing and corresponding with dozens of taxonomic scientists were essential steps in the long process. In many instances picture/voucher specimen collection was required to make positive identifications. As a result, many of his pictures were the first ever published of living species in their natural habitat. The specimens from this work now reside in the Smithsonian's National History collection. These efforts made it possible for underwater naturalists to make valid non-impact biodiversity assessments of reef ecosystems.?