MEDIA RELEASE
FISHES OF AOTEAROA
Paul Caiger
“Nature, and in particular fishes, have kept me captivated for as long as I can remember. Spending time with fish in their natural habitat fills me with a simple joy. And observing any fish in the wild makes me appreciate that they each perceive the world around themselves in a unique way, rather than from our human perspective of seeing things.” – Paul Caiger, Fishes of Aotearoa
Aotearoa New Zealand is a truly aquatic nation, dotted with thousands of islands framing the coastline and numerous freshwater veins flowing across rugged landscapes. These diverse environments provide sustenance and sanctuary to a bountiful array of colourful and characterful fishes.
Ecologist and underwater photographer Paul Caiger pays tribute to our fishes and their various underwater habitats – freshwater, tidal, reefs, sedimentary and pelagic. Surveying familiar species like the snapper, less well-known and occasionally bizarre such as the slender snipe eel and oarfish, Caiger’s debut book Fishes of Aotearoa is a seamless blend of incredible images with extended captions alongside compelling natural history stories. It is also a reminder about how much we have to lose if we do not protect our underwater environment.
“While most other New Zealand animals are protected under the Wildlife Act, our freshwater fish species are not, and only seven of our marine fishes are – mostly international migratory megafauna such as great whites and manta rays. We have a decent way to go before we collectively see fishes as simply more than a resource. But with the escalating global pressures of climate change, there is no time to lose, says Caiger.
Fascinating and comprehensive, Caiger delves into the sometimes-secret lives of fishes, revealing insights into their characters and behaviours, including reproduction and sexual dimorphism; feeding and foraging; camouflage and symbiosis; schooling and more. He also tells us all about the charismatic and curious Sandager’s wrasse; what it takes to live in a rockpool; and how midwater camouflage works.
Seen and told through the eye of an ecologist but aimed at a general audience, Fishes of Aotearoa is an accessible science book aimed at anyone with an interest – passing or otherwise – in our underwater world. Full of incredible images and amazing stories, Caiger’s book breathes colourful new life into the splendid and varied lives of the fishes who call Aotearoa home.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Paul Caiger has been scuba diving for nearly 25 years and chasing fishes in streams and rockpools for even longer. This led to a degree in marine biology, culminating in a PhD about the evolutionary ecology of New Zealand triple fin fishes. These were followed by post-doctoral positions in the US researching fish acoustics and deep-sea fish biology. Along with Paul’s science background is his passion for photography and the ability to capture the briefest of moments in a fish’s life. Paul is now the diving officer at the Leigh Marine Laboratory (University of Auckland) where he works on a wide range of marine research projects, as well as producing numerous scientific manuscripts and reports on fishes, as well as magazine articles for the general reader.
