The purpose of this book, as of the author's two previous books on New ­Zealand fishes, is to serve as a popular introduction and guide to the manifold varieties of our marine fishes, whose curious body shapes impress the casual observer, and deeply interest the more serious naturalist.

Everyone is familiar with what may be called the more fish-like fishes - those that conform to a more or less orthodox body form. There are, however, numerous " modifications of the body that are so odd and fantastic that it is difficult for the average person to conceive that such forms are really fishes, related to the more common and normal types that he sees in the fish market.

One of the purposes of these books will have been achieved if they serve to stimulate a demand for further knowledge and inquiry by the reader into the private lives of these interesting and fascinating creatures of the sea.”