Best ichthyology books according to redditors

Yes, I have had westerns with a similar disposition. With time and work, they usually calm down.

Note that Heterodon are mildly venomous, so if it does bite you, it's best not to let it just sit there and chew on you. Just put your index finger under its nose and gently pull it off. If they chew on you for a while, they can leave you with a pretty uncomfortable (but not dangerous) bite.

And to get ahead of the inevitable word games, no, this reaction is not "allergy" and no, it is not "toxic saliva" any more than any other venom is. Hognosed snakes are venomous, but not dangerous.

For more info, this is a good reference: Venomous bites from Non-Venomous Snakes.

Ok new recommendation that isn't a novel this time. I personally love Certainly More Than You Want to Know About the Fishes of the Pacific Coast. It is mostly a book about specific fish species, but Milton Love (only his wife gets to call him Dr. Love) is an excellent and very comical writer. Half way through the book he even takes an intermission to talk about marine bio stuff that isn't fish.

Here's the story about the March 26 incident. Excerpt:

>“He comes back to my canoe and latches onto the back end of it. He’s not about to let go,” Bernstone recalled. “So I turn around and start beating him with my paddle.” Finally, the animal released the canoe from its clutches...The shark made a third pass, this time capsizing the watercraft and sending the 74-year-old Bernstone spilling into open ocean...“He was right there (when I was in the water)....“I was beating him over the head with my paddle to get him to let loose.”

(An initial news account that says Bernstone was bitten was later corrected to say he suffered a small cut while falling off his canoe.)

>In addition, only shark encounters that involve someone being injured are listed, not when a shark bites a board or boat.

If DLNR wants to consider this a non-incident, thereby excluding it from the listing, that is their prerogative. The man in the March 2018 attack was also knocked into the water from his paddle board. He then lost part of his leg to the shark.

• • • -
      
      >For more on sharks in Hawai‘i and ocean safety tips...
      
      For more on the historical pattern of sharks-human encounters in Hawaii, please visit THE ANNOTATED LIST OF SHARK ATTACKS IN THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS,1779-1993.
      
      I also suggest reading former Honolulu Advertiser reporter Jim Borg's book Tigers of the Sea. Borg, who extensively reported on the early 1990s Shark Task Force, discusses how the authors of Hawaii's prominent 1994 shark study excluded several incidents from qualifying as a shark attack, including the disappearance of Bryan Adona on Oahu's North Shore in Feb. 1992 and missing diver Ray Mehl (p. 53-54).
      
      Apparently some parties find it convenient to have the list of Hawaii shark incidents be as short as possible. It is unfortunate that researcher George Balazs, author of the Annotated List, is no longer available to provide accurate, detailed information about human-shark encounters in Hawaii.

I have a good starting point for your search. Sharks of North America by Jose Castro identifies many of the species by their dentition with pictures and descriptions of the tooth whorls. If I had a copy I would have looked it up myself. Maybe try your local library to see if they can get it for you: https://www.amazon.com/Sharks-North-America-Jose-Castro/dp/0195392949

Edit: I will point out that Jose Castro is a controversial figure in Icthyological circles, but he knows his teeth.