My opinion is as far as inverts, what is available to us in very limited and for the most part domesticated enough so as not having to go off the deep end with identifying books.

Robert do you have any recommendations for a good reference book on corals? Inverts?

One of the mandatory books on coral ID and care is "The practical Guide to Corals by Putterbaugh and Boreman" As far as inverts or that matter other id books the problem is they contain *all* inverts and inverts. Most which we never come in contact with. The descriptions in these "Atlas" or "Encyclopedia" book is very general concentrating mostly on the -family- behaviors etc.

A few on my shelf include

Encyclopedia of Marine Inverts by TFH about 730 pages
Dr Burgess Atlas of Marine fish about 700 pages
Invertebrate Zoology Barnes about 300 pages
Both volumes of the reef aquarium by Sprung and dellbeek. which vol. 2 is actually is a decent id Book although not in depth.

The best book Ive see is The practical guide to corals... That's a nice book. Other than that, I wouldn't spend any money on trying to find information on our domesticated inverts.