https://www.publish.csiro.au/book/6526/
by Amanda Reid
CSIRO Publishing
ISBN: 9781486303939
AU$280
I was excited to hear of this comprehensive guide on cephalopods of Australian and Sub-Antarctic waters. My previous go to guide was the small book published in 2000 “A guide to squid, cuttlefish and octopuses of Australasia” by Mark Norman and Amanda Reid, which focused on species from relatively shallow coastal waters so was not comprehensive. Reid’s new book is a “must have” resource for anyone researching cephalopod biology or ecology but also of use to those wanting to identify cephalopods whether that be in taxonomic, biological or ecological research.
The regional area covered in the book is large, but this broad coverage is necessary when one thinks of the size of Australia’s exclusive economic zone (3rd largest in the world) and our Antarctic waters. This region’s cephalopod fauna is diverse and covers around one-third of the world’s cephalopod fauna. Reid has undertaken a comprehensive assessment of the potential species that may occur in this region consulting numerous previous literature and species lists as well as identification guides.
Information on cephalopod beaks is not included. These are often the only parts that remain in stomach contents and so can be important for predator-prey studies and to inform ecological modelling studies. Other resources exist with information on cephalopod beaks, however I felt this omission was perhaps a shortcoming of the book, at least for someone like myself with more of an ecological interest.
Similarly, juvenile or paralarvae descriptions and images are not included. This is not surprising and if I think of similar fish books usually larval forms are dealt with in a separate book from that of their adult descriptions. The book is already in excess of 400 pages so to also include larvae (and beaks for the latter) would be prohibitive in terms of length.
The book will be especially valuable to systematists as the complete reference for the original species description, type repositories and type localities are provided for each species. The description, in terms of diagnostic features, tends to focus on external traits/features such that non-experts can use this information in identification. Identification is further aided by keys to each order and family which are provided at the start of the book followed by keys to species throughout the book. These keys and descriptions of diagnostic features for identification, are obviously most useful if one has the specimen. Identification of individuals whilst out Scuba diving will remain more difficult. There is a fantastic glossary and some images associated with external and internal features that will aid with terminology used in the description (see also below).
A further useful feature is the distribution information. Several caveats are provided around how distributions were estimated, but this is to be expected. The distributions reflect the current state of knowledge and acknowledgement is made that there may be contraction or expansion of ranges associated with environmental change.
Brief information is provided on the habitat and biology of the various species, where information is available. There is also a remarks section for some species. Again, this information is useful for a range of biological and ecological studies and provides a list of starting references if you are interested in further information. There is a general biology section at the beginning of the book but as would be expected by a book such as this there really was only superficial coverage of the many topics.
A range of images are provided depending on the species. These include illustrations of various views of the cephalopod, its arms and tentacles, cuttlebones and other diagnostic features. There are also photos of either live, freshly caught or preserved specimens, as well as of cuttlebones. The illustrations and photographs are generally small. Again, I presume the small sized images relate to keeping the book to a manageable size in terms of number of pages (and therefore cost). A minor quibble might be that these images also lack a scale bar therefore it is difficult to determine the size of features.
Overall, this is a fantastic addition to the range of guide books on Australian organisms and a “must have” for those interested in cephalopod biology or ecology, as well as those wanting to identify individual cephalopod species. Well done to Mandy Reid on putting together such an outstanding book!
Reviewer by Bronwyn M. Gillanders
Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide
Twitter: @brongillanders Web: www.gillanderslab.org