https://www.publish.csiro.au/book/7782/

By Ronald Jenner & Eivind Undheim

CSIRO Publishing

ISBN: 9781486308378

AU$29.95

From the start this book captured my attention. Just flipping through the photos, you get the sense of the respect the authors have for their subject and the diversity of venomous animals. While not all venomous animals are marine (obviously), the marine environment certainly has a good share of them. From predatory planktonic copepods to colossal squids and lion’s mane jellyfish the ocean is home to a wide range of venomous animals. I like the description of a coral reef, as a “venomous metropolis” and that the Great Barrier Reef is one large living organism, making it “the only venomous organism visible from space”.  I happily sat and read the whole book through from start to finish, however you could quite easily jump to the chapter that interests you. Just watch out for some of the photos! They are fantastic if sometimes gruesome (the results of the venom rather than the animals that rely on it) and I was surprised at how I felt about of the spiders (did not like them at all!). According to Chapter 6, Cultures, Cues, Quackery and Cosmetics the fear and fascination that we have with venomous animals is quite common, and very personal, each person finding different animals terrifying or indeed particularly “cute”.  

Venom is not a book that was written to scare you, in fact, it communicates a great passion for the study of venom. The chapters take you through the diversity of venoms, the study and collection of venoms, of “how the power of venom resides in the complexity of toxin cocktails”, the evolution of venom and the animals that use it, as well as providing an interesting historical background to how venomous animals have been worshipped, feared and regarded in our brief human history. The authors balance the technical language with examples of different animals/venoms nicely, much like watching a documentary. The language is similar to what you would find at a good museum giving just enough of an explanation of the topic that you grasp the concept and not delving too deeply so that you get lost. This is a great introduction for people who know little about venom or those who are just starting to study venomous animals.

By Annette Mackintosh