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Sharks of the world
Marine PollutionBulletin
World Sharks Sharks of the World. Rodney Steel. Blandford Press Ltd., Poole, Dorset. 1985. 192 pp. ISBN 0 7137 1425 5. £10.95. At first glance this book appears to be yet another 'Jaws' spinoff with, on the back cover, the faintly ridiculous figure of a chain-mail clad diver provocatively waving fistfuls of bleeding fish and having her arm squeezed affectionately by the jaws of a white-tip reef shark while being photographed by her husband. Whether this indicates the "hazards of diving with sharks" as the caption inside suggests or the hazards of seeking publicity is not clear. In a similar vein the book begins: "Honed to perfection as a killing mechanism by 350 million years of evolution, the big killer shark is magnificently adapted to its role as an assassin . . ~' (my italics). However, appearances are luckily deceptive and this is a serious work, providing a well-written overview of sharks which will be of value to student, teacher and layman alike. Mr. Steel begins with a good general introduction to the biology of sharks, their evolution and relationships to other cartilaginous fishes, and the folklore that surrounds them. Chapter 2, aptly entitled 'The Human Toll' is a select but gory catalogue of documented shark attacks and Man's attempts to deter them. A little more on the limited research that has been carried out into shark behaviour and what factors may lead to attacks would have been welcome here. There follows a concise review of the anatomy and physiology of sharks. This is well presented but I found the irritating addition of imperial (or other non-SI units) after every use of a metric unit particularly disruptive here. For a book at this level, conversion diagrams on the end-papers would have been more than adequate. Quite why a 'lay' reader should be at home with 6820 A but unable to handle 682 nanometres remains a mystery.
132
Living sharks are discussed under six headings: (1) relics, rarities and curiosities--comprising frilled, cow and bullhead sharks: the orders Hexanchiformes and Heterodontiformes; (2) the great man-eater and ills kin--the great-white, makos and porbeagles: the family Lamnidae; (3) lesser killers and their kin--hammerheads, requiem sharks including the blue, tiger and lemon sharks, threshers, wobbegongs, nurse and sand sharks, etc; (4) gentle giants--the filter-feeding basking, whale and megamouth sharks; (5) sharks of the ocean floor--dogfish, bramble and rough sharks: the order Squaliformes; (6) experiments in evolution--the ray-like saw and angel sharks: orders Pristiophoriformes and Squatiniformes. In the succeeding chapter various extinct forms are then described. On the whole, all this is done well and a lot of interesting information is packed in. However, at times (particularly in the chapter on 'Lesser killers and their kin') the reader is bombarded by a veritable battery of generic names and a more pronounced structuring of the text or additional diagrams to provide a framework for dealing with these would have been helpful. The book finishes with a very interesting chapter on the uses and abuses of sharks, a classification of living and extinct forms, glossary, guide to further reading and index. Overall this is a balanced account with, in places, a refreshing approach which probably stems from Rodney Steel's palaeontological background. The book is well-illustrated with good use of line drawings (albeit over-reduced in places), black and white, and colour photographs. The latter probably pushed the price to £10.95 but seem well worth it. In summary, a useful book which narrowly misses being a very good one. It should tell most readers all they ever need to know about sharks in a digestible form at a reasonable price.
A L A S D A I R EDWARDS
World Sharks Sharks of the World. Rodney Steel. Blandford Press Ltd., Poole, Dorset. 1985. 192 pp. ISBN 0 7137 1425 5. £10.95. At first glance this book appears to be yet another 'Jaws' spinoff with, on the back cover, the faintly ridiculous figure of a chain-mail clad diver provocatively waving fistfuls of bleeding fish and having her arm squeezed affectionately by the jaws of a white-tip reef shark while being photographed by her husband. Whether this indicates the "hazards of diving with sharks" as the caption inside suggests or the hazards of seeking publicity is not clear. In a similar vein the book begins: "Honed to perfection as a killing mechanism by 350 million years of evolution, the big killer shark is magnificently adapted to its role as an assassin . . ~' (my italics). However, appearances are luckily deceptive and this is a serious work, providing a well-written overview of sharks which will be of value to student, teacher and layman alike. Mr. Steel begins with a good general introduction to the biology of sharks, their evolution and relationships to other cartilaginous fishes, and the folklore that surrounds them. Chapter 2, aptly entitled 'The Human Toll' is a select but gory catalogue of documented shark attacks and Man's attempts to deter them. A little more on the limited research that has been carried out into shark behaviour and what factors may lead to attacks would have been welcome here. There follows a concise review of the anatomy and physiology of sharks. This is well presented but I found the irritating addition of imperial (or other non-SI units) after every use of a metric unit particularly disruptive here. For a book at this level, conversion diagrams on the end-papers would have been more than adequate. Quite why a 'lay' reader should be at home with 6820 A but unable to handle 682 nanometres remains a mystery.
132
Living sharks are discussed under six headings: (1) relics, rarities and curiosities--comprising frilled, cow and bullhead sharks: the orders Hexanchiformes and Heterodontiformes; (2) the great man-eater and ills kin--the great-white, makos and porbeagles: the family Lamnidae; (3) lesser killers and their kin--hammerheads, requiem sharks including the blue, tiger and lemon sharks, threshers, wobbegongs, nurse and sand sharks, etc; (4) gentle giants--the filter-feeding basking, whale and megamouth sharks; (5) sharks of the ocean floor--dogfish, bramble and rough sharks: the order Squaliformes; (6) experiments in evolution--the ray-like saw and angel sharks: orders Pristiophoriformes and Squatiniformes. In the succeeding chapter various extinct forms are then described. On the whole, all this is done well and a lot of interesting information is packed in. However, at times (particularly in the chapter on 'Lesser killers and their kin') the reader is bombarded by a veritable battery of generic names and a more pronounced structuring of the text or additional diagrams to provide a framework for dealing with these would have been helpful. The book finishes with a very interesting chapter on the uses and abuses of sharks, a classification of living and extinct forms, glossary, guide to further reading and index. Overall this is a balanced account with, in places, a refreshing approach which probably stems from Rodney Steel's palaeontological background. The book is well-illustrated with good use of line drawings (albeit over-reduced in places), black and white, and colour photographs. The latter probably pushed the price to £10.95 but seem well worth it. In summary, a useful book which narrowly misses being a very good one. It should tell most readers all they ever need to know about sharks in a digestible form at a reasonable price.
A L A S D A I R EDWARDS