Cephalopods: A World Guide (Book)

Reviewed by Nancy King

Cephalopods, A World Guide is an attractive guide that covers the octopuses, argonauts, 65887 cuttlefish, squid and nautilus of the world. Several TONMO community members have already recommended this outstanding reference work, which is published in Germany. Arranged by scientific classification, Cephalopods, A World Guide provides multiple photos of each species along with a description. In addition to information on species identification, the guide looks at distribution, ecology, and cephalopod evolution. Interspersed among the descriptions are 35 "picture stories" that zoom in on specific subjects and are liberally accompanied by colorful photos. For example, you can read about "Squirting Ink", "Mugged by a Squid", "The Hitchhiking Argonaut" or even "Weird Sex".

The introduction contains useful information, such as major groups of cephalopods, common features, and cephalopod body parts and terminology (the latter section illustrated by photos instead of the usual line drawings).

One slight drawback to this excellent and highly recommended guide is the indexing. There is no general index; instead, there is an index of scientific names and one of common names. If you're looking for the "blue-ringed octopus", you won't find an entry (it's found under "greater blue-ringed octopus"). However, the table of contents and the two indexes are not long and it is possible to glance through them to find what you're looking for.

If you are seriously interested in cephalopods, you need to add this book to your library.
Original publish date
Feb 28, 2003
About the Author
Nancy
Nancy has an interest in all things cephy but especially octopus behavior. She maintains two saltwater aquariums and has kept O. bimaculoides and O. briareus as well as many other invertebrates. She joined the TONMO.com staff in March 2002 with a background in management, editing and technical writing in technology companies. She enjoys helping people with ceph keeping, including writing articles. Nancy also has a strong background in art and currently works in precious metals and watercolor with a goal of producing high quality art with marine themes. She holds an M.A. from the University of Wisconsin and presently lives in Dallas, Texas - only five hours from the Gulf!

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