Invertebrates Books

Dr. Lutz was my mentor at the University of NC at Greensboro and his textbook was used for Invertebrate Zooology. It was informative in an easy to understand language, in depth, but not over the head of any student. The illustrations were superb, the writing outstanding, the information complete. Even though I have sold or donated most of the texts used during my years at UNC-G, I have held on to this one and refer to it often. Excellent!

As a biology major in college, this was one of my favorite books, and is probably the main reason for my overall enjoyment of the course. The author has organized the book in a logical, easy to follow manner that takes the reader from the very simple, single-celled invertebrates all the way through to the more complex species, including giant squid, octopi, and jellyfish. While most books of this type are specific to either the laboratory or the lecture room, this book is useful for both, and can help to tie the two together in a meaningful way. It is profusely illustrated, with both excellent diagrams and photographs of the creatures it explores. I'd very much like to find an original copy of this book, just for the pleasure of having it.

The much awaited new edition of this book should be out by the summer of 2007. The old edition's taxonomy has gotten rather dated. This new edition will be a must for serious marine biologists who want to identify California's wonderfully diverse marine invertebrate fauna.

Even though the latest edition was published in 1975, Light's manual is still a "must have" for the west coast naturalist. This book contains taxonomic keys and information about the majority of intertidal invertebrate animals that live along the California Coast.

The keys have supplementary illustrations that help the reader figure out what animal is in their bucket, or in the tide pool at their feet.

There are entries that are unavoidably out of date due to the publication date. The reliability and usefulness of the taxonomic keys and supporting information in this book, however, still ring true.

A wonderful reference book to the invertebrates of California.

The only reason I didn't give the book 5 stars was that its publication year (1975) is causing its contents to slip out of date.

Anyone up for putting together a new edition?

You want to identify the invertebrates you observed in the tide pool or during your recreational dive? Gotshall and Laurent have collected pictures and descriptions of 160 inverts common to the Pacific coast from Alaska to Baja. Needless to say, that leaves out a ton of animals. However, for many divers, just getting close to the appropriate ID is enough. If you want more detail, the authors point the reader to more sophisticated references (although given that this publication dates from 1979, there are certainly more, updated references available).

Stash a copy of this book in a ziplock bag and throw it in your dive bag. It will help the time pass by as you blow off your excess N between and after dives.

Pacific Coast Subtidal Marine Invertebrates is a book we have long needed in the diving world of the west coast. It will be useful both to the beginner and the old-timer, no matter how experienced. For who of us (except perhaps for the authors) is so knowledgable as to have seen all of the undersea enviroments from Alaska to Baja California? In a sense, we are all neophytes when we enter the water in a new place for the first time. We may see many familiar plants and animals, but new enviroments are always replete with delightful surprises and unknowns. This field guide will be of great assistance for many of us, helping to clarify these mysteries of the ocean.

Dan Gatshall and Bud Laurent very wisely decided not to describe even a major portion of the hundreds of invertebrates that may populate the sea floor in a given region. A compendium of all these species would probably be comprehensible only to a handful of specialists. The authors have presnted here 161 of the commonest invertebrates. Each invertebrate is clearly illustrated with a color photo showing the animal in nature. Such photos can be extremely helpful because appearance in the native habitat is often very unlike an artist's rendition of a preserved specimen. Pacific Coast Subtidal Marine Invertebrates also provides a short decription of every animal, outlining characteristics such as color, shape, anatomical details, typical habitats, and depth and geographical ranges, where such information can be used for identification.
--- from book's Foreword

Compact, high gloss pages make the book portable and water resistant. The color photographs are mostly good. Some make it hard to know what you are looking at. The b/w drawings of fish shapes in the front is very helpful. I was able to find 90 percent of the fish and invertebrates, but the corals are pretty limited in this book. I think its a good value, just the same

After snorkeling in the Caribbean, I felt as if my granddaughter needed this book to help her identify fish, coral, sponges, and other creatures we saw.

In the beginning of Wonderful Life, Gould writes:

"Words, of course, must be varied, if only to eliminate any jargon and phraseology that would mystify anyone outside the priesthood, but conceptual depth should not vary at all between professional publications and general exposition. I hope that this book can be read with profit both in seminars for graduate students and-- if the movie stinks and you forgot your sleeping pills-- on the businessman's special to Tokyo."

I am not qualified to discuss whether it should be taught in graduate seminars. I am more qualified to discuss reading it on a plane, since that is exactly where I did read the book. I think for my audience type, at least, he hits the mark.

I resisted the book quite a bit in the beginning. Honestly, reading it felt a little bit like homework. The casual reader needs to pick his or her way through a variety of classifications and discussions on methodology in order to begin to understand the point(s) of the book. Once I stopped resisting and got through the necessary definition chapters, I found that I really enjoyed the book and felt as though I learned a great deal about something which I had earlier known very little.

Gould's points are both about the remnants found in the Burgess Shale and, more largely, about the role of history and bias in interpreting data. Walcott is a fascinating character, and Gould is by turns both critical and affectionate about his nature and work.

I understand that there is quite a bit of debate regarding Gould's ideas-- many people taking notion with the contingency vs. ecology discussion. I'm not arrogant enough to join that discussion. It is worth noting to future readers that although this book is by most accounts a classic in its area, it is dated and there have been a number of corrections and revisions over the years.

Recommended. At least, I liked it.

I READ THIS BOOK WHEN CAME OUT YEARS AGO. NOW YOU CAN GET IT AT AMAZON AS A BARGAIN BOOK. THIS WONDERFUL STORY TELLS ABOUT AN ALTERNATE EARTH THAT NEVER MADE IT. SOMETHING DESTROYED IT UTTERLY. AND WONDERFUL LIFE FOUGHT BACK AND WITH TIME BECAME GIANT ANIMALS ROAMING THE LANDS OF THE EARTH. THE K-T EVENT. WACKED AGAIN! BUT LIFE ENDURED AND BECAME US...

READING THIS BEATS WATCHING THE FLUFF ON SATELLITE AND CABLE. AND IT MAKES YOU THINK. IT HELPS YOU PUT TWO AND TWO TOGETHER TO ARRIVE AT YOU!

Burgess Shale is the most important find ever of remains of early animal life on earth. Stephen Jay Gould explains why, and also why it took almost seventy years before the true significance of this treasure trove began to dawn upon the scientific world. In Gould's view, the 1970's reappraisal of the Burgess Shale fossils represents no less than a Copernical revolution in thinking about the way life on earth has evolved. While this may be, or may not be the case, the tale of how this reappraisal came about is thrillingly and competently told.

As a complete layman in the field of paleontology, I found the insets, explaining the basics and the terminology of the science very helpful. The beautiful drawings by Marianne Collins also helped me a lot to get a feel of what the amazing creatures of Burgess Shale must have been like while living.

The tale of how three British paleontologists, through their work on the fossils, arrived, much to their own surprise, upon conclusions very different from Walcott's (who first discovered Burgess Shale) is a captivating one. Gould's analysis of why Walcott in his time could not possibly have seen his find in it's true light, is something I could have done without.

But then, even if this part holds less interest for me than the main story, were it not for social obligations, I would have finished this book in one sitting!

Heartily recommended for all interested in the history of life on earth.

This book is quoted so often in the literature that I thought I was going to read something profound. It isn't. Conway Morris and others were right to criticize it. Not sure what all the fuss is about. As a well reasoned argument Gould missed the mark.

I am a fan of science and have enjoyed reading many recent books by great authors like Carl Sagan, Richard Leakey, Tim Flannery, Richard Dawkins and Jared Diamond. For some reason I hadn't had the chance to get around to reading a book by the legendary Stephen Jay Gould. Therefore, when I purchased my copy of his book entitled Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History, I was very excited and couldn't wait to read it. I was aware that before Gould's passing he was a promoter of science and that he was well known. However, I must confess I was extremely disappointed by this book. The first few chapters started off quite good, however, as the book progresses into the desciptions of the creatures of the Burgess Shale, I felt it becomes comes quite technical. Also, unlike the previous authors I mentioned, Gould seems to offer little in the way of explanations of some of the biological terminology that he uses in the book. Therefore, I feel that this book may be well suited for a person with a complex understanding of biology or palaeontology, however, it is not well suited for the lay person, or even a person with a slightly better than average understanding of these study areas.

About 90% of this book can be said to be "fascinating", if only because it deals with a fascinating subject, the creatures of the Burgess Shale. The author, Simon Conway Morris, is one of the authors of the scientific descriptions of many of these animals. That alone should make this book of some value. And it does have a value of sorts, but one that is spoiled by a sometimes odd writing style, hints of design and religion, and a needless and constant poking at Stephen Jay Gould, the famous late professor of paleontology at Harvard University. Oddly enough, it was Gould who made Morris famous in his book "Wonderful Life". Morris returns the favor with backhanded slaps at Gould's view on how life would turn out if the "tape" of life were re-run again. Gould thinks everything would be different; Morris thinks convergence would play a major role to make things all closely similar. While it is clear that Morris disagrees with Gould, Morris' argument is not convincing and sometimes seems like mere meanness. I think Gould wins. Nice pictures, though.

I started this book with high hopes but found it consistently disappointing and annoying. He comtinually comes up with sentences that are so imprecise as to be meaningless. For example (page 205) ' It is my opinion that human history can make no sense unless evil doings are recognized for what they are, and that they are bearable only if somehow they may be redeemed'

Then in debating convergence he argues that whales are inevitable in the sense that life will inevitably produce a 'fast ocean going animal that sieves sea water for food' True, but it is surely not logical to deduce from that the inevitability of homo sapiens. One could argue the inevitability of 'something like an ape' ie 4 limbs, 2 for standing 2 for grasping, upright stance, omnivore etc. Sure, but not such a specific and unusual creature as man. Especially recognising that the features which give us uniqueness have emerged so recently in geological time. Surely something so inevitable and important would not have waited three and a half million years just to enjoy 50,000 years of existence.

The key characteristics of man in this context are intelligence and consciousness. If it is argued that convergence inevitably leads to the emergence of man (with these characteristics) then why do they not emerge (with similar inevitably) in some or all of the other phylla. Having heard his arguments I am afraid I side with Gould on this particular topic ie we could have lots of re-runs but still not lead to that fortunate (or unfortunate!) outcome labeled 'homo sapiens'.

The Burgess Shale is interesting in itself as well as for the deeper points that it makes (or rather than people make with it) for evolutionary history. Conway Morris' updated explanation of the fauna from the Burgess and recent research into similar deposits in China and Greenland is important but suffers in comparision with A Wonderfull Life. It is simply not as detailed or engaging. As for his larger points, Conway Morris points out several flaws and hidden assumtions in Gould's work but his conclusions are themselves quite weak. His later book Life's Solution does a much better job at presenting his points and marshalling evidence for them, even if they still, in my opinion, remain unproven.

Morris, one of two contemporary specialists on the Burgess Shale, has produced an exceedingly well-written survey of the Burgess shale fauna and their meaning for evolutionary biology. The book is loaded with scores of B/W photos, 4 color drawings, a 13-page glossary of terms for the uninitiated, an imaginative underwater excursis with time-travelling paleontologists to the middle Cambrian, and a chapter on developmental evolutionary genetics (wherein he argues that many Burgess forms *are* related to contemporary forms). Stephen Jay Gould's view of the significance of the Burgess Shale is that the bizarre life-forms seen then demonstrate the historical contingency of evolution--rewind the tape and let it play out again, and things would turn out differently (a la Jimmy Stewart's "Wonderful Life"). Morris's thesis is that Gould's tape-player metaphor is misleading, overemphasizing contingency at the cost of ignoring the powerful role played by ecology . One need only consider the evolution of convergent traits in insular life-forms (e.g., Australian marsupial cat-like predators) to get the point. (I should point out that I am suspicious of monolithic theories from either pole of the necessity-chance spectrum.) I find it unfortunate that Gould never discussed Bradley Efron's Bootstrap, a technique used widely in evolutionary and population genetics, or cellular automata, a la Stuart Kauffman, which give rise to the same recurrent patterns with astonishing regularity.) Morris is an adaptationist senstive to the power of ecology to shape evolution, who sees Burgess forms not as deviant freaks that accidentally went extinct but as ancestral to contemporary animals. As usual, there is likely to be truth to both positions; indeed, in some ways, their different views turn on different understandings of probability. For anyone with more than a passing interest in evolutionary biology and paleontology, who finds Gould's incessant digressions distracting, or wonders about the hypertrophy of contingency, this book should not be missed.

Hi everyone it's me Carl Flygare again trolling Amazon for anti-Darwinist books to rate down and creationists to harass! Whoooo hooo is this book bunkum. It has silly stuff in it like uranamium evidence that my brain is caved in so that I can't think straight and like to hate!

This so called "scientist" guy is stuck half way between the evolutionary tree of the banana and giant naked mole rat.

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRcUMCSTANCES BELIEVE THIS BOOK! IT'S WACKY PEEPLES! TRUST ME! MEEE EMOTIONZ SED SO!

Uh uh uh, *frets crazily while pounding desk in fury and wishing to destroy his monitor* DAMNIT! DAMNIT YOU WHO WILL NOT AGREE WITH DARWIN OR WHATEVER I TELL YOU IS TRUE! LISTEN DAMNIT:

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BY THIS AND LIKE, THINK ABOUT ALTERNATIVE STUFF! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME PEOPLE! I WILL RATE MY REVIEWS UP 300 TIMES IN A ROW AND YOURS DOWN 400 TIMES IN A ROW IF I HAVE TO FORCE YOU TO AGREE WITH ME RATHER THAN CAREFULLY THINK ON YOUR OWN!

DAMNIT!

Sincerely,

Carl the Zealot

P.S.

Tyraniosaurs eat fish man, yeah.

I am the nutty dragonfly lady in my neighborhood. I am out every day with my camera, wading, watching, sitting on a dock, on the creek bank, enjoying dragonflies and damselflies (they're cousins, you know). I use all my field guides all the time. I have found this book extremely useful. The book says "Dragonflies". I believe Mr. Dunkle had written one on Florida or southern damselflies. I think it's out of print.

If the odes fascinate you as much as I, then you need this book.

May Lattanzio
Writer/Photographer/Author
Amazon Shorts author of "Paradise", "The Last Striper", "The Strange Adventure of Vernal Page"
Author of "Waltz on the Wild Side - An Animal Lover's Journal"
and contributor to the anthology "Least Loved Beasts of the Really Wild West - A Tribute".

Please see my other reviews.

I generally don't bother to write reviews because others have usually stated my sentiments. However, I felt compelled to add another 5* review to compensate for the many whining, unfair customer reviews. Dragonflies Through Binoculars is a precise, well-researched book with execellent photographs and accompanying text that will be loved by all who have the patience necessary for studying these amazing creature. Some reviewers complained about the book's lack of damselflies, a pathetic complaint considering the book's title mentions nothing about including them. Another person stated that he had difficulty differentiated between dragonflies and damselflies and used that as a way to criticize the book. It is a shame that some adults have to be reminded to THINK before they speak (or in this case write). Stop complaining and start investing the time required to use the book properly. If you want instant satisfaction, go play monopoly with a five year old. Anyone dedicated to the study of our natural world will LOVE this book.

This work on dragonflies (damselflies not included) used to be the only complete field guide on dragonflies for the US at a user-friendly level. Other guides have now been published with more info, but this one is still a winner and first-rate for its size. Its only drawback is the small photos and lack clarity on many make it not as useful in the field.

Dunkle's book is the best broad based guide that I have found. It provides very good photographs which are organized very usefully and coupled with well done range maps. The elaborate text (separate from the photos and maps) is very comprehensive and easy to follow. Again -- a well done guide.

I've been using both this and the Nikula et al. "Beginners Guide..." for several years. The "Beginner's Guide" is much better in the field than DtB for most of us (on the principle that rare dragonflies, birds, etc. are encountered rarely)--but DtB is a useful reference work when trying to confirm field identification from digital photographs (or, I suppose, with "ode" in hand). As a field guide, I find the separation of photos and text/map extremely frustrating (the same commment applies to many other field guides from other publishers).The text itself is excellent in terms of organization and useful information but the photos are sometimes too small to really help with the described field marks. (If I'm told that "only one crossvein behihd stigma is diagnostic" -- Blue Dasher -- then it would be good if the photo was clear enough to show that key field mark.) The lack of damselfly coverage is very frustrating but then it wouldn't be a field guide at all, but an encyclopedia.

Future buyer,

This book is great for someone just getting into fossil collecting or a true trilobite fanatic,like myself. If you have any interest in trilobites then this book is for you.......ENJOY!

Best Regards,

Fossil Hunter

First off, I will admit that I have a strange affinity for trilobites. This book really does these awesome little creatures justice. My knowledge of trilobites was mediocre and this book definitely expanded my knowledge. The photos in this book are amazing and very detailed. Although, I will admit some of the scientific facts are a little obsolete. However, this book just gives me another reason to obsess over these extraordinary 'time capsules'.

because, like Watson's "Double Helix," it shows the structure of discovery & the passion behind it.

If you love trilobite fossils this book is essential and wonderful. The photographs of fossil specimens are presented in chronological order and are simply breathtaking. Time and again I've returned to this classic for review or just to look at the dazzling variety of trilobites that have been carefully photographed. And what I really like about the book is that it makes it easy to share with family and friends just what is fascinating about this ancient creature.

Having seen many of the specimens featured in this book first hand, I would say that great care was taken in accurately capturing these specimens for print.
The details of the book are a great reference source - I am particularly lucky to have an autographed (by one of the principal specimen sources) hard-bound copy of the second edition from 1993 - this book was just recently returned to me after 8 years.

It is a great book to just sit and look at or glean for it's vital information.

This was one of the first books I bought with my own money when I was a kid. I have since bought an updated version since most of the pages have come unglued in the old one (from use, not poor quality). Typical golden book illustrations, not photographs. Easy enough for a kid to use but filled with enough spider species for any adult to use. I have only found one or two spiders in my life that were not in this book.

I was introduced to the early "Golden Guides" in the 1950s. My very first book on insects was in this series and I wore out numerous copies of the various titles. Of these I have always especially admired H. W. and Lorna Levi's "Spiders and Their Kin." This little guide had (and to a large degree still has) the most complete systematic treatment of any of the taxa covered in the "Golden Guide" series. Few books were available on these fascinating creatures when this work was originally published and "Spiders and Their Kin" was a considerable improvement. The drawings of spider eye arrangements were especially helpful for identification.

Unfortunately time does not stand still and the reprinted version of this book is somewhat behind in its treatment of spider families. There has been some attempt by St. Martin's Press to revise the classification (the sac spiders are shown to belong to several families), but some of the other families have also undergone major changes (e.g. "Ctenizidae" is now at least three families) and "brown spiders" (a name I really do not like- I prefer "violin spiders" as more descriptive) are now members of the Sicariidae. Neither of the last two changes made it into the revised book, either because they occurred after the corrected copy was submitted or because they were overlooked. The current revision does include the statement that urocteids and oecobiids have been united under the Oecobiidae - as it turns out, having a cribellum is a primitive trait and does not indicate relationships very well- but mistakenly indicates that the "oecobiids" are larger than "urocteids". It also still has the two "families" on different pages, so the revision did not include a rearrangement of the figures. In the scorpions there have been major taxonomic changes as well, but most of these were not noted (again several are probably just too recent to have been included). However, Hadrurus is correctly placed in the Iuridae, instead of the Vaejovidae.

Because of these major developments I cannot recommend this book as an up to date guide to currently recognized spider families, but it still is a good starting place for those (especially young people) who would like to know more about arachnids, millipedes, centipedes, and land crustaceans. Fortunately many, if not most, of the families (e. g. Theraphosidae, Oonopidae, Salticidae, Linyphiidae, Selenopidae, Theridiidae, Araneidae, Tetragnathidae, Lycosidae) are still valid as described in the original edition of the book.

this book is more of a minaturized field guide,..in size (it's about 6" x 4" wide) and in regards to information. there is not that much information but the line drawings help with identifying spiders. i would have liked to see more writen information on the spiders as well as actual pictures. overall for the price it's a nice book to have. i've actually used it several times to identify spiders in my garden.

Upon first reading, it is unfortunate that "Spiders and Their Kin" shows but a select few species from among the Arachnid pantheon, but it has been a great read and a great reference over the ten-plus years since I first purchased an earlier edition.

Used as a sole reference, the book is lacking in many crucial details, but there are more specialized books available to those who find that the information within these pages is less than desired.

True, it will not go in-depth with regard to each individual species, and may not show one in particular, but it's a handier starting point for arachnid identification than its larger brethren and, that, I think, is the purpose for which it is intended to be used.

The bottom line: if you know little to nothing about arachnids at this time, or you just need a field guide to get you started on making identifications, go ahead and buy Levi's little gem. If you feel like you need to learn all that can be learned about an individual species of spider or need more specialized/more advanced field guides, then this is probably not the book for you.

I think this is a good starter book for identfying spiders that are more common. There are a couple of pages on webs that I found interesting. In the front it gives a great visual on how the Arthropod group is broken out and how different spider types break out within that - all helps when trying to do the id. There are so many different amazing spiders - this can only scrath the surface but is a really good place to start. I just like taking pictures and having a general idea of what I'm looking at so for me it works...I will be checking out other books too though like "How to Know Spiders" if there is one in that "How to Know" series.

After 30+ years as a salt water enthusiast, I can easily say thAt this book answers the majority of questions about the proper ways to keep inverts alive and well in a home aquarium setting.
I highly recommend this book-it will save you frustration and money! In addition, the numerous photos will aid you in identification and also your decision making for invert purchases.
BUY IT!

This book has good clear pictures but very little written information about each picture.

This is a wonderful first reference text from Julian Sprung. Well set out and communicates the necessary information in an undestandable way. A word of advice, don't get this text in a hardcover version as the pages are poorly bound and Amazon's inability to adequate package the book results in damaged corners. Why pay more to get damaged goods and the Amazon run-around?

Does not contain more than photos and a small text box per creature. There is no mention of sizes, something of great importance when stocking an aquarium. For me, it is too quick of a reference quide. The information (and much beyond that) contained here can be found in Nilsen's "Reef Secrets".

This book is something you can browse to plan aquarium inhabitants, and take with you to the store to get some quick facts on species you come by. It has plenty of great pictures to help ID animals. Of course, some animals such as snails or hermits are so similar and have so many variations that you may have a hard time, but you should still get some important general info. More pictures of variations would be a welcome addition in a future volume, but don't let me give you the idea there aren't already loads of great ones.

This is a good companion to his "Corals - A quick reference guide", as it covers the other half of the spectrum including some anemones, mushroom corals, and zoanthids readers may have expected to find in the other volume...

As the name states, this is "a quick reference guide", so don't expect in depth comprehensiveness / knowledge on any one area or organism. As long as you realize that, you won't be upset. I very frequently consult this book.