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Jellyfish: A Natural History
Jellyfish, with their undulating umbrella-shaped bells and sprawling tentacles, are as fascinating and beautiful as they are frightening and dangerous. They are found in every ocean at every depth, and they are the oldest multi-organed life form on the planet, having inhabited the ocean for more than five hundred million years. In many places they are also vastly increasing in number, and these population blooms may be an ominous indicator of the rising temperatures and toxicity of the world’s oceans.
Jellyfish presents these aquarium favorites in all their extraordinary and captivating beauty. Fifty unique species, from stalked jellyfish to black sea nettles, are presented in stunning color photographs along with the most current scientific information on their anatomy, history, distribution, position in the water, and environmental status. Foremost jellyfish expert Lisa-ann Gershwin provides an insightful look at the natural history and biology of each of these spellbinding creatures, while offering a timely take on their place in the rapidly changing and deteriorating condition of the oceans. Readers will learn about immortal jellyfish who live and die and live again as well as those who camouflage themselves amid sea grasses and shells, hiding in plain sight.
Approachably written and based in the latest science and ecology, this colorful book provides an authoritative guide to these ethereal marine wonders.
Jellyfish presents these aquarium favorites in all their extraordinary and captivating beauty. Fifty unique species, from stalked jellyfish to black sea nettles, are presented in stunning color photographs along with the most current scientific information on their anatomy, history, distribution, position in the water, and environmental status. Foremost jellyfish expert Lisa-ann Gershwin provides an insightful look at the natural history and biology of each of these spellbinding creatures, while offering a timely take on their place in the rapidly changing and deteriorating condition of the oceans. Readers will learn about immortal jellyfish who live and die and live again as well as those who camouflage themselves amid sea grasses and shells, hiding in plain sight.
Approachably written and based in the latest science and ecology, this colorful book provides an authoritative guide to these ethereal marine wonders.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published April 5, 2016
106 people are currently reading
1080 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
September 8, 2022
Jellyfish: a Natural History is written the director of the Australian Marine Stinger Advisory Services—quite a job. The book can be read as Jellyfish 101, an introduction to scyphozoa. It was enough for me; I don’t feel the need for Jellyfish 201.
It’s written in an easy academic manner and the highlight is the spectacular photographs and easy to understand line drawings. They truly are beautiful creatures.
Gershwin familiarly calls them jellies. Is that what the specialists say when talking with each other? That is not revealed. Interestingly, jellyfish thrive in polluted situations that kill everything else and thus there has been a dramatic increase in jellyfish along the coasts of our continents. They may be clogging the shores long after other marine life and indeed humans are gone
It’s written in an easy academic manner and the highlight is the spectacular photographs and easy to understand line drawings. They truly are beautiful creatures.
Gershwin familiarly calls them jellies. Is that what the specialists say when talking with each other? That is not revealed. Interestingly, jellyfish thrive in polluted situations that kill everything else and thus there has been a dramatic increase in jellyfish along the coasts of our continents. They may be clogging the shores long after other marine life and indeed humans are gone
April 27, 2021
Fascinating, well-researched, and eye-opening source on all things jelly.
Absolutely wonderful photographs and interesting descriptions of various types of jellies. Despite the size, it still seems to only scratch the surface, especially in the last chapter devoted to human impact on jellyfish.
Absolutely wonderful photographs and interesting descriptions of various types of jellies. Despite the size, it still seems to only scratch the surface, especially in the last chapter devoted to human impact on jellyfish.
December 13, 2020
Good books on jellyfish are hard to find: there hardly exist any. I’ve had the German ‘Quallen’ by Thomas Heeger (2004) for years, and that used to be the only comprehensive scientific monograph on the subject: someone should translate that in English.
I’m fascinated by the subject, so when I saw this very book in the biography of the underwhelming little book on jellyfish that Peter Williams published in 2020 I bought it instantly.
This book isn’t really about 50 jellyfish as advertised on the back: it rather is a monograph on 5 subjects: jellyfish anatomy, life history, taxonomy and evolution, ecology and finally the impact of humanity on jellyfish. Each subject gets about 20 pages in text (and some graphics & pictures), and after that Gershwin each time presents 10 jellyfish that illustrate some of the stuff from that particular chapter’s subject. Each jellyfish gets a full page photograph, and one page with additional information.
This makes for a bit of a hybrid: this is both a coffee table book with great, clear illustrations & a fairly thorough introduction to jellyfish biology. I doubt experienced marine biologists with an interest in the subject will learn a lot of new things from Gershwin, but for the general public the book is detailed nonetheless. As a reading experience, the format gets a bit monotonous towards the end – especially as the end chapter is the least interesting of all, with the least depth. Still, let me be clear: this is – by far – the best book on jellyfish available. If you want more, you’ll need to dive in the world of scientific journals.
The book shows there is an enormous variation in jellyfish: there are much more differences between some species of jellyfish than there are differences between humans and, let’s say, turtles, or cod, or jays. On the other hand, salps are more closely related to humans than bees or scorpions. The list of nuggets at the end of this review shows a bit of this diversity.
The other important takeaway is a strong reinforcement of the realization that science has only begun to understand and map the diversity of complex life on our planet. Most stuff about jellyfish remains undiscovered and unknown, including basic stuff like the life cycle for lots of species. It’s like Nigel Pitman wrote in an article for Nautilus in 2015: “What the models tell us is that several thousand of the tree species that grow in the Amazon are so rare that scientists will never find them.”
Let me finish this review with some nuggets of knowledge I want to remember:
(...)
Full review on Weighing A Pig Doesn't Fatten It
I’m fascinated by the subject, so when I saw this very book in the biography of the underwhelming little book on jellyfish that Peter Williams published in 2020 I bought it instantly.
This book isn’t really about 50 jellyfish as advertised on the back: it rather is a monograph on 5 subjects: jellyfish anatomy, life history, taxonomy and evolution, ecology and finally the impact of humanity on jellyfish. Each subject gets about 20 pages in text (and some graphics & pictures), and after that Gershwin each time presents 10 jellyfish that illustrate some of the stuff from that particular chapter’s subject. Each jellyfish gets a full page photograph, and one page with additional information.
This makes for a bit of a hybrid: this is both a coffee table book with great, clear illustrations & a fairly thorough introduction to jellyfish biology. I doubt experienced marine biologists with an interest in the subject will learn a lot of new things from Gershwin, but for the general public the book is detailed nonetheless. As a reading experience, the format gets a bit monotonous towards the end – especially as the end chapter is the least interesting of all, with the least depth. Still, let me be clear: this is – by far – the best book on jellyfish available. If you want more, you’ll need to dive in the world of scientific journals.
The book shows there is an enormous variation in jellyfish: there are much more differences between some species of jellyfish than there are differences between humans and, let’s say, turtles, or cod, or jays. On the other hand, salps are more closely related to humans than bees or scorpions. The list of nuggets at the end of this review shows a bit of this diversity.
The other important takeaway is a strong reinforcement of the realization that science has only begun to understand and map the diversity of complex life on our planet. Most stuff about jellyfish remains undiscovered and unknown, including basic stuff like the life cycle for lots of species. It’s like Nigel Pitman wrote in an article for Nautilus in 2015: “What the models tell us is that several thousand of the tree species that grow in the Amazon are so rare that scientists will never find them.”
Let me finish this review with some nuggets of knowledge I want to remember:
(...)
Full review on Weighing A Pig Doesn't Fatten It
June 22, 2023
An excellent, well-organized introduction to jellies with gorgeous full page photos. I know next to nothing about jellyfish so this was a fascinating eye-opener for me. Just a few interesting facts:
1. Jellyfish are grouped under the umbrella term “plankton.”
2. There are 3 evolutionary lineages of jellyfish: the medusae and siphonophores; the ctenophores; and the salps and their kin.
3. Jellyfish are often composed of colonies. Individuals in a colony are referred to as “persons.”
4. There is a creature called a “Fire Body.” : a creature with a long, tubular body that is pinkish and gloriously bioluminescent.
5. The Deadly Box Jellyfish is the world’s most venomous animal, the only animal capable of locking the heart in a contracted state in as little as two minutes.
6. Jellyfish can clone themselves in 13 different ways.
7. Nomura’s Giant Jellyfish grows to the size of a refrigerator.
And there’s so much more.
1. Jellyfish are grouped under the umbrella term “plankton.”
2. There are 3 evolutionary lineages of jellyfish: the medusae and siphonophores; the ctenophores; and the salps and their kin.
3. Jellyfish are often composed of colonies. Individuals in a colony are referred to as “persons.”
4. There is a creature called a “Fire Body.” : a creature with a long, tubular body that is pinkish and gloriously bioluminescent.
5. The Deadly Box Jellyfish is the world’s most venomous animal, the only animal capable of locking the heart in a contracted state in as little as two minutes.
6. Jellyfish can clone themselves in 13 different ways.
7. Nomura’s Giant Jellyfish grows to the size of a refrigerator.
And there’s so much more.
January 1, 2018
Gorgeous book about jellyfish. I loved its graphic design. Different species are highlighted and accompanied by a full page image. The species are interspersed with information about jellyfish with hand-inked illustrations. The information was really thorough, ranging from anatomy and evolution to ecology. The biology information was really detailed, but strove for accessibility. Despite this, it was still hard to follow some of the life cycles, which are really complicated. Not the best breakfast-reading material! After reading the last section on how humans have affected ocean environments, I'm convinced that jellyfish will be completely taking over our oceans any day now.
BEST OF:
-the "immortal jellyfish" whose cells reaggregate as a colony when it dies... "this is the equivalent of a frog dying, and having its cells reaggregate back into a tadpole" !!
-their names! "Purple People Eater", "Herpes Jellyfish", "Long Stingy Stringy Thingy"
-one jellyfish parasite hollows out the jellyfish and uses it as a boat for its eggs, and then the body is the food for the larvae when they hatch (Phronima)
I feel like this book gives me real inspiration for alien species, because they themselves feel so alien to me.
BEST OF:
-the "immortal jellyfish" whose cells reaggregate as a colony when it dies... "this is the equivalent of a frog dying, and having its cells reaggregate back into a tadpole" !!
-their names! "Purple People Eater", "Herpes Jellyfish", "Long Stingy Stringy Thingy"
-one jellyfish parasite hollows out the jellyfish and uses it as a boat for its eggs, and then the body is the food for the larvae when they hatch (Phronima)
I feel like this book gives me real inspiration for alien species, because they themselves feel so alien to me.
December 18, 2024
This was so fascinating…. Jellyfish in general are so fascinating. I loved how detailed this book was and how easily it read. Everything was very to the point yet personalized and I learned so much through this book. I’ve always been so interested in jellyfish and this book truly covers everything. I’d be interested to read another book about jellyfish one day to contrast and compare but as the sole book I’ve read on them, this was just really excellent. I loved this so much and would definitely recommend if you’re also curious!!
July 27, 2024
So interesting and informative!!!
It is amazing the high diversity of jellyfish, not only physically, but how they reproduce, protect themselves, and survive in so many different ocean habitats. Not only do you learn about jellyfish, but also their interactions with other creatures, humans and the ocean depths and currents. Highly recommend!!!!
It is amazing the high diversity of jellyfish, not only physically, but how they reproduce, protect themselves, and survive in so many different ocean habitats. Not only do you learn about jellyfish, but also their interactions with other creatures, humans and the ocean depths and currents. Highly recommend!!!!
June 7, 2023
I did not like her attitude about the creatures. She acted like they weren’t worth our time until they became troublesome to humans. That was both a wrong way to think and to state in her book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 10, 2019
Uses: scientific terminology familiarization; generating ideas for fictional alien races.
October 30, 2016
This is a very nice book, both worthy of your coffee table because it is full of beautiful pictures and illustrations, but it is also a book with lots of research and it has all you ever wanted to know about "jellies". Since I live across from the ocean and have been bitten by a jellyfish, I was interested in them. There is a large variety of jellies with gorgeous colors and shapes, and I wanted to know which lived in my location and which were dangerous. If you are into jellyfish and want a reference book, this is a good choice!
March 1, 2018
A clear overview of the many species of jellyfish that inhabit our waters- both salt and fresh. The photography of a selection of jellyfish are stunning and the line drawings are well done, too. Scientist Gershwin's writing is concise and to the point in both the science and how the ecology of jellyfish impact the environment. The history and current environment is informative but necessarily brief for the general reader. The casual reader will find this stimulating. If the reader is interested then there is a more in depth book, "Stung!" by the same author.
May 1, 2022
Solid book on the ecology of jellyfish. The author does a great job of presenting the complexity of the types of jellyfish are out there, provides informative profiles on a number of individual species (although this book is not a field guide), and then ties ecological changes due to pollution, climate change, and even humanmade structures in the ocean to changes in jellyfish populations, including jellyfish blooms (basically huge numbers of jellyfish in an area). Recommended to those with an interest in jellyfish or ocean ecology.
August 3, 2023
So much love went into this book- It’s easy to see why it’s regarded as THE jellyfish book.
If you’ve recently developed an interest in Jellies, or have been frustrated and/or surprised with the lack of entry level content available this book deserves a place in your collection. It’s fascinating, accessible, with stunning photos I know I’ll keep coming back to.
I’m in awe of Lisa-Ann Gershwin’s passion and efforts in identifying, documenting, and studying these strange little (and not so little)creatures taking over the planet. ❤️
If you’ve recently developed an interest in Jellies, or have been frustrated and/or surprised with the lack of entry level content available this book deserves a place in your collection. It’s fascinating, accessible, with stunning photos I know I’ll keep coming back to.
I’m in awe of Lisa-Ann Gershwin’s passion and efforts in identifying, documenting, and studying these strange little (and not so little)creatures taking over the planet. ❤️
August 4, 2018
Jellyfish are aliens and this book was a fascinating introduction to their world and the vast variety of species that fall under the moniker. The text sections can be quite technical, more biology textbook than I expected, but they're well balanced by the beautiful pictures and descriptions of exemplary or exceptional types of jellies. Makes me want to go scuba diving...in a sting proof suite.
March 25, 2021
Pictures are beautiful and the book is full of great information, organized in a sensible way. It has identification of jellyfish throughout with sections on Basics, history, fossils, climate impact and impact of climate change in jellyfish. Charlotte enjoyed this as a go along book for “Night of the Moonjellies” by Mark Sasha.
June 11, 2022
Such a beautiful and comprehensive book! My 3-year-old daughter, who has been obsessed with jellyfish lately, absolutely loved exploring the large colorful pages. I was not expecting to be able to read very much of this to my daughter, but I was surprisingly wrong. Gershwin presents a plethora of information in such an approachable manner that allowed my daughter and I to devour a hundred pages without even realizing it!
January 16, 2018
If nothing else, the pictures shown win this book a 5 stars review. But also the description of all the aspects related to jellyfishes (anatomy, reproduction, ecology, etc) described clearly, makes this book an excellent read.
May 23, 2018
Fascinating organisms
Alarming to learn that jellyfish blooms are becoming problems (and we don't know whether it's real increase? or a part of cycle)
Reminds me 'life' can come in so many different shapes; wonder how it is like to float in the ocean without brain
Alarming to learn that jellyfish blooms are becoming problems (and we don't know whether it's real increase? or a part of cycle)
Reminds me 'life' can come in so many different shapes; wonder how it is like to float in the ocean without brain
January 7, 2025
Thoroughly entertaining
If you have an interest in sea jellies, this is the book for you. It's a nice compilation of the natural history of jellyfish and all the habitats they drift through.
If you have an interest in sea jellies, this is the book for you. It's a nice compilation of the natural history of jellyfish and all the habitats they drift through.
July 1, 2018
Very interesting and compelling book.
The pictures are what made me buy this book and they are absolutely mesmerizing.
The pictures are what made me buy this book and they are absolutely mesmerizing.
October 2, 2018
Luminously enlightening
May 15, 2019
Absolutely fascinating! The many beautiful photographs are wonderful and the writing is clear and concise.
August 4, 2022
Okay, but I wanted a lot more pictures of jellyfish.
November 17, 2022
so pretty
March 9, 2024
Stunning photos. Very informative. Beautiful book.
March 16, 2017
This is a beautiful book about jellies!
November 16, 2020
An outstanding book! Details the wide varieties of jellies and their habitats and habits, as well as how jellyfish blooms are becoming increasingly problematic and exacerbated because of climate change, ocean acidification, pollution, development, fishing, trawling, invasive species, etc etc.
January 6, 2021
This is a beautiful and accessible book. Great formatting highlighting specific species and also the grand topic of jellies not all being cnidarian jellyfish.
The writing is clever and funny and it also reads well as a series of non-fiction short stories about a topic lay readers will know little about - almost everyone, even if you walk in with a general science or biology degree, will find delight. If you like life oriented single topic books, this one is a keeper.
I recommend everyone read chapter 5 about our relationship with jellyfish. It discusses our future as we create the perfect conditions for jellies to take off:
Over fishing. Climate change. Eutrophication. Ocean acidification. Trash. Chemical pollution.
It can seem a bit grim but it is a well written summary of this perfect storm. The 2 pager on plastics alone is an excellent primer on the topic.
The writing is clever and funny and it also reads well as a series of non-fiction short stories about a topic lay readers will know little about - almost everyone, even if you walk in with a general science or biology degree, will find delight. If you like life oriented single topic books, this one is a keeper.
I recommend everyone read chapter 5 about our relationship with jellyfish. It discusses our future as we create the perfect conditions for jellies to take off:
Over fishing. Climate change. Eutrophication. Ocean acidification. Trash. Chemical pollution.
It can seem a bit grim but it is a well written summary of this perfect storm. The 2 pager on plastics alone is an excellent primer on the topic.
July 17, 2025
The pictures alone are worth your while, but the information within is equally fascinating. My only real complaint is that more species should have been featured. That being said, this is a marvelous book for any nature enthusiast.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews