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Plankton: Wonders of the Drifting World
Ask anyone to picture a bird or a fish and a series of clear images will immediately come to mind. Ask the same person to picture plankton and most would have a hard time conjuring anything beyond a vague squiggle or a greyish fleck. This book will change that forever.
Viewing these creatures up close for the first time can be a thrilling experience—an elaborate but hidden world truly opens up before your eyes. Through hundreds of close-up photographs, Plankton transports readers into the currents, where jeweled chains hang next to phosphorescent chandeliers, spidery claws jut out from sinuous bodies, and gelatinous barrels protect microscopic hearts. The creatures’ vibrant colors pop against the black pages, allowing readers to examine every eye and follow every tentacle. Jellyfish, tadpoles, and bacteria all find a place in the book, representing the broad scope of organisms dependent on drifting currents.
Christian Sardet’s enlightening text explains the biological underpinnings of each species while connecting them to the larger living world. He begins with plankton’s origins and history, then dives into each group, covering ctenophores and cnidarians, crustaceans and mollusks, and worms and tadpoles. He also demonstrates the indisputable impact of plankton in our lives. Plankton drift through our world mostly unseen, yet they are diverse organisms that form ninety-five percent of ocean life. Biologically, they are the foundation of the aquatic food web and consume as much carbon dioxide as land-based plants. Culturally, they have driven new industries and captured artists’ imaginations .
While scientists and entrepreneurs are just starting to tap the potential of this undersea forest, for most people these pages will represent uncharted waters. Plankton is a spectacular journey that will leave readers seeing the ocean in ways they never imagined.
Viewing these creatures up close for the first time can be a thrilling experience—an elaborate but hidden world truly opens up before your eyes. Through hundreds of close-up photographs, Plankton transports readers into the currents, where jeweled chains hang next to phosphorescent chandeliers, spidery claws jut out from sinuous bodies, and gelatinous barrels protect microscopic hearts. The creatures’ vibrant colors pop against the black pages, allowing readers to examine every eye and follow every tentacle. Jellyfish, tadpoles, and bacteria all find a place in the book, representing the broad scope of organisms dependent on drifting currents.
Christian Sardet’s enlightening text explains the biological underpinnings of each species while connecting them to the larger living world. He begins with plankton’s origins and history, then dives into each group, covering ctenophores and cnidarians, crustaceans and mollusks, and worms and tadpoles. He also demonstrates the indisputable impact of plankton in our lives. Plankton drift through our world mostly unseen, yet they are diverse organisms that form ninety-five percent of ocean life. Biologically, they are the foundation of the aquatic food web and consume as much carbon dioxide as land-based plants. Culturally, they have driven new industries and captured artists’ imaginations .
While scientists and entrepreneurs are just starting to tap the potential of this undersea forest, for most people these pages will represent uncharted waters. Plankton is a spectacular journey that will leave readers seeing the ocean in ways they never imagined.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published October 17, 2013
6 people are currently reading
273 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 25, 2015
Do not be lulled into complacency by the many--and exquisitely executed--photographs in the book. Christian Sardet refuses to water down the information, using scientific names, taxonomic relations, and complex terminology throughout "Plankton." And I'm glad he does. While including hints (like 'unfertilized egg' in a paragraphs dominated by a discussion of oocyte fertilization in hermaphrodite chaetognaths, or arrow worms), it is apparent that Sardet loves his work enough to appreciate the clarity of description achieved by using specialized language developed in science.
"Plankton" includes one of the best comparisons of historical "tree of life" diagrams I've come across, and numerous little facts that kept my mind happily engaged with a new field. Did you know that plankton produce as much Oxygen as all the land plants, and that many actually break down greenhouse gases? Or this gem: the monster in Alien was inspired by an amphipod crustacean called Phronima. (Seriously, these guys are the super-stuff of horror. You've gotta look at one of the only "moms" of crustaceans).
I thank Sardet for his research and passion. I truly enjoyed this introductory text to the microscopic beauty found in the oceans!
"Plankton" includes one of the best comparisons of historical "tree of life" diagrams I've come across, and numerous little facts that kept my mind happily engaged with a new field. Did you know that plankton produce as much Oxygen as all the land plants, and that many actually break down greenhouse gases? Or this gem: the monster in Alien was inspired by an amphipod crustacean called Phronima. (Seriously, these guys are the super-stuff of horror. You've gotta look at one of the only "moms" of crustaceans).
I thank Sardet for his research and passion. I truly enjoyed this introductory text to the microscopic beauty found in the oceans!
Read
June 20, 2023A gorgeous coffee table book that shows planktonic organisms with a light narrative.
January 22, 2023
This is an amazing book. It allows one to make sense of the great variety of organisms that make up the plankton of the oceans. The planktonic ecosystems of the world are estimated to contain over one million species. The animals we can see, like fish, squid, octopus, and marine mammals, comprise only 2 percent of the ocean’s living biomass. The remaining 98 percent consists of the mostly invisible multitudes of plankton. The phytoplankton of the world's oceans perform nearly half of the photosynthesis and consequent oxygen production on Earth. The sponges, ctenophores, and cnidarians are descended from the oldest animal lineages. Despite their fragile appearance, cnidarians and ctenophores have proven champions of adaptation. They have survived and evolved through five major extinctions.
Sardet has been involved in the Tara Oceans Expedition, wherein the schooner Tara, a floating laboratory, has covered more than 570,000 kilometres. Partner laboratories have produced more than 200 publications in renowned international scientific journals.
- Unicellular Creatures
Bacteria and archaea, and their viruses known as phages, were the only creatures of the sea for 2 billion years until the eukaryotes evolved. Quick to evolve they often adapt to new environments and feed on sources of pollution. It is estimated that half the fixed nitrogen in the ocean is due to the activity of Trichodesmium cyanobacteria. Spirulina, known primarily as a dietary supplement in the form of dark green pellets, is a concentrate of Arthrospira cyanobacteria.
Phytoplankton are organisms that derive their energy from sunlight through photosynthesis. Included are cyanobacteria, diatoms, dinoflagellates, and coccolithophores. Cyanobacteria employ special photosynthetic membranes in their cytoplasm. Phytoplanktonic protists contain specialized organelles called chloroplasts. Phytoplanktonic organisms live in the surface layers of the ocean penetrated by sunlight, known as the euphotic
zone. Phytoplankton are consumed by protists such as dinoflagellates, ciliates, foraminifera, radiolarians, and groups of zooplanktonic animals and larvae.
Coccolithophores and foraminifera are protists which produce skeletons made of calcium carbonate. They form sediments in the ocean, important for identifying geological layers. Coccolithophores secrete delicate external scales called coccoliths, and possess two flagella and a thin appendage termed a haptonema. Foraminifera are five to one hundred times bigger than the biggest coccolithophores. They secrete chambers called tests through which thin pseudopodia probe the environment, move the foraminifera over surfaces, and engulf prey.
Diatoms and dinoflagellates are the most numerous of all the protists among the phytoplankton. The diatoms create a siliceous envelope called a
frustule, which consists of two parts fitting one into the other. Over millions of years, dead diatoms accumulate in the sediment of the oceans and compact to form sedimentary rock. In contrast to diatoms, which are rather static or glide slowly along surfaces, dinoflagellates move briskly using two flagella. Most dinoflagellates build envelopes made of delicately ornamented cellulose plates called thecas.
Radiolarians are single-celled planktonic protists, classified in two main groups called polycystines and acantharians. Most build sophisticated skeletons made of silica, which are found in sediments and assist in the identification of geological layers. Acantharians form remarkable needles and shield-like structures using strontium sulfate instead of silica. Radiolarians harbor microalgae which capture energy via photosynthesis. Some form colonies within a gelatinous mass varying in size from a few centimeters to 1 meter.
Ciliates are of two groups - tintinnids and choanoflagellates - which feature motility and multicellularity. Ciliates have rows of cilia that beat with coordinated movements, allowing them to move and graze on the smaller protists and bacteria. The tintinnids have distinctive vase-shaped tunics called loricae into which they can retract for protection. Choanoflagellates are protists characterized by the presence of a flagellum surrounded by a corolla of contractile muscle fibers. Flagellar movement creates a current, bringing bacteria to the mouth where the corolla snares the prey.
- Ctenophones and Cnidarians - Ancestral Forms
Ctenophores, the carnivorous comb jellies, have eight rows of “comb plates” consisting of thousands of tightly arrayed cilia, which propel the animal in quick, acrobatic movements. A ctenophore’s sense of balance and orientation comes from a small dome-shaped organ called a statocyst, located on the opposite side of its body from its mouth. Most have tentacles are covered with sticky cells called colloblasts that ensnare their prey. Beroe attack by stretching their mouths wide open and engulfing ctenophores much bigger than themselves.
Jellyfish are known for their stinging cells termed cnidocysts. The majority of the 3,500 identified jellyfish species are barely visible with the naked eye, and many are truly microscopic. Many jellyfish release eggs and sperm which form embryos, then become ovoid-shaped larvae called planulae which develop into mature animals. Some go through a polyp stage wherein the larval planulae settle on the bottom and bud tiny new jellyfish, called ephyrae. A large medusa may possess several sensory organs: an olfactory dimple, a visual organ (the ocellus) and a statocyst that senses gravity.
Siphonophores, some being the longest animals in the world, can exceed 30 meters in length. Siphonophores are colonial organisms comprised of specialized individuals called zooids, different types of which perform different functions - nutrition (gastrozooids), flotation (pneumatophores - the float), movement (nectophores form a pulsating bell), and reproduction (gonozooids expel packages of eggs and sperm). Gastrozooids feed the colony by extending long fishing filaments studded with stinging cells that harpoon and immobilize crustaceans, mollusks, larvae, and even fish.All zooids of a colony are linked together by a stolon, a kind of umbilical cord.
Velella, Porpita and Physalia are colonial organisms consisting of many individual polyps situated under a gas-filled bladder or float. Physalia is preyed upon by turtles, the nudibranch Glaucus (blue dragon), Tremoctopus (the blanket octopus), and others. Velella is preyed upon by the ocean sunfish Mola mola, the purple surface-dwelling snail Janthina janthina, and others.
- Crustaceans and Mollusks - Champions of Diversity
Crustacean larvae which generally do not look like the mature animal, often have large compound eyes, articulated tails, many pairs of appendages, and chitinous shells with sharp spines that discourage predators. Some of their appendages are covered with feathery bristles used for capturing phytoplankton. A variety of names, largely historical, are used to broadly classify the larvae at various stages of development, such as megalopa (the final larval stage of a decapod crustacean), nauplii (barnacles) and zoea (crabs and shrimp). The alima larva of the mantis shrimp are fiece predators that go through nine stages of development.
Copepods generally feed on protists, and are in turn eaten by multicellular organisms like shrimp, chaetognaths, fish, and marine mammals. Each calanoid copepod grazes on 10,000 to 100,000 diatoms or dinoflagellates every day. Aamphipods live in close association with jellyfish, siphonophores, pyrosomes, or salps. Euphausiids, pelagic shrimp living in swarms known as krill, are a favorite food of baleen whales. Amphipods play an important role in recycling the abundant gelatinous matter produced by these macroplankton.
Phronima is one of the hyperiid amphipods which live as parasites on specific gelatinous organisms - in this case salps. Phronima builds a barrel
using the envelope of its gelatinous host. It only leaves the house to capture large prey. Unusual for a crustacean, Phronima cares for its young, raising and feeding them inside the barrel.
Some gastropods adapted to the open ocean through the transformation of the foot into a single fin (the heteropods) or two fins (the pteropods, known as sea butterflies). Most are carnivores, who gnaw their prey using their abrasive tongue called a radula. Firola is one of the largest planktonic mollusks, measuring 10 to 30 cm. Divers call it “sea elephant” because its long proboscis resembles an elephant’s trunk.
Although, they represent different classes of mollusks, the Cephalopods and the Nudibranchs have both developed extraordinary uses of color for camouflage and communication. Neither have shells, unlike most mollusks. The colorful embryos and juveniles are commonly found in the plankton. Chromatophores, special skin cells filled with pigments, allow cephalopods to rapidly change their coloration and patterning to blend into the environment or signal to others. The nudibranch Elysia viridis feeds on the algae Codium fragile, sequestering its chloroplasts, giving the nudibranch its green color and the ability to obtain energy by photosynthesis.
- Worms and Tadpoles - Arrows, Tubes, and Nets
Chaetognaths or arrow worms have rows of teeth around the mouth and sharp, hook-like bristles on each side of the head. Chaetognaths are an important link in the food chain of the world ocean. They consume small planktonic animals, and are themselves an abundant source of food for squids, jellies, and fish.
While many annelids drift in the lankton while they are embryos or larvae, some - primarily the polychaetes (bristle worms) - are planktonic their entire lives. An unusual family, the Tomopteridae, have no chaetea (hairs) but move quickly through the water beating their parapodia and deploy two long tentacles to catch prey, such as chaetognaths or fish larvae.
Salps, doliolids, and pyrosomes belong to the phylum Urochordata and have a dorsal notochord, a flexible rod-shaped tissue that anticipates the spinal column of vertebrates. Salps, doliolids, and pyrosomes float freely their entire lifespan and possess a protective outer covering, a tunic, which gives the group their name: tunicates. Relatives of salps, pyrosomes are bioluminescent tunicates that aggregate in colonies shaped like long socks. The colonies consist of many identical zooids sharing a common cellulose tunic. Pyrosomes feed on bacteria and microorganisms that filter through the gills of the zooids.
Larvaceans, also known as appendicularians, look a lot like tadpoles, with an oval-shaped body and a long, flexible tail. Fast growers with a lifespan of only a week, larvaceans proliferate in huge swarms throughout the world oceans. The animal sits in the middle of a fine mesh net that serves both as a house and a filter for food. Several times a day, the larvacean leaves its food-clogged house and swims around frantically, secreting a brand-new net with rapid movements of its tail. Oikopleura dioica has one of the smallest genomes known at 65 Mb (million bases).
All kinds of animal embryos and larvae abound in the plankton, such as those of urchins, anemones, corals, crabs, and shellfish. Great quantities of gametes also make up a portion of the plankton. Fish larvae often resemble tiny versions of the vigorous swimming adults, but in general, larval forms of sea creatures bear little resemblance to their parents. Only a tiny fraction of the huge quantities of eggs, embryos, and larvae drifting in the open ocean will reach adulthood.
Sardet has been involved in the Tara Oceans Expedition, wherein the schooner Tara, a floating laboratory, has covered more than 570,000 kilometres. Partner laboratories have produced more than 200 publications in renowned international scientific journals.
- Unicellular Creatures
Bacteria and archaea, and their viruses known as phages, were the only creatures of the sea for 2 billion years until the eukaryotes evolved. Quick to evolve they often adapt to new environments and feed on sources of pollution. It is estimated that half the fixed nitrogen in the ocean is due to the activity of Trichodesmium cyanobacteria. Spirulina, known primarily as a dietary supplement in the form of dark green pellets, is a concentrate of Arthrospira cyanobacteria.
Phytoplankton are organisms that derive their energy from sunlight through photosynthesis. Included are cyanobacteria, diatoms, dinoflagellates, and coccolithophores. Cyanobacteria employ special photosynthetic membranes in their cytoplasm. Phytoplanktonic protists contain specialized organelles called chloroplasts. Phytoplanktonic organisms live in the surface layers of the ocean penetrated by sunlight, known as the euphotic
zone. Phytoplankton are consumed by protists such as dinoflagellates, ciliates, foraminifera, radiolarians, and groups of zooplanktonic animals and larvae.
Coccolithophores and foraminifera are protists which produce skeletons made of calcium carbonate. They form sediments in the ocean, important for identifying geological layers. Coccolithophores secrete delicate external scales called coccoliths, and possess two flagella and a thin appendage termed a haptonema. Foraminifera are five to one hundred times bigger than the biggest coccolithophores. They secrete chambers called tests through which thin pseudopodia probe the environment, move the foraminifera over surfaces, and engulf prey.
Diatoms and dinoflagellates are the most numerous of all the protists among the phytoplankton. The diatoms create a siliceous envelope called a
frustule, which consists of two parts fitting one into the other. Over millions of years, dead diatoms accumulate in the sediment of the oceans and compact to form sedimentary rock. In contrast to diatoms, which are rather static or glide slowly along surfaces, dinoflagellates move briskly using two flagella. Most dinoflagellates build envelopes made of delicately ornamented cellulose plates called thecas.
Radiolarians are single-celled planktonic protists, classified in two main groups called polycystines and acantharians. Most build sophisticated skeletons made of silica, which are found in sediments and assist in the identification of geological layers. Acantharians form remarkable needles and shield-like structures using strontium sulfate instead of silica. Radiolarians harbor microalgae which capture energy via photosynthesis. Some form colonies within a gelatinous mass varying in size from a few centimeters to 1 meter.
Ciliates are of two groups - tintinnids and choanoflagellates - which feature motility and multicellularity. Ciliates have rows of cilia that beat with coordinated movements, allowing them to move and graze on the smaller protists and bacteria. The tintinnids have distinctive vase-shaped tunics called loricae into which they can retract for protection. Choanoflagellates are protists characterized by the presence of a flagellum surrounded by a corolla of contractile muscle fibers. Flagellar movement creates a current, bringing bacteria to the mouth where the corolla snares the prey.
- Ctenophones and Cnidarians - Ancestral Forms
Ctenophores, the carnivorous comb jellies, have eight rows of “comb plates” consisting of thousands of tightly arrayed cilia, which propel the animal in quick, acrobatic movements. A ctenophore’s sense of balance and orientation comes from a small dome-shaped organ called a statocyst, located on the opposite side of its body from its mouth. Most have tentacles are covered with sticky cells called colloblasts that ensnare their prey. Beroe attack by stretching their mouths wide open and engulfing ctenophores much bigger than themselves.
Jellyfish are known for their stinging cells termed cnidocysts. The majority of the 3,500 identified jellyfish species are barely visible with the naked eye, and many are truly microscopic. Many jellyfish release eggs and sperm which form embryos, then become ovoid-shaped larvae called planulae which develop into mature animals. Some go through a polyp stage wherein the larval planulae settle on the bottom and bud tiny new jellyfish, called ephyrae. A large medusa may possess several sensory organs: an olfactory dimple, a visual organ (the ocellus) and a statocyst that senses gravity.
Siphonophores, some being the longest animals in the world, can exceed 30 meters in length. Siphonophores are colonial organisms comprised of specialized individuals called zooids, different types of which perform different functions - nutrition (gastrozooids), flotation (pneumatophores - the float), movement (nectophores form a pulsating bell), and reproduction (gonozooids expel packages of eggs and sperm). Gastrozooids feed the colony by extending long fishing filaments studded with stinging cells that harpoon and immobilize crustaceans, mollusks, larvae, and even fish.All zooids of a colony are linked together by a stolon, a kind of umbilical cord.
Velella, Porpita and Physalia are colonial organisms consisting of many individual polyps situated under a gas-filled bladder or float. Physalia is preyed upon by turtles, the nudibranch Glaucus (blue dragon), Tremoctopus (the blanket octopus), and others. Velella is preyed upon by the ocean sunfish Mola mola, the purple surface-dwelling snail Janthina janthina, and others.
- Crustaceans and Mollusks - Champions of Diversity
Crustacean larvae which generally do not look like the mature animal, often have large compound eyes, articulated tails, many pairs of appendages, and chitinous shells with sharp spines that discourage predators. Some of their appendages are covered with feathery bristles used for capturing phytoplankton. A variety of names, largely historical, are used to broadly classify the larvae at various stages of development, such as megalopa (the final larval stage of a decapod crustacean), nauplii (barnacles) and zoea (crabs and shrimp). The alima larva of the mantis shrimp are fiece predators that go through nine stages of development.
Copepods generally feed on protists, and are in turn eaten by multicellular organisms like shrimp, chaetognaths, fish, and marine mammals. Each calanoid copepod grazes on 10,000 to 100,000 diatoms or dinoflagellates every day. Aamphipods live in close association with jellyfish, siphonophores, pyrosomes, or salps. Euphausiids, pelagic shrimp living in swarms known as krill, are a favorite food of baleen whales. Amphipods play an important role in recycling the abundant gelatinous matter produced by these macroplankton.
Phronima is one of the hyperiid amphipods which live as parasites on specific gelatinous organisms - in this case salps. Phronima builds a barrel
using the envelope of its gelatinous host. It only leaves the house to capture large prey. Unusual for a crustacean, Phronima cares for its young, raising and feeding them inside the barrel.
Some gastropods adapted to the open ocean through the transformation of the foot into a single fin (the heteropods) or two fins (the pteropods, known as sea butterflies). Most are carnivores, who gnaw their prey using their abrasive tongue called a radula. Firola is one of the largest planktonic mollusks, measuring 10 to 30 cm. Divers call it “sea elephant” because its long proboscis resembles an elephant’s trunk.
Although, they represent different classes of mollusks, the Cephalopods and the Nudibranchs have both developed extraordinary uses of color for camouflage and communication. Neither have shells, unlike most mollusks. The colorful embryos and juveniles are commonly found in the plankton. Chromatophores, special skin cells filled with pigments, allow cephalopods to rapidly change their coloration and patterning to blend into the environment or signal to others. The nudibranch Elysia viridis feeds on the algae Codium fragile, sequestering its chloroplasts, giving the nudibranch its green color and the ability to obtain energy by photosynthesis.
- Worms and Tadpoles - Arrows, Tubes, and Nets
Chaetognaths or arrow worms have rows of teeth around the mouth and sharp, hook-like bristles on each side of the head. Chaetognaths are an important link in the food chain of the world ocean. They consume small planktonic animals, and are themselves an abundant source of food for squids, jellies, and fish.
While many annelids drift in the lankton while they are embryos or larvae, some - primarily the polychaetes (bristle worms) - are planktonic their entire lives. An unusual family, the Tomopteridae, have no chaetea (hairs) but move quickly through the water beating their parapodia and deploy two long tentacles to catch prey, such as chaetognaths or fish larvae.
Salps, doliolids, and pyrosomes belong to the phylum Urochordata and have a dorsal notochord, a flexible rod-shaped tissue that anticipates the spinal column of vertebrates. Salps, doliolids, and pyrosomes float freely their entire lifespan and possess a protective outer covering, a tunic, which gives the group their name: tunicates. Relatives of salps, pyrosomes are bioluminescent tunicates that aggregate in colonies shaped like long socks. The colonies consist of many identical zooids sharing a common cellulose tunic. Pyrosomes feed on bacteria and microorganisms that filter through the gills of the zooids.
Larvaceans, also known as appendicularians, look a lot like tadpoles, with an oval-shaped body and a long, flexible tail. Fast growers with a lifespan of only a week, larvaceans proliferate in huge swarms throughout the world oceans. The animal sits in the middle of a fine mesh net that serves both as a house and a filter for food. Several times a day, the larvacean leaves its food-clogged house and swims around frantically, secreting a brand-new net with rapid movements of its tail. Oikopleura dioica has one of the smallest genomes known at 65 Mb (million bases).
All kinds of animal embryos and larvae abound in the plankton, such as those of urchins, anemones, corals, crabs, and shellfish. Great quantities of gametes also make up a portion of the plankton. Fish larvae often resemble tiny versions of the vigorous swimming adults, but in general, larval forms of sea creatures bear little resemblance to their parents. Only a tiny fraction of the huge quantities of eggs, embryos, and larvae drifting in the open ocean will reach adulthood.
January 6, 2017
The writing is very thin and the only reason to read the book are the pictures of different planktonic species especially the pictures of diatoms and other microscopic plankton are beautiful and more people need to see how these things look that you can`t see
June 13, 2024
This is an easy 5/5 stars for me.
This book focuses on all the weird, beautiful planktonic creatures that live out in the open ocean. About 40% of the book is viruses, bacteria, cyanobacteria, and then various forms of plankton (dinoflagellates, diatoms, coccolithophores, radiolaria, forams). At the level of microns, we get to see the intricate structures of these organisms and how they live, move, reproduce, and interact with their world.
Another 20% of the book is Ctenophora and Cnidaria, the next 25% is mollusks/cephalopods, and the last 15% is various creatures that could be described as "worms".
This is a deeply scientific book. The author explains when these organisms evolved in geologic time, interesting discoveries and outstanding questions about their lifestyles, and how these organisms compare and relate to one another. The book heavily uses microscopic photography. This is not a book about fish - this is a book about hundreds of creatures that you've probably never seen because they don't live on the near shoreline or visible to the naked eye.
The book itself is beautiful, and the glossy black pages are the perfect highlight to these often glowing and translucent organisms. The end of the book has an extensive bibliography, and is genuinely useful for further research.
If you like ocean life, get this book. You'll learn a lot of new stuff and meet some beautiful creatures.
This book focuses on all the weird, beautiful planktonic creatures that live out in the open ocean. About 40% of the book is viruses, bacteria, cyanobacteria, and then various forms of plankton (dinoflagellates, diatoms, coccolithophores, radiolaria, forams). At the level of microns, we get to see the intricate structures of these organisms and how they live, move, reproduce, and interact with their world.
Another 20% of the book is Ctenophora and Cnidaria, the next 25% is mollusks/cephalopods, and the last 15% is various creatures that could be described as "worms".
This is a deeply scientific book. The author explains when these organisms evolved in geologic time, interesting discoveries and outstanding questions about their lifestyles, and how these organisms compare and relate to one another. The book heavily uses microscopic photography. This is not a book about fish - this is a book about hundreds of creatures that you've probably never seen because they don't live on the near shoreline or visible to the naked eye.
The book itself is beautiful, and the glossy black pages are the perfect highlight to these often glowing and translucent organisms. The end of the book has an extensive bibliography, and is genuinely useful for further research.
If you like ocean life, get this book. You'll learn a lot of new stuff and meet some beautiful creatures.
September 17, 2020
kinda lovely
March 19, 2023
Some cool photos. I liked how it’s organized, but I would have liked more info in each section. Don’t pick this up intending to learn much.
October 22, 2015
Constellations in the Sea:
Ever since humans first took to the sea we have been intrigued and mystified by the countless creatures that often appeared from the depths below. Among the most enigmatic and mysterious were the glowing lights that often danced in the waves and followed our boats, yet eluded our groping hands. Were these angry Gods that we needed to appease, or gentle spirits that filled our nets and guided us home at night? No one knew. The true identity of these dancing sprites had to await the invention of a new technology: the microscope. In the 1850s German Zoologist Victor Hensen coined the term plankton and a new science was launched. Now, In his breathtaking coffee table book "Plankton: Wonders of the Drifting World" French Biologist/author Christian Sardet gives us a stunning testament to the endless variety in Nature and to the power and creativity of Natural Selection. Just flipping through this over sized volume is a delight, filled to overflowing with highly detailed micro-photos, the casual reader is introduced to a wondrous realm of fantastic creatures that seem alien to our wondering eyes. Using a wide range of imaging technology coupled with top of line cameras and lenses the contributors provide a sweeping survey of planktonic life. Plankton, it turns out, are a collection of drifting organisms from microscopic bacteria, archaea, phytoplankton to various multicellular life forms along with the embryos and larvae of much larger creatures. All these organisms live together in ecological harmony and provide the Bases for the Food Chain. Sardet delves into the biology, evolution and life styles of these exotic living things. Although this is not a Biology text-book it does go into some detail when explaining these complex life styles. Be prepared for Latinized Scientific Names, anatomical nomenclature and ecological complexities. The text is more in the order of essays and picture captions that you can read or not, depending on how deep you want to get into the subject. For the Biology geeks, like me, the text and accompanying Bibliography are a ticket to additional reading sources. For a lot of readers it's the pictures that are the main attraction and this book doesn't skimp on that front. In addition to digital cameras and lenses some of the images are from more obscure sources; the Scanning Electron Microscope provided several shots, Confocal Microcopy is also represented with the stunner on page 146. The Extreme close-ups are over the top, showing internal organs like eyes, gills and pigment cells. Biological art is also on display with a History of Life Chart and several different Trees of Life including Darwin's famous "I think" skech. Archival Art by the 19th century scientific illustrator Ernst Haeckel provides a look back at planktonic research. There were also some candid shots that caught my eye; the ocean sunfish "Mola mola" feeding on a "Velella" Hydrozoa, a baleen whale feeding on a plankton bloom and, the icing on the cake, a scenic shot of the Stromatolites in Shark Bay, Australia providing a look back into Deep Time. This is another picture book that needs to be experienced in the large format print edition for the full effect of these stunning images. I highly recommend it to anyone turned on by the Natural World and by nature photography in general.
Last Ranger
March 6, 2016
Plankton perform nearly half of the photosynthesis and oxygen production on earth. This book explores the weird, wondrous world of plankton. Beautiful photos give a up-close view of these organisms that are often too tiny to behold with the naked eye.
December 19, 2015
Stunning art. Amazing.
These tiny creatures largely unknown, create more than half of the Earth's photosynthesized oxygen and sequester more carbon dioxide than land plants. Many are endangered due to ocean acidification and temperature changes.
These tiny creatures largely unknown, create more than half of the Earth's photosynthesized oxygen and sequester more carbon dioxide than land plants. Many are endangered due to ocean acidification and temperature changes.
Want to read
February 5, 2018Recommended by Sam Leith in The guardian
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