Field guide to most common marine life species

HAVING an affinity with the sea, it is hardly surprising I would become mesmerised by this amazing work by four authors, abundant photographers, a dedicated editor and hawk-eye proofreaders.

Did you know the red starfish you often find washed up on the beach, or in a pool, is named Callopatiria granifera, or a Great White Shark, (stay away from those guys) is known between its friends as Carcharodon carcharias?

Or a common sandpiper answers to Actitis Hypoleucos, while the delightful Cape clawless otter is politely spoken of as Aonyx capensis? Neither did I. But I do now, a lot, lot more as well.

Two Oceans (fourth edition) will not be new per se to those involved in marine biology, or others besotted by what happens when the tide reliably surges and ebbs, and what marine life treasures lurk beneath the considerable and varied temperate waters that surround the republic from northern Namibia to central Mozambique. But they will welcome the updates. More than 13 000 species, nearly 6% of all coastal marine species worldwide, exist and 35% are uniquely endemic.

This fourth edition (the first edition was published in 1994) features 116 more species than in the third edition and repositions the geographic area of 57 species; scientific names, the delight of the Latin lovers, are updated in 235 instances.

Maps, sizes, superb colour images, areas of distribution and locations makes for comfortable reading and reference; I was delighted with how the authors distinguish similar species.

The book’s internationally acclaimed South African authors: Professor George and Margo Branch, Professor Charles Griffiths and Professor Lynnath Beckley typically exemplify their passion for the sea by making a new world breathtakingly explode as one turns the pages.

Countless papers have flowed from the active pens of the Branch husbandand-wife team, and both have received many worldwide awards. Griffiths, a globally acclaimed expert of African marine biodiversity has also had more than 2 000 of his natural history photographs published worldwide. Australian-based Beckley, also an author, researcher and Indian Ocean fundi, is an internationally acclaimed conservation expert.

This book is the definitive field guide to more than 1 400 species of the most common forms of marine life enhancing South Africa’s coasts, including invertebrates, fish, reptiles, mammals, birds and plants, placed geographically, recorded, explained in detail and described.

Not all groups of animals and plants receive equal attention, but emphasis is placed on diverse groups, those “bumped into” on a beach stroll, or a rock pool peep, disappointingly often ignored in other field guides.

Cleverly, the authors have identified a selection of these, concentrating on those likely to be encountered “…living in the intertidal zone and in shallow sub-tidal waters that can readily be explored by scuba divers”. Fish commonly seen in tidal pools or by divers, or those frequently caught by anglers are included, as are smaller rock-pool fish – those often seen darting away as one approaches. There is no doubt it will delight all. Focus on open-coast beaches and rocky shores, and aquatic estuarine animals and plants are also covered, meeting as the introduction says “…the needs of scientists, students, fishermen, scuba divers and beachcombers alike… and enabling the identification of diverse species, from sponges to whales and from seaweeds to mangroves.”

To produce a fascinating work of such quality requires assistance and The Green Trust – partnership between WWF South Africa and Nedbank is acknowledged, as are Syfrets and other donors.