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From mugging mollusks to comical crabs…

Author:  Susan Middleton

Spineless cover (260x311)Maybe you don’t think that slugs, worms and crabs sound like the most promising subjects for a book of nature photography. I suspect it’s likely that the inclusion of jellyfish, barnacles and sea cucumbers doesn’t change your mind. But I gently encourage you to withhold judgment and consider that acclaimed photographer Susan Middleton may be on to something with her almost obsessive fascination with the world of marine invertebrates. Gathered together into an exquisite collection of more than 150 images, Spineless is a remarkably fascinating achievement that displays much of the beauty of the intriguing undersea world.

Acknowledging humanity’s understandable bias in favor of animals with a spine, Middleton points out that most animals lack one. Of the thirty-four different major animals groups (phyla), only one group features the animals we’re typically enthralled with, like dogs, lions, naked mole rats, orcas and us. All the other groups are spineless, representing the true diversity in the animal world. Most of these other organisms make their home in the ocean and occupy the majority of the animal tree of life.

It’s these odd creatures that are the focus of Middleton’s book, from well-known animals like octopi, jellyfish and hermit crabs, to creatures you may have never known existed, like ice cream cone worms and leopard sea cucumbers. But even if you’re well aware of many of the species exhibited, you may never have realized how exquisite and beautiful they can be once the author brings them into her seaside photographic laboratory. Featuring plenty of fresh and well-oxygenated seawater, Middleton’s lab provides just what the animals need to make themselves at home, often revealing remarkable behaviors in the process.

A colorful marine flatworm off the coast of Sulawesi in Indonesia.

A colorful marine flatworm off the coast of Sulawesi in Indonesia.

Presenting the balletic gyrations of a giant flatworm, the amusing adornments of the graceful decorator crab and the naked rear end of a gold-banded hermit crab, Middleton’s collection of images is consistently astonishing. Each photograph presents its subject against a plain white or black background, revealing myriad exquisite details. Fortunately, the book includes an appendix of species profiles written by marine biologist Bernadette Holthuis. These brief descriptions are well worth reading, particularly when viewing something truly bizarre, like a sea spider or a necklace worm.

Frequently eliciting double takes and comments like “What the hell is that thang?”, Spineless is a menagerie of creepy crawly wonder that repeatedly left this nature enthusiast amazed. Successfully demonstrating the true diversity of the animal kingdom, the book is sure to astonish even the most seasoned marine biologist. Highly recommended.

— D. Driftless

flatworm photo by Jens Petersen (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Other reviews of books featuring invertebrates:

A Sting in the Tale   /   Honeybee Democracy   /   Kraken   /   The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating

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