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Octopus, Squid, and Cuttlefish: A Visual, Scientific Guide to the Oceans’ Most Advanced Invertebrates
"Cephalopods are often misunderstood creatures. Three biologists set the record straight."— Science News
Largely shell-less relatives of clams and snails, the marine mollusks in the class Cephalopoda—Greek for “head-foot”—are colorful creatures of many-armed dexterity, often inky self-defense, and highly evolved cognition. They are capable of learning, of retaining information—and of rapid decision-making to avoid predators and find prey. They have eyes and senses rivaling those of vertebrates like birds and fishes, they morph texture and body shape, and they change color faster than a chameleon. In short, they captivate us.
From the long-armed mimic octopus—able to imitate the appearance of swimming flounders and soles—to the aptly named flamboyant cuttlefish, whose undulating waves of color rival the graphic displays of any LCD screen, there are more than seven hundred species of cephalopod. Featuring a selection of species profiles, Octopus, Squid, and Cuttlefish reveals the evolution, anatomy, life history, behaviors, and relationships of these spellbinding animals. Their existence proves that intelligence can develop in very different not only are cephalopods unusually large-brained invertebrates, they also carry two-thirds of their neurons in their arms.
A treasure trove of scientific fact and visual explanation, this worldwide illustrated guide to cephalopods offers a comprehensive review of these fascinating and mysterious underwater invertebrates—from the lone hunting of the octopus, to the social squid, and the prismatic skin signaling of the cuttlefish.
Largely shell-less relatives of clams and snails, the marine mollusks in the class Cephalopoda—Greek for “head-foot”—are colorful creatures of many-armed dexterity, often inky self-defense, and highly evolved cognition. They are capable of learning, of retaining information—and of rapid decision-making to avoid predators and find prey. They have eyes and senses rivaling those of vertebrates like birds and fishes, they morph texture and body shape, and they change color faster than a chameleon. In short, they captivate us.
From the long-armed mimic octopus—able to imitate the appearance of swimming flounders and soles—to the aptly named flamboyant cuttlefish, whose undulating waves of color rival the graphic displays of any LCD screen, there are more than seven hundred species of cephalopod. Featuring a selection of species profiles, Octopus, Squid, and Cuttlefish reveals the evolution, anatomy, life history, behaviors, and relationships of these spellbinding animals. Their existence proves that intelligence can develop in very different not only are cephalopods unusually large-brained invertebrates, they also carry two-thirds of their neurons in their arms.
A treasure trove of scientific fact and visual explanation, this worldwide illustrated guide to cephalopods offers a comprehensive review of these fascinating and mysterious underwater invertebrates—from the lone hunting of the octopus, to the social squid, and the prismatic skin signaling of the cuttlefish.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published July 25, 2018
112 people are currently reading
363 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 23, 2024
The pictures are gorgeous, but the text was a bit problematic
About a quarter of this book is devoted to gorgeous photos of these marvelous creatures. And for this reason, you would never want to view this book on a monochrome Kindle device. (I read this book on an iPad via a Kindle App.)
If all you want to do is look at pictures, the book’s an easy 5 stars. But three-quarters of the book is text (plus, for many specific species, world maps showing the range of their habitat). Just know the text is not geared for children. The vocabulary level of the basic text seemed tuned to these already somewhat familiar with the subject matter. And with the usage of the Latin names for many of the different species, much of this book actually was just a collection of abbreviated encyclopedic entries.
Part of the problem is that the diversity of species within these three classes of aquatic creatures (octopus, squid and cuttlefish) seemed enormous. So the more species the book discusses, the less words available to describe each species (to have a book of reasonable size). That’s why much of the book felt like an abbreviated reference book.
Yet buried within the text are many fascinating nuggets of information. One of the best: Octopuses have nine brains: one central brain and eight smaller brains, one in each arm.
Bottom Line: Nice photos. Not the easiest book to read. The overall organization of the book’s text seemed inconsistent, perhaps because this book has three authors.
About a quarter of this book is devoted to gorgeous photos of these marvelous creatures. And for this reason, you would never want to view this book on a monochrome Kindle device. (I read this book on an iPad via a Kindle App.)
If all you want to do is look at pictures, the book’s an easy 5 stars. But three-quarters of the book is text (plus, for many specific species, world maps showing the range of their habitat). Just know the text is not geared for children. The vocabulary level of the basic text seemed tuned to these already somewhat familiar with the subject matter. And with the usage of the Latin names for many of the different species, much of this book actually was just a collection of abbreviated encyclopedic entries.
Part of the problem is that the diversity of species within these three classes of aquatic creatures (octopus, squid and cuttlefish) seemed enormous. So the more species the book discusses, the less words available to describe each species (to have a book of reasonable size). That’s why much of the book felt like an abbreviated reference book.
Yet buried within the text are many fascinating nuggets of information. One of the best: Octopuses have nine brains: one central brain and eight smaller brains, one in each arm.
Bottom Line: Nice photos. Not the easiest book to read. The overall organization of the book’s text seemed inconsistent, perhaps because this book has three authors.
February 13, 2019
Hm, ok- nothing more intimidating than being the first written review of a book...!
Octopus, Squid, and Cuttlefish is like a more approachable version of Octopus: The Ocean's Intelligent Invertebrate with considerably more pictures and slightly less technicality. Unlike Octopus, the plethora of photographs keeps this from getting too dry, though the authors do note that many of the marvelous skin/chromatophore/idiophore changes are best seen in motion i.e. film. All three authors are researchers in the field (I've seen their work mentioned on cephalopod things over the years), and take care to mention when some conclusions aren't fully accepted by the community (for example, whether or not octopus 'play')
The book is divided into chapters by broad topic: Phylogeny & Evolution of cephalopods; Lifestyles including reproduction, development, movement, and biome; Behavior, Cognition & Intelligence on some of the ways we evaluate how smart they are; and Cephalopods & Humans on our interactions (fisheries, biomedical, inspiration). At the end of each chapter there are 6-9 profiles on different cephalopods, and it's a nice variety between octopods, squids, nautiluses, cuttlefish, and the sepiiids (as well as the Vampire, alone in its family group).
Octopus, Squid, and Cuttlefish is like a more approachable version of Octopus: The Ocean's Intelligent Invertebrate with considerably more pictures and slightly less technicality. Unlike Octopus, the plethora of photographs keeps this from getting too dry, though the authors do note that many of the marvelous skin/chromatophore/idiophore changes are best seen in motion i.e. film. All three authors are researchers in the field (I've seen their work mentioned on cephalopod things over the years), and take care to mention when some conclusions aren't fully accepted by the community (for example, whether or not octopus 'play')
The book is divided into chapters by broad topic: Phylogeny & Evolution of cephalopods; Lifestyles including reproduction, development, movement, and biome; Behavior, Cognition & Intelligence on some of the ways we evaluate how smart they are; and Cephalopods & Humans on our interactions (fisheries, biomedical, inspiration). At the end of each chapter there are 6-9 profiles on different cephalopods, and it's a nice variety between octopods, squids, nautiluses, cuttlefish, and the sepiiids (as well as the Vampire, alone in its family group).
December 7, 2024
Cephalopods have become one of the most interesting subjects to me in the last few years. They are simply amazing. The more I learn; the more fascinating they become. The Octopus for instance; They will reach out and touch you, communicate with you, form bonds of trust. I have seen it! Their abilities to alter texture, skin color and adapt to their environment have more than enthralled me lately. This is just one of the many books I came across that had some of my favorite creatures in it.
To be honest—they used to scare and repel me. Now I see them in a totally different light. Sir Attenborough, you helped a lot with that. Thank you. The idea of a giant squid is still terrifying but also thrilling too. So, give Cthulhu a chance. He’s not so bad. Just set boundaries. And Squidward is actually really funny.
Some of the things I used to dislike aren’t all that bad. You just have to see them for their uniqueness.
I went through the same thing with spiders.
To be honest—they used to scare and repel me. Now I see them in a totally different light. Sir Attenborough, you helped a lot with that. Thank you. The idea of a giant squid is still terrifying but also thrilling too. So, give Cthulhu a chance. He’s not so bad. Just set boundaries. And Squidward is actually really funny.
Some of the things I used to dislike aren’t all that bad. You just have to see them for their uniqueness.
I went through the same thing with spiders.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 27, 2019
Beautiful book. Good balance between informative sections, and sections with photos of and facts about certain interesting species.
April 20, 2023
I really loved this book. It’s more of a text book than a casual read, and yet the language is simple enough to enjoy outside of the classroom. I learned so much from this book, unlike the plankton one. It has both good pictures/diagrams and good explanations of the diff behaviors and unique physical features of cephalopods. I like how they have pages for some of the most important species, too.
It definitely got me much more interested in these incredible creatures, and I would love to read more, especially about squid and octopus…
It definitely got me much more interested in these incredible creatures, and I would love to read more, especially about squid and octopus…
October 16, 2020
This is a beautiful book. It is very accessible, and the photos are gorgeous (I got this book both for information and as an artistic reference). I especially appreciated the manner in which zoomed in on certain representative species after each chapter, as this approach provided a general picture of cephalopod biology while also developing a rudimentary list of familiar species that can act as reference points in exploring the larger taxonomic diversity. This self-contained and accessible while providing enough depth that a fairly wide audience can learn something about the cephalopoda from it — I sure did.
My one complaint would be the last chapter on interactions between cephalopods and humans which frequently spoke very positively of quite violent exploitation of these animals by humans, which I think is simply wrong, and is really dissonant standing next to the rest of the book which revels in how wonderful cephalopods are (though this disconnect is not unique to this book and is pretty endemic to biological research).
My one complaint would be the last chapter on interactions between cephalopods and humans which frequently spoke very positively of quite violent exploitation of these animals by humans, which I think is simply wrong, and is really dissonant standing next to the rest of the book which revels in how wonderful cephalopods are (though this disconnect is not unique to this book and is pretty endemic to biological research).
September 30, 2019
Very well done book. Lots of vibrant color photos. The book intersperses individualized species discussion among chapters.
Ch1 Anatomy, + 8 species
Ch 2 Phylogeny and Evolution, + 8 species
Ch 3 Peculiar Lifestyles, + 8 species
Ch 4 Behaviour, Cognition and Intelligence, + 8 species
Ch 5 Cephalopods and Humans, + 8 species
Nice listing of books and websites under 'further resources'
Ch1 Anatomy, + 8 species
Ch 2 Phylogeny and Evolution, + 8 species
Ch 3 Peculiar Lifestyles, + 8 species
Ch 4 Behaviour, Cognition and Intelligence, + 8 species
Ch 5 Cephalopods and Humans, + 8 species
Nice listing of books and websites under 'further resources'
January 17, 2023
I was in a ditch of not enjoying books. I decided to change things up and grab whatever books interested me at the library. I am thankful I did.
Though this books comes from an evolutionary standpoint on creation, which I disagree with, I appreciated seeing so much of God's creativity in his creations in this book.
Though this books comes from an evolutionary standpoint on creation, which I disagree with, I appreciated seeing so much of God's creativity in his creations in this book.
June 30, 2024
My wife and I found this exquisite book in a classic book-strewn shop in Silver City. We could not stop paging through and then reading and rereading it, drawn by the often iridescent images of these animals. The stories are both natural history extolling their so-interesting lives and deeper science of their development and evolution. The dust jacket alone was worth the price.
July 11, 2024
This is an excellent resource to all things squid/octopus/ cuttlefish and more. It does read like a textbook. Reading it to my 6.5 year old. She only understands bits and pieces but still insists on having it read to her.
July 25, 2020
Amazing! Beautiful pictures to go with all the indepth information on these amazing animals.
June 5, 2022
Beautiful book!
February 5, 2024
Gorgeous photographs. The text was dense (more textbook like than casual read) and fun of specialized vocabulary.
January 22, 2026
An educational read.
May 21, 2023
Wonderful book about cephalopods
Fascinating Book about Cephalopods that anyone interested in squids, octopuses or cuttlefish will really enjoy. This book has both wonderful text and gorgeous photos of beautiful species of squid, octopus, cuttlefish, nautilus and argonauts. I recommend this book very highly to anyone interested in the subject and it has wonderful easy to read text and plenty of very beautiful photos of so many gorgeous underwater creatures.
Fascinating Book about Cephalopods that anyone interested in squids, octopuses or cuttlefish will really enjoy. This book has both wonderful text and gorgeous photos of beautiful species of squid, octopus, cuttlefish, nautilus and argonauts. I recommend this book very highly to anyone interested in the subject and it has wonderful easy to read text and plenty of very beautiful photos of so many gorgeous underwater creatures.
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November 2, 2018564.5 H2419 2018
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews