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The World Beneath: The Life and Times of Unknown Sea Creatures and Coral Reefs
Meet the world's most fascinating sea creatures—see the lives and curiosities of colorful fish and coral reefs—this spectacular volume has more than 300 color photos and extraordinary text from a leading marine biologist and underwater photographer, and the international expert on seahorses.
In this richly informative volume, brimming with new discoveries and more than three hundred colorful images of jaw-dropping fish and coral reefs, you'll swim in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans; you'll be dazzled in the Coral Triangle and amazed in Triton Bay. Up close you'll meet the Cenderawasih fairy wrasse, with its florescent yellow streak; the polka-dot longnose filefish; and the multicolored seadragon. There are scarlet-colored corals, baby-blue sponges, daffodil crinoids, and all sorts of mystifying creatures that change color at the drop of a hat. The whale shark is almost larger than life and the author's beloved pygmy seahorse, unless photographed, is almost too tiny to see.
The wondrous creatures inside are charmers and tricksters and excel in the arts of seduction and deception, and you'll have the rare chance to see and delight in their antics. You'll also learn what they eat, how they play, and how they care for one another, live on one another, and mimic others when they're afraid. There is also compelling insight into the naming process, which sea creatures are facing extinction, and how we can help them before it's too late.
312 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 10, 2019
94 people are currently reading
4853 people want to read
About the author
Richard Smith
1 book4 followersDr. Richard Smith is a marine biologist and conservationist, an award-winning underwater photographer and videographer, an acclaimed public speaker, and the leader of diving expeditions around the world; he's been on more than thirty-five hundred dives since 1996. Dr. Smith has written hundreds of articles, published internationally with a primary focus on conservation, marine life, and travel. His photographs have been featured around the world, including on dozens of magazine covers and in exhibitions. In 2018, he identified a new species of pygmy seahorse, having first photographed it five years previously. The new species, Hippocampus japapigu, is the size of a grain of rice and from the temperate waters of Japan. Dr. Smith has a bachelor's degree in Zoology, a master's degree in Marine Ecology and Evolution, and a PhD that he received for his pioneering research on pygmy seahorses; it was the first PhD ever awarded for the subject. Dr. Smith is a member of the IUCN Seahorse, Pipefish and Seadragon Specialist Group, and the world authority on these fishes, and the Global Pygmy Seahorse Expert for iSeahorse.org, which uses citizen science to further research and conservation. He lives in London, England.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
July 20, 2025
Even though I hopelessly fail even at snorkeling, let alone braving scuba diving (hey, it’s hard for some people!) I still would love to see a coral reef or two, and at least I can get briefly transported into this magical world of life and color through books like this one. And it’s so fun to get immersed in this fascinating world, even if just through book pages.
Although it did make me see the world of “Finding Nemo” through a different perspective:
The photos of all that vivid explosion of life in the coral reefs are stunning, and apparently some of them have taken hundreds of dives in order to just get that special one. And all the drama on the reefs is quite something, too! Pygmy horses love triangles alone are worth a telenovela. And a tense drama of cleaner wrasses sometimes cheating their “clients” but otherwise sticking to better business practices for the sake of repeat customers. Lovely symbiotic relationships that create pretty badass underwater teamwork, and the absolutely terrifying parasitism that can be nightmarish.
And of course all that abundance of life, all these amazing ecosystems are threatened by the coral bleaching and global warming, and marred by humans trashing the planet.
Clearly Richard Smith loves what he does, and he succeeds in conveying this excitement in a very accessible way that is still full of fun details and immense respect for the wonder of coral reef ecosystems.
4.5 stars, rounding up.
——————
Also posted on my blog.
Although it did make me see the world of “Finding Nemo” through a different perspective:
“Children learn about coral reefs as well, namely through the popular (though scientifically free-willed) animated coming-of-age film, Finding Nemo. I credit the film for this even though its makers didn’t include some of the most fascinating aspects of anemonefish biology in the story line. If the film were true to life then after the untimely death of Nemo’s mother, his father would have transitioned into a female and another sexually reproductive male would have taken his place.”
The photos of all that vivid explosion of life in the coral reefs are stunning, and apparently some of them have taken hundreds of dives in order to just get that special one. And all the drama on the reefs is quite something, too! Pygmy horses love triangles alone are worth a telenovela. And a tense drama of cleaner wrasses sometimes cheating their “clients” but otherwise sticking to better business practices for the sake of repeat customers. Lovely symbiotic relationships that create pretty badass underwater teamwork, and the absolutely terrifying parasitism that can be nightmarish.
And of course all that abundance of life, all these amazing ecosystems are threatened by the coral bleaching and global warming, and marred by humans trashing the planet.
“With such widespread bleaching affecting the world’s reefs, one wonders if the next generation may think of their damaged state as the new normal and have a different concept of what a pristine coral reef looks like.”
Clearly Richard Smith loves what he does, and he succeeds in conveying this excitement in a very accessible way that is still full of fun details and immense respect for the wonder of coral reef ecosystems.
4.5 stars, rounding up.
——————
Also posted on my blog.
June 19, 2019
I received a review copy of this from the publisher through Edelweiss. It's short, when you consider that half of it is photographs, but what photographs!! Stunning, jaw-dropping "wow" for some of the tiniest creatures in that world beneath. Dr. Smith is an incredible photographer. And he's had access to some amazing reefs in his work, which he shares in here. He says,
I do not dive with tanks (something about not wanting to pay every time I play), but I love to snorkel, and I've seen some beautiful reefs, but not like the ones in the Pacific. Smith says
For the curious, or research inclined, the text is end-noted with 190, mostly academic sources. Have at it!
Dr. Smith touches on the effects of global warming and human destruction on reefs and their ecosystems. As a lifelong student of that world with thousands of dives, he has seen devastation that others haven't. On coral bleaching: "A diver visiting the reefs today might not be aware of the changes that have taken place and consider what they see at face value." Corals dying because of temperatures changes, trash and pollution effects, displaced species predating on normal populations, sad photos of decapitated sharks harvested for their fins. But there are mostly just (yes, I'll say it again) wonderful photographs of beautiful fish and reefs.
[For the publisher]
1) The photos in my epub review copy did not have a fixed aspect ratio and were compressed in my preferred portrait orientation on my iPad. They rendered properly when I turned it to landscape. I was using the Freading Adobe Digital Editions capable app.
2) One photo (Lord Howe Island's McCulloch's anemonefish) did not appear in landscape, but was partially visible in portrait. I was able to tap it and see the picture when the app zoomed to it.
3) In the paragraph "Few and Far Between" (page 87...pagination didn't seem to change with text resizing), endnote number 78, Dr. Smith says 327 new "goes" were named. I think he meant "gobies" (and when I looked up the paper, the authors called them "Gobiidae", so gobies is certainly more reader friendly.)
I am drawn to animals that are easily overlooked or ignored, and I use underwater photography to share their beauty - hopefully imparting a greater sense of appreciation to people who haven't been able to see these animals firsthand.And that sharing is wonderful.
I do not dive with tanks (something about not wanting to pay every time I play), but I love to snorkel, and I've seen some beautiful reefs, but not like the ones in the Pacific. Smith says
On a healthy coral reef, you can glimpse activity and life wherever you happen to look.From my small sample set, I can say he's more than right. This book is full of photos, descriptions, stories of anemones and their symbiotic partners, seahorses, pipefish, sea dragons, rays, corals and anchors animals and flora, parasites and predators, large and incredibly tiny. I can't even imagine how he managed some of the photography - some of the creatures are less than a centimeter... finding them is amazing enough! - but he's persistent, as when he described his search for a blue-ringed octopus that took him more than a thousand dives to find (it's only a couple of inches in size.)
For the curious, or research inclined, the text is end-noted with 190, mostly academic sources. Have at it!
Dr. Smith touches on the effects of global warming and human destruction on reefs and their ecosystems. As a lifelong student of that world with thousands of dives, he has seen devastation that others haven't. On coral bleaching: "A diver visiting the reefs today might not be aware of the changes that have taken place and consider what they see at face value." Corals dying because of temperatures changes, trash and pollution effects, displaced species predating on normal populations, sad photos of decapitated sharks harvested for their fins. But there are mostly just (yes, I'll say it again) wonderful photographs of beautiful fish and reefs.
[For the publisher]
1) The photos in my epub review copy did not have a fixed aspect ratio and were compressed in my preferred portrait orientation on my iPad. They rendered properly when I turned it to landscape. I was using the Freading Adobe Digital Editions capable app.
2) One photo (Lord Howe Island's McCulloch's anemonefish) did not appear in landscape, but was partially visible in portrait. I was able to tap it and see the picture when the app zoomed to it.
3) In the paragraph "Few and Far Between" (page 87...pagination didn't seem to change with text resizing), endnote number 78, Dr. Smith says 327 new "goes" were named. I think he meant "gobies" (and when I looked up the paper, the authors called them "Gobiidae", so gobies is certainly more reader friendly.)
January 29, 2020
Incredible photographs throughout & fascinating insight into the ocean’s weird and wonderful. This is the documentary that I’d like to watch! It has the intelligence to shine a light on far more interesting subjects than the commonly gawped at ‘big fish’ and is highly educational without being pedantic. Hits the mark perfectly between an engaging read and a great coffee table book.
August 4, 2019
(Reverse readathon book)
My second adult animal nonfiction book for the readathon (dolphins were the other), but I liked the overall structure of the book that weaves just a little bit of Smith's work into the larger appreciation for the abundance of life in and around coral reefs. So.much.microscopic.stuff. While I read it digitally on a my Nook tablet, I'm sure the final hardcover copy will look a lot nicer than the way the images pulled up on my device but I didn't lose anything in the story itself.
It's a beautiful and awesome mystery. Literally. That's what the takeaway from the story is- the colors, the microscopic organisms, the syllogism and parasites. And his explanations aren't super academic nor are they juvenile-- it's just right.
My second adult animal nonfiction book for the readathon (dolphins were the other), but I liked the overall structure of the book that weaves just a little bit of Smith's work into the larger appreciation for the abundance of life in and around coral reefs. So.much.microscopic.stuff. While I read it digitally on a my Nook tablet, I'm sure the final hardcover copy will look a lot nicer than the way the images pulled up on my device but I didn't lose anything in the story itself.
It's a beautiful and awesome mystery. Literally. That's what the takeaway from the story is- the colors, the microscopic organisms, the syllogism and parasites. And his explanations aren't super academic nor are they juvenile-- it's just right.
December 20, 2025
Come for the stunningly gorgeous sea life photography.
Stay for the author’s weird pop culture snippets about Angelina Jolie, Nemo, and somehow, the Alien franchise.
Stay for the author’s weird pop culture snippets about Angelina Jolie, Nemo, and somehow, the Alien franchise.
December 12, 2023
BEAUTIFUL photographs and FASCINATING facts about little-known undersea life. The author mostly focuses on coral reef life, and he is also a special expert on pygmy seahorses. He has discovered many new and strange species, especially among the tiny seahorses of the ocean, and has uncovered their peculiar behavior.
Reef life is dense. Creatures live on creatures live on creatures. Hermit crabs host specialized anemones that live on their shell, and ONLY on their shell. Those specialized anemones host tiny porcelain crabs. When it comes time for the hermit crab to renovate-- to move to a bigger shell-- it taps its shell in a particular way, and the anemones "know to release their grip so the hermit crab can then relocate the anemones to their new home". The little porcelain crab sticks with the anemone and moves too!
The dusky damselfish farms a special algae called Polysiphonia. The fish weeds all other algae species away and dines exclusively on Polysiphonia. It also defends its farm against alien grazers. If you remove the damselfish from a reef, Polysiphonia quickly disappears-- decimated by grazers and other, more quick-growing, algae.
Gobies can live in obligate symbioses with snapping shrimp. In one example, a pair of shrimp digs a burrow while the fish keep watch-- staying in touch (literally) the whole time through a sort of "tactile sign language" where movements of the fish's tail tell the shrimp whether to freeze, flee, or hide.
Among the arms of crinoid-- an animal that looks just like a plant-- tiny crinoid clingfish stick to the crinoid's arms using suction cup fins. The fish are colored to blend in perfectly with the crinoid. The fish like to fight and squabble and hop from crinoid to crinoid!
Large barrel sponges from the Caribbean are thought to be as old as 2000 years old.
Anemonefish naturalize themselves to anemones by secreting a particular mucus and, sometimes, engaging in an acclimation period where the fish darts in and out of the stinging tentacles.
During the time that a male seahorse is pregnant, there has never been an observed case of a male or female in a mated pair mating with another. They truly seem to mate for the whole season and often a whole lifetime. Of course, the authors goes on in a later section to describe the love triangles among the pygmy seahorses...
An individual cleaner wrasse can serve more than 2000 clients in a single day. Given how much parasitism exists out there in reefs, they have their work cut out for them! Parasite infection increased fourfold within 12 hours of removing cleanerfish from a site.
Octopuses seem to have light-sensitive cells in their arms that can "see" a substrate to help it change color swiftly.
Did you know eusociality evolved in the oceans as well? In eusocial snapping shrimp, one reproductive female lives among many well-armed males.
Perhaps the best photo in the book shows the pajama cardinalfish, who looks like it is wearing spotted PJ pants. Its close relative, the Banggai cardinalfish, is a seriously good parent-- it broods its young in its mouth for around 20 days until hatch and then keeps them around to let them mature for another 10 days.
Reef life is dense. Creatures live on creatures live on creatures. Hermit crabs host specialized anemones that live on their shell, and ONLY on their shell. Those specialized anemones host tiny porcelain crabs. When it comes time for the hermit crab to renovate-- to move to a bigger shell-- it taps its shell in a particular way, and the anemones "know to release their grip so the hermit crab can then relocate the anemones to their new home". The little porcelain crab sticks with the anemone and moves too!
The dusky damselfish farms a special algae called Polysiphonia. The fish weeds all other algae species away and dines exclusively on Polysiphonia. It also defends its farm against alien grazers. If you remove the damselfish from a reef, Polysiphonia quickly disappears-- decimated by grazers and other, more quick-growing, algae.
Gobies can live in obligate symbioses with snapping shrimp. In one example, a pair of shrimp digs a burrow while the fish keep watch-- staying in touch (literally) the whole time through a sort of "tactile sign language" where movements of the fish's tail tell the shrimp whether to freeze, flee, or hide.
Among the arms of crinoid-- an animal that looks just like a plant-- tiny crinoid clingfish stick to the crinoid's arms using suction cup fins. The fish are colored to blend in perfectly with the crinoid. The fish like to fight and squabble and hop from crinoid to crinoid!
Large barrel sponges from the Caribbean are thought to be as old as 2000 years old.
Anemonefish naturalize themselves to anemones by secreting a particular mucus and, sometimes, engaging in an acclimation period where the fish darts in and out of the stinging tentacles.
During the time that a male seahorse is pregnant, there has never been an observed case of a male or female in a mated pair mating with another. They truly seem to mate for the whole season and often a whole lifetime. Of course, the authors goes on in a later section to describe the love triangles among the pygmy seahorses...
An individual cleaner wrasse can serve more than 2000 clients in a single day. Given how much parasitism exists out there in reefs, they have their work cut out for them! Parasite infection increased fourfold within 12 hours of removing cleanerfish from a site.
Octopuses seem to have light-sensitive cells in their arms that can "see" a substrate to help it change color swiftly.
Did you know eusociality evolved in the oceans as well? In eusocial snapping shrimp, one reproductive female lives among many well-armed males.
Perhaps the best photo in the book shows the pajama cardinalfish, who looks like it is wearing spotted PJ pants. Its close relative, the Banggai cardinalfish, is a seriously good parent-- it broods its young in its mouth for around 20 days until hatch and then keeps them around to let them mature for another 10 days.
March 3, 2021
What a great book. This made me want to go find other books by the author and give them a read.
Whether you are interested in the ocean or not this is worth a read. The photography is absolutely phenomenal. You'll find yourself stopping and staring every couple of pages if you're anything like me (you should hope you're not, but I digress). This is really a science book that reads like a popular-science book. The information is presented clearly, concepts are presented in a way that's easy to understand, even if you have no exposure to the underwater realm, and there's 0 pretention. Again...the photography. This would make a great coffee table book after you're done reading it, or just flip through it every few months and look at the pictures.
The book covers how corals form, where they're found, how the fish, crustaceans, and other creatures all interact with one another, threats to their survival, and ways in which they adapt. Often times the author will be speaking about a specific observation that imparts something interesting about a species, and then on the next page will be a picture that is clearly from that specific observation. I don't want to spoil anything, but I learned more about sea creatures and their lives from this book than probably any other I've read, including school books. My favorite was the 'car washes' where fish literally line up in a queue to go through a cleaning station where helper-fish are waiting to pluck parasites off of them. Fish are people too.
Whether you are interested in the ocean or not this is worth a read. The photography is absolutely phenomenal. You'll find yourself stopping and staring every couple of pages if you're anything like me (you should hope you're not, but I digress). This is really a science book that reads like a popular-science book. The information is presented clearly, concepts are presented in a way that's easy to understand, even if you have no exposure to the underwater realm, and there's 0 pretention. Again...the photography. This would make a great coffee table book after you're done reading it, or just flip through it every few months and look at the pictures.
The book covers how corals form, where they're found, how the fish, crustaceans, and other creatures all interact with one another, threats to their survival, and ways in which they adapt. Often times the author will be speaking about a specific observation that imparts something interesting about a species, and then on the next page will be a picture that is clearly from that specific observation. I don't want to spoil anything, but I learned more about sea creatures and their lives from this book than probably any other I've read, including school books. My favorite was the 'car washes' where fish literally line up in a queue to go through a cleaning station where helper-fish are waiting to pluck parasites off of them. Fish are people too.
March 6, 2023
This book felt like having Dr Richard Smith as scuba diving instructor, while he introduced you to the myriad number of species under the sea, with a hopeful, loving glint in his eyes. He is well versed, entretaining and genuinly soothing.
At times, while I read, I imagined myself lowering down into the sea floor and seeing fishes living and going on about their business.
I first wanna begin by saying how jaw-dropping the images in these book are. It seemed as if the fishes, the light and all the creatures were perching themselves, posing for the perfect shot with the perfect composition and balance of colors. They were dynamic and vivid and beautiful. Concomitantly, Richard does not only teach you about marine life, biology, the interactions between species; He also renders, in his writing, how alive underwater life can be. From the smallest algae producing nutrients inside reef tissue, to the intricate relation between crinoids and other species, to a coquette flasher wrasse getting his hourly manicure with a cleaner fish; Smith truly opens your eyes to marine creatures.
Fishes don't look like much. We often think of them as simple thinking creatures but they are nothing like that. Their morphology is complex and rich with evolution. The abundance of species and the kinds of relations they hold with each other are astounding. Their behavioural patterns are defined by factors that we, as humans, are yet to comprehend. Size and appearance don't dictate the way these creatures act (I mean, don't even get me started with seahorses!)
Another thing I learned was how important conservationsim is:
The impact of human production, direct and indirect, has caused mass destruction inland and underwater. This book made that notion even more urgent for me. Seeing the images of fishes having to interact with the rotten waste products that WE use really impacted me. It made me aware of how crucial it is to educate oneself on nowadays issues regarding our ecosystem.
Furthermore, this book sparked an unusual interest in me for scuba diving! I've always enjoyed being surrounded by nature, particularly forests and the like, but now I feel like going to the beach and feeling the sand in my feet; looking for little bubbles that indicate the presence of crabs burrying themselves. There is a new world i'm open to exploring, and for that, i'm grateful.
I love this one! I hope we get to see more publications by Richard!
At times, while I read, I imagined myself lowering down into the sea floor and seeing fishes living and going on about their business.
"Scarlet red soft corals nestle between baby blue sponges and pink Tubastrea corals. A yellow crinoid, the shade of a daffodil, perches atop a mélange. Above the reef, a rainbow of fishes, some of which change color at the drop of a hat, parade their turquoise, shimmering white, and cerulean displays."
I first wanna begin by saying how jaw-dropping the images in these book are. It seemed as if the fishes, the light and all the creatures were perching themselves, posing for the perfect shot with the perfect composition and balance of colors. They were dynamic and vivid and beautiful. Concomitantly, Richard does not only teach you about marine life, biology, the interactions between species; He also renders, in his writing, how alive underwater life can be. From the smallest algae producing nutrients inside reef tissue, to the intricate relation between crinoids and other species, to a coquette flasher wrasse getting his hourly manicure with a cleaner fish; Smith truly opens your eyes to marine creatures.
Fishes don't look like much. We often think of them as simple thinking creatures but they are nothing like that. Their morphology is complex and rich with evolution. The abundance of species and the kinds of relations they hold with each other are astounding. Their behavioural patterns are defined by factors that we, as humans, are yet to comprehend. Size and appearance don't dictate the way these creatures act (I mean, don't even get me started with seahorses!)
Another thing I learned was how important conservationsim is:
"For every kilogram of trawl-caught shrimp, ten kilograms of other marine life is caught that is often dumped, dead, back into the sea."
The impact of human production, direct and indirect, has caused mass destruction inland and underwater. This book made that notion even more urgent for me. Seeing the images of fishes having to interact with the rotten waste products that WE use really impacted me. It made me aware of how crucial it is to educate oneself on nowadays issues regarding our ecosystem.
Furthermore, this book sparked an unusual interest in me for scuba diving! I've always enjoyed being surrounded by nature, particularly forests and the like, but now I feel like going to the beach and feeling the sand in my feet; looking for little bubbles that indicate the presence of crabs burrying themselves. There is a new world i'm open to exploring, and for that, i'm grateful.
I love this one! I hope we get to see more publications by Richard!
January 20, 2025
It took me a little to get through this book as it was chock full of beautiful photography and eye-opening information. I don't even know where to begin. Well, I'm planning on going to school to study marine biology soon and I just felt like before starting, I want to read as much about marine biology as I could. I'd been interested in marine biology for as long as I could remember. Funnily enough, I actually first went and got my degree in theatre costuming because I didn't want to do calculus when studying marine biology, haha! However, my deep love for the ocean never left and I now find myself here. This was my first major marine biology book I have read and I'm so glad that I picked it up at my library (I'm going to buy it now to keep for my bookshelf and eventually to reference). I've learned so much about coral reefs and the stunning creatures that inhabit them. I already knew about how climate change is affecting our planet, but seeing the speed at which it affects these habitats only makes me more determined to study marine biology. I know I'm only one person, but I want to at least try to contribute. Our planet is beautiful and we're chipping away at its edges quickly. Dr. Richard's writing shows us the wonderous life that will be lost if we don't do something, so I hope that everyone who reads this book really takes that information to heart. Thank you for this amazingly informative read. /I definitely teared up when reading the final chapter
February 23, 2022
An astounding new world that I enjoyed in small bites.
This book is a very different read for me, because it’s about marine biology which I know little about. In my youth, I snorkeled several reefs and enjoyed the fishes, anemones, corals, etc. That was a long time ago, so I spent hours staring at this book’s stunning photos on my iPad, not to mention finding more photos online. To learn more, I Wiki’ed smaller fishes and other creatures that were mentioned in passing.
As I took my time reading and admiring the photos, I became aware of the smaller, more easily overlooked creatures of the reefs. I was also fascinated by the oddballs, like Phyllodesmium: Predatory sea slugs w cilia-like digestive glands on the outside. And there were others: Christmas tree worm. Bobbit worm. Mimic Octopus. Wunderpus octopus. Orangutan crabs.
I also enjoyed reading about the now largest conservation area on earth: Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, located in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. In 2016, President Barack Obama increased the square-mileage of Papahānaumokuākea, which is now larger than any other land or ocean conservation area on Earth.
This is a book I’ll return to just to look at the photos.
This book is a very different read for me, because it’s about marine biology which I know little about. In my youth, I snorkeled several reefs and enjoyed the fishes, anemones, corals, etc. That was a long time ago, so I spent hours staring at this book’s stunning photos on my iPad, not to mention finding more photos online. To learn more, I Wiki’ed smaller fishes and other creatures that were mentioned in passing.
As I took my time reading and admiring the photos, I became aware of the smaller, more easily overlooked creatures of the reefs. I was also fascinated by the oddballs, like Phyllodesmium: Predatory sea slugs w cilia-like digestive glands on the outside. And there were others: Christmas tree worm. Bobbit worm. Mimic Octopus. Wunderpus octopus. Orangutan crabs.
I also enjoyed reading about the now largest conservation area on earth: Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, located in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. In 2016, President Barack Obama increased the square-mileage of Papahānaumokuākea, which is now larger than any other land or ocean conservation area on Earth.
This is a book I’ll return to just to look at the photos.
January 22, 2025
This lovely, fascinating, gorgeous new edition of The World Beneath: The Life and Times of Unknown Sea Creatures and Coral Reefs, written by Dr. Richard Smith, is a must-read.
Click through to read our author interview:
https://www.wanderingeducators.com/bo...
It’s a treasure trove shared from a life of interesting work and knowledge, as well as an incredible photographic odyssey. It’s a glimpse into a world most of us know little about, and an eminently readable book about our oceans, science, and the importance of learning, understanding, and caretaking of our natural world.
Smith’s very personal and knowledgeable writing offers a dual reading experience: getting us close up into the hows and whys of exploring underwater, and sharing a profoundly important look at the changes in our oceans.
The World Beneath is a beautifully written underwater thriller, sparking curiosity, excitement, and suspense. What happens with fish mimicry in the Red Sea? How does one find and name a new species? When does a symbiotic relationship change due to death or social ranking (anemonefish, I’m looking at you!)?
Click through to read our author interview:
https://www.wanderingeducators.com/bo...
It’s a treasure trove shared from a life of interesting work and knowledge, as well as an incredible photographic odyssey. It’s a glimpse into a world most of us know little about, and an eminently readable book about our oceans, science, and the importance of learning, understanding, and caretaking of our natural world.
Smith’s very personal and knowledgeable writing offers a dual reading experience: getting us close up into the hows and whys of exploring underwater, and sharing a profoundly important look at the changes in our oceans.
The World Beneath is a beautifully written underwater thriller, sparking curiosity, excitement, and suspense. What happens with fish mimicry in the Red Sea? How does one find and name a new species? When does a symbiotic relationship change due to death or social ranking (anemonefish, I’m looking at you!)?
January 15, 2020
Interesting and Beautiful Throughout!
A wonderful and well done document of Richard's work. Lots of amazing things to learn. A breathtaking accomplishment of work being shared with us. A 5-star book just for the striking and beautiful pictures alone. I'm glad I purchased this as a Kindle book because there was so much information to note and highlight. The high quality of the pictures allowed for enlarging them for closer observation. I originally began reading this from our local library before I realized that there was an interesting amount of information l wanted to highlight and further research.
A wonderful and well done document of Richard's work. Lots of amazing things to learn. A breathtaking accomplishment of work being shared with us. A 5-star book just for the striking and beautiful pictures alone. I'm glad I purchased this as a Kindle book because there was so much information to note and highlight. The high quality of the pictures allowed for enlarging them for closer observation. I originally began reading this from our local library before I realized that there was an interesting amount of information l wanted to highlight and further research.
September 21, 2020
Fascinating and accessible
It's often hard for an expert to communicate effectively with a layman, but Richard Smith manages the tightrope act with aplomb, revealing secrets of coral reefs and some of their smaller, less well-known inhabitants in this fascinating and accessible book. For a diver, it's one of those rare books, like 'What a Fish Knows' that will considerably enhance your understanding and appreciation of what you are looking at as you swim along and add hugely to your enjoyment of our wonderful sport. I read the ebook version and the pictures looked great on my Kindle Fire.
It's often hard for an expert to communicate effectively with a layman, but Richard Smith manages the tightrope act with aplomb, revealing secrets of coral reefs and some of their smaller, less well-known inhabitants in this fascinating and accessible book. For a diver, it's one of those rare books, like 'What a Fish Knows' that will considerably enhance your understanding and appreciation of what you are looking at as you swim along and add hugely to your enjoyment of our wonderful sport. I read the ebook version and the pictures looked great on my Kindle Fire.
March 6, 2022
Book 18/100: The World Beneath: The Life and Times of Unknown Sea Creatures and Coral Reefs by Richard Smith. Absolutely magical of a read! Let's be real here, I was there for the pictures but I did learn quite a bit about coral reefs and the deep sea! Right down to being amazed at the reproduction systems of anemonefish and sea horses, such fascinating life styles! If only humans can be accepting of others like the animal world is. This book normally would take me a day, with a new puppy, it did take me quite a bit but now Winnie and I have a routine and she keeps busy, reading will be back on track shortly!
August 14, 2024
A must-read for Scuba divers.
If you have ever asked yourself the following questions underwater:
“What am I looking at?”
“What is so special about this fish?”
“Why is that fish behaving like that?”
Then this book is for you.
This will elevate your Scuba diving experience three-fold, as the book details the weird mannerisms of our underwater friends. From clownfish hierarchy to seahorse polygamy, this book will give depth to your observations underwater. You will start to seek out unique species of marine life, and understand why certain animals behave the way they do.
Reading this book augment your dive trips.
If you have ever asked yourself the following questions underwater:
“What am I looking at?”
“What is so special about this fish?”
“Why is that fish behaving like that?”
Then this book is for you.
This will elevate your Scuba diving experience three-fold, as the book details the weird mannerisms of our underwater friends. From clownfish hierarchy to seahorse polygamy, this book will give depth to your observations underwater. You will start to seek out unique species of marine life, and understand why certain animals behave the way they do.
Reading this book augment your dive trips.
August 6, 2020
Gorgeous book, with so much enlightening information! The photos are spectacular and it's easy to read, not at all dry. It's awe-inducing to see how these sea creatures interact and view the wild designs of their bodies. I love this book and have gifted it too many people. There's nothing else like it.
August 18, 2021
Our living and dying oceans
We are far more ocean than land. Yet few of us have pierced the surface of the ocean to see the spectacular life that embeds its coral reefs. As we continue to abuse the planet, we take from it the magnificence of life in the sea. We destroy our treasures as we destroy ourselves
We are far more ocean than land. Yet few of us have pierced the surface of the ocean to see the spectacular life that embeds its coral reefs. As we continue to abuse the planet, we take from it the magnificence of life in the sea. We destroy our treasures as we destroy ourselves
May 22, 2022
I read this book back in 2021, and it is entirely thanks to this book that I've discovered my love for ocean life. It goes through this beautiful world full of a wide variety of creatures that all play their part in the reef, and it showcases just how incredible this ecosystem truly is. For anyone who has any remote interest in ocean life, this book is well worth the read.
October 11, 2022
After I had my first dive in January this year, I was amazed by the world beneath. I wanted to learn more about coral reefs while at the same time be visually delighted.
This book proved so much more than that, allowing me to gain insights into the world beneath that I had no idea about. I very much enjoyed every bit of it and it made me want to see more of the underwater world.
This book proved so much more than that, allowing me to gain insights into the world beneath that I had no idea about. I very much enjoyed every bit of it and it made me want to see more of the underwater world.
January 4, 2021
You can tell just how much the author loves the ocean and it's creatures by how much detail he puts into his writing. This book is beautiful, with gorgeous photos. It will make you fall in love with the ocean, with all its mysteries and wonders.
September 30, 2023
Love this book! The vibrant images paired with the anecdotal stories and species information made it a great read! I am a marine biology student and this will definitely be a book to refer back to in the future!
May 9, 2021
Spectacular photos and really superlative and interesting text.
June 15, 2021
Brilliant photography, deserves to be widely read
May 21, 2022
I absolutely loved this learning about all things ocean and the beautiful pictures! ❤️
April 13, 2023
A book full of interesting facts about the ocean and life on the reef, The Coral Triangle and the many, many species to be found here, even today.
April 19, 2025
I'm not a huge nonfiction reader, but this was so good - the photos were captivating and I learned so much through Dr. Smith's easy-to-read writing and stories. Truly inspiring!
February 24, 2020
Just some notes:
The World Beneath:
The Life and Times of Unknown Sea Creatures and Coral Reefs
By Dr Richard Smith
More diversity than tropical rain forests.
Largest biogenic structure 1,400 mile long Great Barrier Reef off Queensland Australia. Symbiosis of polyps and zooanthellae…. Respiration, metabolism, manage and expel waste.
Tiny seahorses,
West Papua, Indonesia. Plankton various nutrient rich organisms.
Allelochemicals toxins released to ward off predators.
Invertebrates, tunicates (sea squirts) an evol step to backbones.
Wondrous creatures excel in the arts of seduction and deception.
Diving heaven: Raja Ampat.West Papua Indonesia. SIr ALfred Russel Wallace collected bird skins to sell to fund his research expedition.
Triton Bay 2 freshwater rivers flow into the ocean, fw acts as a barrier to the marine organisms in the bay. Trapped within by walls of unsuitable habitat, the animals within evolved to suit local conditions.
Broadcast spawning. Fertilize eggs externally in water.
Cephalopods super intelligent: squids octopuses nautilus.
Echinoderms marine and invertebrates, sea stars, urchins, sea cus, crinoids. Graze algae and provide homes for other organisms like pearlfish lives inside body cavity of sea cucumber, rod-like transparent fish that emerge from sea cuc’s anus at night to feed.
Walking sharks
Marine iguana
Pajama Cardinalfish
Yatabe blenny (Izu Peninsula Japan) tan and white spots with faux horns so cute.
Pygmy seahorses.
Pygmy pipehorse master of camouflage. Watched, finally spotted. Rare.
Mimic octopus mimics toxic species to evade predators. Advantage.
Weedy seadragon carrying a clutch of eggs, Tasmania Australia, amazing colors dots long snout.
Leopard anemone shrimps wrapping around a whip coral.
Pic I took: Tailspot Coralblenny found only in Raja Ampat.
Some are tough swimmers, others passive carried by currents.
Anemone’s tentacles covered with nematocysts, stinging cells.
Anemonefish a type of long lived damselfish.
Protogyny: start life as female, male later in life.
Hermaphrodites produce sperm and eggs simultaneously, sequential hermaphrodites are protogyny.
Male seahorses pregnant. Female transfer eggs to male pouch.
Clownfish the most popular ornamental marine fish of the 1,471 species traded globally between 1997 and 2007, even before Nemo.
Pressures on wild populations wild caught for trade so high that anemonefish have become locally extinct on some reefs.
Aquarists.
Bleaching from elevated sea temps, bleaches away alga.
Genetic analysis used for DNA, species id.
Some localized color variation.
Recent times: naming rights have been auctioned off to fund conservation efforts.
2006 Wonderpus photogenicus new species of octopus.
Limited by unbroken areas of suitable habitat (vs fractured)
Some male hold eggs in mouth.
The Red Sea, 13% of fishes found nowhere else, adapted to its coral reefs, dazzling blue water result of scarce rainfall.
Coral Triangle max marine biodiversity.
Trawling, long lines, dynamite destroys.
Sea slugs mimic soft coral.
Life more colorful than Van Gogh’s palette.
Ichthyologists.
Specialist species. Symbiosis 3 types:
Mutualistic creatures damselfish and algae trim without obliterating... commensalism (one benefits, iher neutral, like gobies and specific coral species), parasitism (one benefits, harmed other).
Extremophiles.
Parasites
Many reef fish possess color patterns visible only in UV, which are invisible to use under natural light conditions.
UV patterning may be used to evade predators who lack UV receptors.
Rods light sensitive, see in low light, limited colors; cones perceive color vision, finer detail and faster resolution. We have trichromatic. Some fishes up to 12 color photoreceptors.
Aposematic coloration ward off predators “poison.”
Bullseye electric ray
Convict sturgeonfish. RIbbon sweetlips.
Octopus chromatophores pigment bearing cells controlled by muscle movements, react even without seeing the substrate with their eyes.
Juvenile Boxfish, smaller than a dice.
Flasher wrasses.
Trash, rising temps, coral bleaching, acidification,
Shark not really a threat. Shark fins, fisheries bad, for shark fin soup. 270 million sharks caught on long lines. Populations being decimated.
Reefs critical to ecosystems including people. Reefs and mangrove forests hold land in place.
Palau shark sanctuary tourists like.
Marine Protected areas.
Pygmy seahorse size of a grain of rice.
Piscine zombies hijacked their will after infected by parasites.
Weaken, disrupt mating and reproduction. Be a secret signaling channel used between non-predatory species., given the fact that many predatory fishes cannot see in UV.
Vectors: intermediary hosts.
An individual cleaner wrasse can serve over 2,000 clients in a day, removing on average one parasite from every other client that visits. Vivid colors of wrasse like barber shop pole.
Russian dolls of grubs. Lay eggs in the bodies of others. Kill host when emerge.
Biological imperative accounts for appearance and behavior or organisms.
Coloration purpose. Vision mate selection and species recognition.
Red longest wavelength and thus least energy within the visible spectrum.
Infrared warmth.
The World Beneath:
The Life and Times of Unknown Sea Creatures and Coral Reefs
By Dr Richard Smith
More diversity than tropical rain forests.
Largest biogenic structure 1,400 mile long Great Barrier Reef off Queensland Australia. Symbiosis of polyps and zooanthellae…. Respiration, metabolism, manage and expel waste.
Tiny seahorses,
West Papua, Indonesia. Plankton various nutrient rich organisms.
Allelochemicals toxins released to ward off predators.
Invertebrates, tunicates (sea squirts) an evol step to backbones.
Wondrous creatures excel in the arts of seduction and deception.
Diving heaven: Raja Ampat.West Papua Indonesia. SIr ALfred Russel Wallace collected bird skins to sell to fund his research expedition.
Triton Bay 2 freshwater rivers flow into the ocean, fw acts as a barrier to the marine organisms in the bay. Trapped within by walls of unsuitable habitat, the animals within evolved to suit local conditions.
Broadcast spawning. Fertilize eggs externally in water.
Cephalopods super intelligent: squids octopuses nautilus.
Echinoderms marine and invertebrates, sea stars, urchins, sea cus, crinoids. Graze algae and provide homes for other organisms like pearlfish lives inside body cavity of sea cucumber, rod-like transparent fish that emerge from sea cuc’s anus at night to feed.
Walking sharks
Marine iguana
Pajama Cardinalfish
Yatabe blenny (Izu Peninsula Japan) tan and white spots with faux horns so cute.
Pygmy seahorses.
Pygmy pipehorse master of camouflage. Watched, finally spotted. Rare.
Mimic octopus mimics toxic species to evade predators. Advantage.
Weedy seadragon carrying a clutch of eggs, Tasmania Australia, amazing colors dots long snout.
Leopard anemone shrimps wrapping around a whip coral.
Pic I took: Tailspot Coralblenny found only in Raja Ampat.
Some are tough swimmers, others passive carried by currents.
Anemone’s tentacles covered with nematocysts, stinging cells.
Anemonefish a type of long lived damselfish.
Protogyny: start life as female, male later in life.
Hermaphrodites produce sperm and eggs simultaneously, sequential hermaphrodites are protogyny.
Male seahorses pregnant. Female transfer eggs to male pouch.
Clownfish the most popular ornamental marine fish of the 1,471 species traded globally between 1997 and 2007, even before Nemo.
Pressures on wild populations wild caught for trade so high that anemonefish have become locally extinct on some reefs.
Aquarists.
Bleaching from elevated sea temps, bleaches away alga.
Genetic analysis used for DNA, species id.
Some localized color variation.
Recent times: naming rights have been auctioned off to fund conservation efforts.
2006 Wonderpus photogenicus new species of octopus.
Limited by unbroken areas of suitable habitat (vs fractured)
Some male hold eggs in mouth.
The Red Sea, 13% of fishes found nowhere else, adapted to its coral reefs, dazzling blue water result of scarce rainfall.
Coral Triangle max marine biodiversity.
Trawling, long lines, dynamite destroys.
Sea slugs mimic soft coral.
Life more colorful than Van Gogh’s palette.
Ichthyologists.
Specialist species. Symbiosis 3 types:
Mutualistic creatures damselfish and algae trim without obliterating... commensalism (one benefits, iher neutral, like gobies and specific coral species), parasitism (one benefits, harmed other).
Extremophiles.
Parasites
Many reef fish possess color patterns visible only in UV, which are invisible to use under natural light conditions.
UV patterning may be used to evade predators who lack UV receptors.
Rods light sensitive, see in low light, limited colors; cones perceive color vision, finer detail and faster resolution. We have trichromatic. Some fishes up to 12 color photoreceptors.
Aposematic coloration ward off predators “poison.”
Bullseye electric ray
Convict sturgeonfish. RIbbon sweetlips.
Octopus chromatophores pigment bearing cells controlled by muscle movements, react even without seeing the substrate with their eyes.
Juvenile Boxfish, smaller than a dice.
Flasher wrasses.
Trash, rising temps, coral bleaching, acidification,
Shark not really a threat. Shark fins, fisheries bad, for shark fin soup. 270 million sharks caught on long lines. Populations being decimated.
Reefs critical to ecosystems including people. Reefs and mangrove forests hold land in place.
Palau shark sanctuary tourists like.
Marine Protected areas.
Pygmy seahorse size of a grain of rice.
Piscine zombies hijacked their will after infected by parasites.
Weaken, disrupt mating and reproduction. Be a secret signaling channel used between non-predatory species., given the fact that many predatory fishes cannot see in UV.
Vectors: intermediary hosts.
An individual cleaner wrasse can serve over 2,000 clients in a day, removing on average one parasite from every other client that visits. Vivid colors of wrasse like barber shop pole.
Russian dolls of grubs. Lay eggs in the bodies of others. Kill host when emerge.
Biological imperative accounts for appearance and behavior or organisms.
Coloration purpose. Vision mate selection and species recognition.
Red longest wavelength and thus least energy within the visible spectrum.
Infrared warmth.
July 24, 2025
good book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 23, 2025
While the book did have some breathtaking pictures, I was more interested on the factual side of things. Information is provided but it does read more like a coffee-table book instead of a book. I recommend it for visuals, not so much for extensive and informative content.
September 14, 2019
Good message but boring. Pictures were the only plus.
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