Octopus: The Ocean's Intelligent Invertebrate

Fascinating treatise on my favorite 8-leggedsea creature! Very well written; read in onesitting (an entire day!).

I have collected and read several volumes about these fascinating creatures. This collection is one of the best I have reviewed. The authors were so thorough in their descriptions of all there years of research. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in cephalopods, i.e., octopus!

I can't tell you really, it was a gift but he was pleased

Despite our best efforts, the octopus is stil a mysterious creature, as we learn in this beautiful, well-written book. The authors, all experts, repeatedly mention unknown species: no one thinks we’ve described all the octopuses or even close to them all. They (the octopuses) are also adaptive, cosmopolitan, and uncannily smart. To answer everyone’s favorite question, author Roland Anderson once found a Pacific giant he estimated at 45 kg (110lbs) with suckers three inches across and believes the species gets to 180 kg /400 lbs. (Consider that a 27-kg specimen in an aquarium repeatedly killed meter-long dogfish sharks.)Octopuses can “pinch” their suckers with such dexterity they can untie knots in surgical silk thread or deploy those same suckers to resist a pull of 100 times their body weight. Their camouflage is too complex to describe, and still a bit beyond our understanding in an animal that is color-blind. Octopuses recognize individual humans. They play. They pull off incredible escapes and evade predators with an infinte number of tricks: the authors mention an “undescribed Hawaiian species” that has the same shapeshifting ability as the famous mimic octopus. The Pacific giant has both a venom gland AND an acid-secreting gland that helps it drill through the shells of clams.The photographs in this book are amazing. I wanted a little more on tsxonomy and an explanation of where the various species are in relation to each other, and there's nothing here on octopus evolution. Those are quibbles, I suppose, in when there are fascinating facts on every page here.

"Octopus"; The Ocean's Intelligent Invertebrate (A Natural History) by Mather, Anderson, and Wood is an extremely informative encapsulated history of perhaps, one of the most least understood, least appreciated, and yet most interesting animals in this world. Here then is an animal with three hearts, eight legs, and a cognitive mental capacity and personality to rival some of the more common mammals.The authors of this book take the reader through the tragically short life span of an Octopus from the egg to the adult. The writers also maintained an aura of scientific study and terminology, but had the common sense to utilize a layman's "story quality" style of writing so that... even the "scientific challenged" like me could understand exactly what was being stated.If you have an interest in oceanography, wildlife, and nature, then I can guarantee... you will not be disappointed with this book! In addition there are some 38 magnificent color photographs of various octopuses to "stoke the embers" of the readers interest in the subject matter held at arms length (all eight of them)!

I learned soooo much, not that I really cared to....but when you have grandkids that love them it's what you do!!!!

My invertebrate zoology professor (30 years ago) waffled on and on about the wonderfully intelligent octopus. I finally saw one when diving last year. I've wanted to know more about them and this is the book. Especially if you are a diver/snorkeler, but for anyone with a fascination for natural history and especially of marine critters.Mather not only covers the natural history of the octopus but puts it in perspective, describing its environment. You will learn not only of the octopus but also about the animals with which it interacts.Great book. I highly recommend it.

This book is supposed to be new, but the dust cover is crumpled and has a tear and worn edges. I could speculate about what caused the damages, but why bother. As long as I don't find that there are damaged or missing pages, it will be ok.I'm looking forward to reading the book, but I'm kind of surprised that there aren't more illustrations spread throughout. From just a cursory look, it seems most of the illustrations are concentrated in the middle. Once I start reading, that layout might (or might not) make sense. We shall see.

Such an interesting and mesmerising book on such a hypnotically fascinating creature. I learned a lot. If I thought I loved Octopuses before, I really love them now. Highly recommended book for those wanting to learn more about these beautiful, intelligent creatures.

perfecto

The book arrived by the date it was expected [May 18th]. It's an excellent book which I am just reading now.Volker

Un livre riche et fascinant avec les généralités et des anecdotes sur ces animaux extraordinaires. Quelques belles photos. Dommage qu'il n'existe à l'heure actuelle aucune traduction française !

Bilderreiche Werke über die Unterwasserwelt gibt es zuhauf. Hier liegt ein andere Werk vor, das geschickt einem Laienpublikum die neuesten Erkenntnisse der Wissenschaft vorstellt. Literaturverweise erlauben dem interessierten Leser rasch den Zugang zu den Originalveröffentlichungen der Zoologen. So wird etwa in leicht verständlicher Weise die Tarntechnik der Oktopoden vorgestellt, die auf verschiedenen Zelltypen (Chromatophoren usw.) beruht und verblüffende blitzschnelle Anpassungsleistungen erlaubt. Die Darstellung dringt vorliegend nicht sonderlich in die Tiefe, bleibt aber auch nicht einfach an der Oberfläche stehen, sondern vermittelt die Funktionsweise so, dass im Leser ein Grundverständnis entsteht. Der findet hier einen wirklich guten weiterführenden Hinweis, mit dem man sich einarbeiten kann, wenn man es genau wissen will. Insoweit handelt es sich um ein hervorragendes Buch für alle, die sich für diese verblüffenden Tiere wirklich interessieren und der einen oder anderen ihrer Eigenschaften auf den Grund gehen wollen. Ich kann es nur empfehlen!