Book Review: Biology of Sharks and Rays by A. Peter Klimley

I am intentionally growing my library with books of my liking. I havn't purchased a new book in a long while and needed to add to my library. It is important to get new books when you read most of the books that you have. I thought that it would be fun to include a picture of my growing library.

A while ago I realized that I knew very little about might be one of my top 3 favorite extant predators namely sharks. I decided that that must changed. I did a little shopping on Amazon for books on sharks and come to the conclusion that the Biology of Sharks and Rays would be my best choice considering the price and what I was looking for. Honestly, I knew nothing about the author and knew very little of the other options of books. When I purchase something I want something that I will grow into, I do not like getting "beginner" stuff and things that will let me get-by until I purchase what I really need. I view those habits as a waste of money, depending on the situation. While, at the same time, I do not want something that is too specific or narrow in its use or focus. This book seems to be just that and I am glad I purchased the Biology of Sharks and Rays by A. Peter Klimley.

 It is a good book. The author has been a pioneer scientist, changing the way scientist and lay-people alike see sharks, from mindless eating machines to, what they are, well-designed and fascinating animals. That is not to say that sharks are not dangerous, they can be very dangerous but not to the same extent that is portrayed on some movies.

It is in-depth and it assumes that you are already familiar with many biological concepts. From reading it, I am guessing that the intended audience is late undergrad to grad students. It is something that can be used as a text-book for higher education. The book is also not littered with fancy illustrations; there is a lot information in the pages and words use up spaces for pictures. There are some illustrations that are helpful. I like pictures to help me picture things that I am learning so the illustrations that are present are very useful. I will admit that I wish there were more illustrations for the sake of illustration.

The book starts out with introductions, describing how sharks and rays move and swim mechanically which was probably my favorite chapter so far, and then moves to describe the sense that sharks have, which is six I believe.  I am almost done reading through those chapters and they are very interesting. After that the book goes into describing the life of sharks from breeding to eating and then ecological matters. Sharks are definitely very fascinating fishes.

One thing that did notice about this book was the quality of the book itself. It is a well made book that is solid. The cover under the book sleeve is very nice and the binding is well done.

Would I recommend this book to someone. Yes, I would but I would make it clear that it is not a light read. It does assume that there are certain basic biological concepts that you already know. It is a great book though to get a thorough understanding of the cartilaginous fishes and it is something that you will grow into and not grow out of. You will have the book for sometime if you take care of it and it will be relevant to you years to come.