Don't Mess with Me: The Strange Lives of Venomous Sea Creatures (How Nature Works Series)

by Paul Erickson, Andrew Martinez (Photographer)

Overview

The role of venoms in nature … and in human medicine  

Why are toxins so advantageous to their possessors as to evolve over and over again? What is it about watery environments that favors so many venomous creatures? Marine biologist Paul Erickson explores these and other questions with astounding images from Andrew Martinez and other top underwater photographers.

GREAT for teaching STEM Marine Biology

Scorpions and brown recluse spiders are fine as far as they go, but if you want daily contact with venomous creatures, the ocean is the place to be. Blue-ringed octopi, stony corals, sea jellies, stonefish, lionfish, poison-fanged blennies, stingrays, cone snails, blind remipedes, fire urchins—you can choose your poison in the ocean. Venoms are often but not always defensive weapons. The banded sea krait, an aquatic snake, wriggles into undersea caves to prey on vicious moray eels, killing them with one of the world’s most deadly neurotoxins, which it injects through fangs that resemble hypodermic needles.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780884485513
Publisher:	Tilbury House Publishers
Publication date:	12/04/2018
Series:	How Nature Works Series
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Writer, photographer, and video producer Paul Erickson creates exhibits, websites, guides, and videos for zoos, museums, and aquariums including the New England Aquarium, the Houston Zoo, Zoo Miami, the Friends of the Los Angeles River, the Museum of Science and Discovery, and many others. He has authored or co-authored numerous magazine articles and three books about undersea life. His book The Pier at the End of the World was named an Outstanding Science Trade Book of 2016 by the National Science Teachers Association.

ANDREW MARTINEZ (Danbury, MA) specializes in images of the undersea world and is the author and photographer of Marine Life of the North Atlantic. He travels the world to photograph sea life, and was the photographer for The Pier at the End of the World named an Outstanding Science Trade Book of 2016 by the National Science Teachers Association.

Editorial Reviews

"I like that the author explains the difference between poisonous and venomous sea creatures. I also like that they point out that some are invasive species, so you don't want them in your aquarium or released into the sea. I recommend this non-fiction book for classroom libraries, school libraries, and public libraries everywhere."

Chat with Vera

Winter 2018

Gr 3–6–Ewww! Erickson's friendly, informative overview of venomous sea creatures, accompanied by Martinez's vivid close-ups leans heavily on the ick factor. Readers will learn about common creatures from all six phyla: protective mechanisms, scientific name, size, range, and diet. The author makes references to author Arthur Conan Doyle and venom researcher Baldamero Olivera and briefly touches on the problem of invasive species. He does not, however, discuss the effect of global climate change and warming seas—not even noting the danger of jellyfish blooms. Students seeking in-depth information on this and other topics can use the book's bibliography, which lists several reliable sources. VERDICT An eye-catching and pleasingly gross introduction to venomous sea creatures, with extremely helpful back matter.—Sheri Reda, Wilmette Public Library, IL

School Library Journal

2018-10-28

A sampling of the more than 12,000 varieties of stinging creatures that live in the ocean.

Striking photographs and informative text introduce venomous ocean-dwellers in six different phyla: cnidarians, mollusks, annelids, arthropods, echinoderms, and chordates. This organization by increasing complexity is what's used in the bulk of the text and in the backmatter, which offers fast facts about the 28 different species described in this tempting title. After opening with a description of an iconic example—the greater blue-ringed octopus, whose bite can kill a person—Erickson clears up the usual confusion between "poisonous" and "venomous" and presents a detailed explanation of how anemones, sea jellies, and coral can sting. He goes on, now following the phylum order, to introduce a variety of other sea creatures including bloodworms, the blind remipede (the first known venomous crustacean), the crown of thorns sea star, the bluespotted stingray, the reef stonefish, and the lionfish. Most spreads include a boxed text headed "How Nature Works," which may describe open scientific questions, settled theories, or applications. Erickson doesn't pander to his readers: He uses appropriate terminology. Martinez's clearly captioned photographs show the creatures in their habitats; there are also diagrams and microscope images. Colorful pages and varied design add interest.

Though the text in this entry in an admirable series may be challenging for young readers, the subject has guaranteed kid appeal. (timeline, further resources, glossary) (Nonfiction. 9-14)

Kirkus Reviews