Book review by Bill Rudman
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Undersea Jewels - A colour guide to Nudibranchs
Published: 2006
Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra
ISBN-10: 0 858 81147 2
ISBN-13: 978 0 85881 147 8
Size: 250-150 mm (A5), 312 pages
Binding: soft cover, section stitched
Illustrations: Full colour throughout
Price: $Aust. 60.00
This book records the endeavours of Gary Cobb in studying the sea slugs of southern Queensland in the three years from 2003. Gary has been a regular contributor to the Forum over that time, and those of you familiar with his contributions will not be surprised at the high quality of the photographs which grace this book.
Richard Willan has researched these fascinating animals for many years, and between them, the authors have produced a valuable record of the fauna of this relatively small part of the eastern Australian coastline. That their book includes nearly 300 species from such a small area is an interesting point in itself, illustrating just how diverse the opisthobranch fauna can be in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-West Pacific. I am sure many of these species do not have resident populations in southern Queensland - but we can be sure that if they disappear for a while they will return, sometime in the future, when suitable water currents wash their free-swimming larvae down to the Sunshine Coast and they find suitable food, to settle down and grow to maturity.
This book is well designed, with one species per page, with one large photo and two smaller photos to show colour variations or egg mass etc. The text accompanying each species describes the external features.This is a book for anyone interested in sea slug diversity. Apart from a few eastern Australian endemic species, such as Rostanga arbutus, the species in this book could have been found in New Caledonia, Fiji or Indonesia and so it is certainly a must for anyone interested in the fauna of the Indo-west Pacific.
Gary Cobb shows in this book that it is probably just as productive in tropical waters to study your backyard regularly, as it is to chase all over the Indo-West Pacific in search of something 'new'.
Bill Rudman
Sea Slug Forum, Australian Museum, Sydney
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Diveoz.com book review by David Harasti
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There is a nudibranch book that has been released titled Undersea Jewels - A Colour Guide to Nudibranchs. This identification guide is the result of an extensive research study conducted on nudibranchs in the Sunshine Coast region of Queensland.
This project has been the passion of Gary Cobb (whom you could describe as a nudibranch fanatic) and with the assistance of Dr Richard Willan (Curator of Molluscs at the Northern Territory Museum and world authority on nudibranchs) they have released this excellent nudie guide. The book is 312 pages, A5 size and provides photos of 277 different species of nudibranchs found in the waters of southern Queensland.
Even though this guide focuses on the species found in the Qld region it is also applicable for the waters of New South Wales and the Great Barrier Reef as most of the species are found along the entire East Australian coast. One of the best things about this guide is that it provides excellent quality photos and descriptions to assist in the identification of any nudibranchs you might encounter.
Each species has at least 3 photos of it with many pages illustrating their habitat and the actual egg ribbon that each nudibranch species lays. This book also provides information on many species of nudibranchs that are yet to be described (undescribed species) as well as several new discoveries of the species occurring in Qld waters and some new discoveries for Australia. Another good feature is that the start of the guide provides some excellent background information on nudibranchs including a very informative section on the naming of nudibranchs. There is also a quick reference colour guide that illustrates thumbnails of the nudibranchs in the book to assist in looking for different species.
The book has been published by the Australian Biological Resources Study and sells for $60AUD. It can be purchased through the ABRS website here
An order form is available here in PDF format
Further information on the book and the south Queensland nudibranch study can be found here
A sample page of the book can be seen here
I consider this book to be an excellent investment for anyone interested in nudibranchs or for those that want a great marine book for their reference library. And Im also happy that a couple of my images were good enough to make the publication!"
http://www.daveharasti.com
http://www.speciesspotlight.com
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