Author: B F Chhapgar
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2006
Language: English
Pages: 368
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0195685148
Description
The sea covers about three-quarters of the earth's surface and houses a complex and varied set of creatures, including some as colourful as butterflies and birds. There are many that have quaint, even bizarre, habits. Some fishes, for instance, can literally shock you with a high voltage electric current. Others rob their prey of poison darts and store these in their bodies to use as weapons. Yet others are experts in marksmanship, and can shoot down a target with water bullets.
There are also creatures that live in the dark ocean depths, producing their own light. Then there are marine plants that do not have a root, stem, leaves or flowers, and are so tiny that ten million could fit in a thimbleful of water. Some of these marine creatures have no relatives on land or in fresh water.
Full of such fascinating facts, illustrations, and photographs, Marine Life in India is compact, engaging, and easy-to-read. The young reader and others with an interest in marine life will find this book a valuable introduction.
Contents
FOREWORD
PREFACE
1. Introduction.
2. The living soup-pastures of the sea.
3. Forests in the sea.
4. The living bridge.
5. The tree that makes land.
6. The itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny drifters of the sea.
7. Miniature sea-shells.
8. The living sieve.
9. On the rocks--but not whisky.
10. The living jellies.
11. Borne on the purple wind.
12. Flower power.
13. Deep-sea corals.
14. A miscellany of home-use items.
15. Psst! it's time someone noticed us too.
16. Worms that are not worms.
17. Legs-fuzzy-wuzzy creepy crawlies of the sea.
18. The motley crowd.
19. The birds and the B's.
20. Salty knight in armour.
21. Pinocchios of the sea.
22. Home is where the heart is.
23. Give a dog an ill name-and hang him.
24. Masquerade (when a crab is not a crab).
25. The bottom gang.
26. The sidewalk specialists.
27. Beach biddies.
28. Gladiators of the sea.
29. Oddest ancient Oaf alive.
30. The bug that walks on water.
31. Double-shelled snails.
32. Drillers in the sea.
33. Taj Mahals in the sea.
34. Silk in the sea.
35. Backpackers of the sea.
36. Stingers on the shore.
37. Purple pomp.
38. Gilding the Lily.
39. Butterflies of the sea-Flying Snails.
40. Quaint rabbits of the sea.
41. The bold and the beautiful.
42. Beauty and the beast.
43. Octopus--odious or ostracised?
44. Sleek and savage.
45. The mathematical prodigy.
46. Stars in the sea.
47. Rough stuff--pin-cushions in the sea.
48. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
49. Footprints on the sands.
50. Our forefathers.
51. Monarchs of the aquatic realm.
52. Body talk.
53. Kites in the sea (and their kin).
54. The misunderstood Moray.
55. The fish that flies.
56. Women's lib in the water.
57. The Leopard that changes its spots.
58. William tells in the water.
59. Cinderellas of the sea.
60. Rainbows in the sea.
61. Painful pricks (They Jab and They Stab).
62. Aquatic Olympics-hop-skip-and-jump champions of the sea.
63. Doctors at sea.
64. Hitch-hikers of the sea.
65. Poison in the pot.
66. Meet the mighty mola.
67. The Compleat angler.
68. Have your cake, and eat it too.
69. The gentle giants.
70. Born to kill.
71. The gray ghosts.
72. The ... that lays the golden egg.
73. Neither fish nor fowl (the adorable, intelligent dolphins).
74. Mermaids with Moustaches.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
FURTHER READING
GLOSSARY
APPENDIX
INDEX