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A Diver's Guide to Underwater Malaysia Macrolife, by Andrea and Antonella Ferrari
A Diver's Guide to Underwater Malaysia Macrolife, by Andrea and Antonella Ferrari
It won't surprise you that there are at least 10 types of frogfish and that these can change colour to suit their surroundings. So how many different species of cuttlefish can you think of? Well, I found seven listed and illustrated, again with many colour variations, in A Diver's Guide to Underwater Malaysia Macrolife.
Consider the area bordered to the south by Java, Sumatra and the main chain of Indonesian islands. It encompasses Borneo, Sulawesi, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea and it has the greatest biodiversity in the marine world. It's home to such bizarre creatures as the cockatoo waspfish, two-eyed lionfish, mimic octopus, mandarinfish and the devil scorpionfish.
Andrea and Antonella Ferrari have photographed and catalogued 600 species specifically found around peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo, and their work is compiled in a handy-sized directory.
Its densely packed pages concentrate on the sort of marine life that is grotesque, fanciful, preposterous or just plain odd.
One picture alone is often insufficient to identify an animal, so the authors give you a full range of possible appearances. For example, I counted eight pictures of ghost pipefish in very different guises.
The text is well-structured and orderly, listing alongside the photographs details such as scientific name, habitat, distribution, size and behavioural aspects.
Places such as the oceanic island of Sipadan may be famous for visiting pelagic species but there is no hammerhead in sight in this guidebook, which is for those who dive with macro-lens or magnifying glass. Colour photographs of the highest quality make it easy to identify what you have seen.
We've always been fascinated by the big, spectacular denizens of the deep but it's the minutiae we used to pass by without a second glance that is the strangest and, in some ways, the most terrifying. This book is an essential tool for anyone venturing under water in this part of the world.
John Bantin
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A Diver's Guide to Underwater Malaysia Macrolife, by Andrea and Antonella Ferrari (Nautilus Publishing, nhbs.com, ISBN 9832731003). Softback, 468pp, £25
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