sharkray

The first field guide to identify, illustrate, and describe every one of the world’s 501 shark species. The book also contains useful sections on identifying shark teeth and the shark fins most commonly encountered in the fin trade. Its compact format makes it handy for many situations, including recognizing living species, fishery catches, or parts sold at markets. A Pocket Guide to Sharks of the World is an essential resource for fisheries management, international trade regulation, and shark conservation.

This lavishly illustrated, large-format, comprehensive guide comes at a time when pressures on the world’s shark species are greater than any time in history. This up to date, authoritative book describes and illustrates in detail over 500 shark species, with information on identification, habitat, behaviour, biology, status and distribution. Every species is illustrated in colour with accompanying diagnostic line drawings. The introduction covers the ancestry, life-history, physiology, ecology and conservation of sharks. In addition to the extensive systematic illustrations are over 150 colour photographs and informative graphics.

Since people have been going to sea they have been in awe of sharks. Worshipped by ancient civilizations, reviled by seafarers and in more recent years, closely studied by marine biologists, sharks are the product of over 450 million years of evolution, honed to perfection as some of the sea’s most sophisticated predators. Their formidable jaws and teeth seem to invoke in us an irrational fear that turns any shark attack into front-page news worldwide. Yet their powerful, streamlined bodies are also an inspiration to ship and submarine designers and their immune system may hold the key to fighting human diseases. Presenting the latest findings from international shark researchers, Sharks is an engaging introduction to these near-perfect predators. It describes the broad range of living sharks, explores their biology and behaviour, and dispels the myths. Illustrated with over 100 of the best shark images from around the world, this book reveals these creatures to be far more than just mindless, killing machines. Revised and reformatted with the latest research, new images and up-to-date text, this is a comprehensive introduction to sharks and their biology and behaviour.

This book chronicles shark attacks both on Australia’s fatal shores and overseas. It also records miraculous escapes – some so bizarre they defy belief, and some that display extraordinary courage in the face of extreme peril. Robert Reid interviews famous shark hunters and other adventurers who speak for the first time about their dangerous encounters with these fearsome predators. Reid investigates the phenomenon of the so-called ‘rogue’ sharks, those that stalk and kill humans in numbers, in the same place, at the same time. These are gripping stories that will both fascinate and frighten, stories that will take the reader into the realm of these strange but terrible creatures. They have ruled the oceans with ruthless efficiency for more than 400 million years.

Covers identification, behaviour, diet and reproduction.

A long awaited second edition of this classic book on the cartilaginous fishes in Australia. This edition covers 323 species of sharks, rays and chimaerids, including species descriptions, full-colour illustrations, line illustrations and distribution maps. Includes 24 new species accounts, and updates more than 100 species which have now been formally named in publications. This edition presents the major changes to the systematics of some groups, such as the dogfishes and skates, and includes updated family keys, upgraded species distributional information and maps, extensively revised text descriptions, reflecting additional fisheries and biological information, revised introductory chapters reflecting the contemporary status of chondrichthyan information and an updated reference section.

Author information.

Dr Peter Last is Curator of the Australian National Fish Collection, and a Senior Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Hobart. Dr Last specialises in the taxonomy, biogeography and systematics of the Australian fish fauna, and is a world authority on the taxonomy of sharks, skates and rays.

Dr John Stevens is a Senior Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Hobart. Dr Stevens has more than 30 year’s experience working on the systematics, biology, ecology, fisheries and conservation biology of chondrichthyan fishes (sharks, rays and chimaeras).