Photographic Guide to the Sea and Shore Life of Britain and North-West Europe (Oxford natural history) [Hardcover]

After only a quick flick through the pictures we found at least a dozen glaring errors where the photos used to illustrate easily recognised species were of a completely different species (examples: the football seasquirt Diazona violacea, sponge Raspailia hispida, sea gooseberry Pleurobrachia pileus, sea cucumber Neopentadactyla mixta and seaweed Scytosiphon lomentaria) and there was even one image used more than once to illustrate different species! A more detailed look at the guide, including testing it during a marine taxanomic workshop involving experts from all over the UK and Ireland, revealed many more errors. Many of the distribution maps are inaccurate, and for a book that claims to cover the area from the Bay of Biscay to Norway, it has a distinctly southern bias. Many common and easily identified northern British species are missing, even the lumpsucker. Yet they include the southern seaslug Hypselodoris messinensis, which doesn't occur in Britain as far as we know. And have the authors got something against Wales - what about the seafans and many other southern and western species which occur in Pembrokeshire?

The authors have used a mixture of new and out-of-date scientific names, and many common names have been omitted - why they didnt stick to 'industry standards' set in the Marine Conservation Society's Species Directory? While many of the photos are good, others are too poor for identification purposes (notably many of the seaweeds), and many (dead?) specimens are photographed against a sandy background, giving the wrong impression of their natural habitat.

Amateur naturalists and students studying marine biology cannot put their trust in this guide as it is. Will Oxford University Press withdraw this edition from the shelves until a second and substantially more trustworthy edition is produced? - I doubt it.

1. The book says species are mostly illustrated in their natural habitat - at least 15 species are in the wrong habitat eg p. 279 Lasaea 'rubra', and others are misleading.

2. The nomenclature is out of date - the Species Directory (published 1997 by Ulster Museum/Marine Conservation Society) is the accepted version by most professionals.

3. Some of the distribution maps are wrong eg p.237 Osilinus lineatus (which is a widely known species).

4.The drawings are cursory and add little eg p. 237 Gibbula umbilicalis.

5. The text is inaccurate in places eg under Barleeia unifasciata - Assiminea grayana occurs in Ireland; under Hydrobia ulvae - ventrosa and neglecta CANNOT be separated by shell characters

6. The quality of the photos is very poor in places eg p. 243 Rissoa parva

7. The worst aspect of the book is the high level of inaccuracy in the identifications. 18 of the mollusc photos are incorrectly identified (nearly 15%) eg. all photos on pages 249 and 267 are wrong! Experts in other groups have also found inaccuracies of identification.

This book is supposed be a identification guide. It is therefore unacceptable, and a considerable disappointment, to have such a high level of inaccuracy.

The format was clear and easy to use. Photatgraphs were wonderful, too many times have I had identification books with little line drawing that were just dull to look at.

In my opinion this book may be lacking in some areas but for a non biologist it provides a great entry into the underwater world of life.