The Journal of Heredity 2002:93(6)
© 2002 The American Genetic Association 93:461
Book Review |
The Biology of the Deep Ocean
Department of Pathology UCSD Medical Center San Diego, CA 92103
By Peter Herring. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 2002.
On first blush one might ask why this book is being reviewed for a genetic journal such as the Journal of Heredity. The reason becomes more evident as one reads this searching review of the pelagic environment in depth. It is a marvelous introduction to the complexity of aquatic life that leads us to marvel over how DNA can accomplish so much variety.
Herring first reviews the physics of oceans, the circulation of water, salts, oxygen, nutrients, and various other components that have been studied in great detail by ever-improving methodologies. One learns of new sampling techniques and their relative efficiencies, and how they affect what we truly know about the composition of this huge portion (more than 60%) of our globe. Ocean life is remarkably varied, dependent on available light and much modified by the physical pressure and changes in temperature, absence of oxygen, and other environmental differences from those available to terrestrial life. For these reasons, animals and other life forms of the ocean have adapted characteristics that appear most unusual to us landlubbers with our (at best) smattering knowledge of terrestrial life.
New technologies in benthic exploration and the surveillance for organisms have made enormous strides in recent years, and it has now become more frequently possible to bring ashore specimens from the oceans' depths. With this technology, insight into the biology of these specimens is possible. As Herring describes lucidly, the dependency on light of animals in the upper strata is expressed in a completely different physiology from that in deeper layers of the ocean. There, the absence of light has led to much modification in feeding behavior, in camouflage to avoid predators, in energy management, in the development of mechanisms to stay afloat but also to stay at defined levels, and much more. It is not surprising to read—in what is perhaps the most fascinating chapter—a detailed discussion on "seeing in the dark" and the evolution of very complex organs of bioluminescence, since this is Herring's area of research. For me, a novice in this area, the variety of lures produced by deep sea fishes, the differences in the elaboration of the light sources, and the varied uses to which these complex organs are being put is absolutely astounding.
Many other fascinating details are offered in this book, including, for example, discussions of hearing, smell, feeding behaviors, and annual changes in the oceanic environment. Herring also provides a nice introduction to the fauna at hydrothermal vents. All of this complexity evolved long before terrestrial—small wonder, then, that it is so complex. But the fact that all this variety is created with the same DNA and with similar (but at times quite different) enzymes and proteins leads the attentive reader to wonder about the evolution of the complexity of life on Earth.
There are 11 chapters in The Biology of the Deep Ocean, each ending with "Conclusions." A large bibliography is included, as is a very useful appendix, "Marine Phyla," which is needed by those of us who are not marine biologists.
The book is one of a series of now seven volumes on the "Biology of Habitats." It admirably fulfills the intention of the series editors to produce "attractive texts of design, physiology, ecology, and behavior of organisms in given habitats." Though small, the book is profusely illustrated and is further supported with charts and tables. There isn't much "genetics" per se, but one begins to wonder, while reading about the complexity of oceanic life, just how all of this spectacular life has evolved, and there has been much recent discussion on the mystery of bacterial life at hydrothermal vents, without oxygen and at great heat.
I really enjoyed reading this book and will return to it to better understand specifics that didn't sink in. I recommend it highly to anyone who has even the remotest interest in fish, algae, deep sea bacteria, whales, or other aspects of life hidden from our daily view because it lives in the ocean.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||