Coral Reefs: A Natural History by Charles Sheppard is an illustrated look at corals and the reefs they build around the world, and the causes and dire consequences of their rapid disappearance.

Corals are among the most varied lifeforms on Earth, ranging from mushroom corals and leather corals to button polyps, sea fans, anemones, and pulse corals. Bridging the gap between plant and animal, these marine invertebrates serve as homes to reef fish and share symbiotic relationships with photosynthesizing algae, which provide corals with their nourishment.

Features:

• 200 exquisite colour photos
• Key aspects of corals and their natural history
• Representative examples from around the world
• Photos of rare and unusual species

This stunningly illustrated book profiles the astonishing diversity of the world’s coral groups, describing key aspects of their natural history and explaining why coral reefs are critical to the health of our oceans. Representative examples of corals have been selected to illustrate the broad range of species, and the book’s lively and informative commentary covers everything from identification to conservation, making it an essential resource for marine biologists, divers, and anyone who is fascinated by these remarkable sea creatures.

This hardback book is absolutely packed with information covering a huge amount of material. It is easy to read and well illustrated and covers topics including coral biology, distribution, conservation and much more. It is the sort of book that I like to have close to hand, to dip into regularly, to learn a new fact about coral, to open up when looking for specific reef information and sometimes just to enjoy the beautiful images. It is a book that works on this, less technical, level but is also an excellent resource for marine biologists who need to know about the intricacies of coral biology.

The book covers the huge list of dangers that reefs face today and how people are working to protect them. It looks at artificial reef structures and the marine life that lives on them. There are chapters on reef fish and sharks and how the diverse species living on the reefs interact.

I particularly enjoyed the opening chapters on coral biology, learning about their structure, symbiotic relationships and how they build the incredible structures that I see when I go diving. I will never look at a coral reef in the same way again and will marvel even more at their beauty and complexity.

Coral Reefs: A Natural History

Charles Sheppard

Hardcover | £28.00 | 9780691198682 | 240 pages | 8 x 10 in. | 200 colour photos

Publication date: 17 August 2021

About the Author

Charles Sheppard is professor emeritus of life sciences at the University of Warwick. His books include The Biology of Coral Reefs and Coral Reefs: A Very Short Introduction.

Consultant editor Russell Kelley is the author of the Indo Pacific Coral Finder and the Reef Finder. He is program director of the Coral Identification Capacity Building Program, which provides training in coral identification around the world.