This is not a literary classic, but it certainly is a comprehensive account of everything that ever dipped its toes into the sea. If Jaws gave you nightmares, don’t read the sections about the jellyfish with four human-like eyes, or the blobs of gigantic single cells at the very very bottom. The sex life of some of these things is even worse than their eating habits. So, why am I glad I read it? I write science fiction, and the seemingly infinite variety of these creatures, and the extreme habitats they live in, makes me more sure than ever that my cast of alien characters is perfectly plausible. ( )