Tiny Beautiful Creatures in the Water: An Encyclopedia of Small Benthos and PlanktonBook review
Yasuhide Nakamura, Hiroshi Yamazaki, Hayato Tanaka (eds.)
Asakura Publishing, Publication Date: August 1, 2025, 12,100 yen (tax included)
This book can be described as a passionate introductory guide to microscopic aquatic creatures (referred to in this book as "small benthos-plankton") by a young researcher fascinated by them.
As stated in the "Introduction" at the beginning, this book comprehensively introduces aquatic organisms of the so-called "microscopic size," ranging from a few millimeters to about 10 centimeters. After benthos and plankton are explained in the introduction, nearly 300 pages are devoted to detailed discussions of each taxonomic group. Although broadly divided into unicellular and multicellular organisms, if archaea, bacteria, and cyanobacteria are counted individually, the number of taxonomic groups discussed in detail reaches 49. Including the various taxonomic groups of Arthropoda, which have a large number of species, the total reaches 59. Furthermore, for all taxonomic groups, photographs of representative species that clearly show their overall appearance are included.
I am amazed at how meticulous it is, considering that its comprehensiveness is so vast as to cover almost all the taxonomic groups proposed in recent years, yet it was successfully compiled by just three young editors. Furthermore, what contributes to the book's heft are the half-page mini-columns attached to the specific chapters, to which as many as 86 authors contributed. (Each specific chapter consists of sections on representative species photos, phylogenetic classification, and structure, in addition to this mini-column, and separately, two-page "main columns" are provided throughout.) These cover a wide range of topics from environmental DNA analysis to symbiosis and bioluminescence, and I surmise this is the result of the editors' passion—wanting to broadly communicate the charm of small benthos and plankton—having spread to the authors.
To call this book a pictorial book would be premature. As stated in the "Introduction," this book is essentially an encyclopedia aimed at introducing "small benthos and plankton" to the general public, and the species listed for each taxonomic group are limited to representative ones. However, considering that the book's role is that of an introductory guide, this is quite sufficient. There are plenty of more detailed pictorial books for each taxonomic group from all times and places. When you encounter a "mysterious" small aquatic organism in the field, the proper way to use this book is to first get a rough idea of its taxonomic group using this encyclopedia, and leave the detailed examination of species to specialized pictorial books.
The reviewer has been involved in teaching marine practical training at several universities, and whenever observing "small benthos and plankton," almost without fail, mysterious creatures were encountered. They are often difficult to find in existing field guides, and in many cases, end up as "unknowns." The value of this book lies in the fact that it is a Japanese-language publication introducing "small benthos and plankton"—something that has barely existed in Japanese until now—and can also be used as a textbook when encountering such organisms during field training. There is no doubt that in the future, this book will dramatically reduce students' questions of "unknown" that arise during marine practical training at various locations, and in that sense, the objective of generally promoting the understanding of the diversity of small benthos and plankton is brilliantly achieved.
As a minor aside, the book features illustrations throughout that appear to be created by the editors themselves, some of which, such as the Portuguese man-o'-war, are somewhat rough around the edges. However, this very fact serves as evidence of the editors' "passion" to convey the charm of small benthos and plankton to readers, and in no way detracts from the value of the book. It is my hope that this book reaches as many zoology students as possible and serves as a guidepost to the vast world of small aquatic biology.
Masanori Okanishi (Faculty of Human Environments, Hiroshima Shudo University)
Small, beautiful creatures in the water: Small benthos and plankton encyclopedia (PDF file)
