Rays are among the largest fishes in the sea and have colonized all oceans. The first cousins of sharks, rays evolved from early Mesozoic or late Paleozoic shark-like ancestors. They also share with sharks many life history traits-all are carnivores or scavengers-and a multitude of morphological and anatomical characters, such as their skeletons built of cartilage. There are six families and 633 valid named species of rays, but additional undescribed species exist for many groups. Our knowledge of many of the ray species is based on only a small number of individuals, and few of them have been researched well enough to gain even a basic understanding of their biology and life history. The insights gained from molecular analyses of more than three-quarters of living ray species, combined with reinvigorated morphological investigations, have led to many changes in both ray classification and the underpinning species diversity. The recognition of whole new families and genera of rays, and many newly described species, have resulted from this research. In the last century, growth in the trade of rays for food, fins, leather, and curios has fueled increasing prices and demand for them in many countries. This has driven significant increases in ray take by commercial fisheries globally, particularly in the tropical Indo-Pacific. The largely unconstrained growth in ray catch, low productivity of most ray species, and general lack of management of their fisheries has lead to growing concern over the sustainability of stocks throughout the world. Rays of the World is the first complete pictorial atlas of the world's ray fauna and features paintings of more than six hundred species by the fish artist Lindsay Marshall. This comprehensive overview documents the world's ray fauna and promotes wider public interest in the group. It also provides general identifying features and distributional information about this iconic, but surprisingly poorly known, group of fishes. A valuable collection of paintings of all living rays (as well as sharks) has been compiled as part of a multinational research initiative (Chondrichthyan Tree of Life Project) to gain a better understanding of the diversity and evolution of this group. Images sourced from around the planet have been used by the artist to illustrate all of the rays found in oceans and some tropical freshwaters of the world.

When a baby is stolen from a Scottish beach, private investigator Charlie Cameron reluctantly agrees to take the case.While her parents are just yards away, thirteen-month-old Lily Hamilton is abducted from Ayr beach in Scotland. Three days later, her distraught father turns up at private investigator Charlie Cameron's office. Mark Hamilton believes he knows who has taken his daughter. And why. Against his better judgment, Charlie takes the case-and when bodies are discovered, he suspects this may not be an isolated crime. Is there a serial killer whose work has gone undetected for decades? Is baby Lily his latest victim? Charlie won't be able to give up on this case. Memories and guilt from his childhood won't let him... Owen Mullen is a best-selling author of psychological and gangland thrillers. His fast-paced, twist-aplenty stories are perfect for all fans of Robert Galbraith, Ian Rankin and Ann Cleeves. What readers say about Owen Mullen: 'Owen Mullen knows how to ramp up the action just when it's needed... he never fails to give you hard-hitting thrillers that have moments that will stay with you forever...' 'One of the very best thriller writers I have ever read.' 'Owen Mullen writes a good story, he really brings his characters to life and the endings are hard to guess and never what you expected.'

Silver Nautilus Book Award Winner "Best Book About the Environment" by Chicago Review of Books An ode to marine life and the natural world, these essays reveal the elusive lives of whales in the Pacific Ocean-home to orcas, humpbacks, blue, gray, and sperm whales Leigh Calvez has spent a dozen years researching, observing, and probing the lives of the giants of the deep. Here, she relates the stories of nature's most remarkable creatures, including the familial orcas in the waters of Washington State and British Columbia; the migratory humpbacks; the ancient, deep-diving blue whales, the largest animals on the planet. The lives of these whales are conveyed through the work of dedicated researchers who have spent decades tracking them along their secretive routes that extend for thousands of miles, gleaning their habits and sounds and distinguishing peculiarities. Calvez author invites the reader onto a small research catamaran maneuvering among 100-foot long blue whales off the coast of California; or to join the task of monitoring patterns of humpback whale movements at the ocean surface: tail throw, flipper slap, fluke up, or blow. To experience whales is breathtaking. To understand their lives deepens our connection with the natural world.