I think it could have been longer felt like it only scartched the surface of the seahorse in mythical and art context and was a survey from a natural history perspective. Enjoyed it but wished there were more ( )

Very disappointing. Overwrought writing, more about tangential topics than about sea horses themselves (e.g. a huge chunk, almost a chapter, about traditional Chinese medicine) and too much about the author. I may not finish this one. ( )

12. Poseidon's Steed: The Story of Seahorses, From Myth to Reality by Helen Scales
OPD: 2009
format: 272-page kindle ebook
acquired: February 1 read: Feb 1-16 time reading: 8:09, 1.9 mpp
rating: 3
genre/style: Nature theme: naturalisty
locations: lots of oceans
about the author: British marine biologist

This was a miss, a book I read with a Litsy group called #naturalitsy that just wasn't very good.

In my Litsy review I wrote: If you want to learn about historical trends in traditional Chinese medicine, the damage of trawl fishing, the history of fish tanks, sea-animal tourism, collecting, scuba and underwater photography, or about the impact of pollution and climate change on ocean life in general, this is a nice light book. The content on seahorses could maybe be summed up in a short paragraph.

But I did learn three cool facts:

- Seahorses are the only fish with necks.

- Seahorses change colors! This caused a lot of confusion in the science. Before 2004 there were well over a hundred identified seahorse species. But a review published then found a lot of duplicates based on the different skin color and that there were only about 30 known seahorse species.

- Genetics dates the first seahorses to about 16 or 17 million years ago. I thought that was pretty recent.

2023
https://www.librarything.com/topic/348551#8073826 ( )

Read the sample and cant wait to read this book, I am a big fan of Seahorses, and all creatures of myth and mystery. ( )

I first learned about Poseidon's Steed from an interview with the author on the Diane Rehm show in September 2009. Immediately I got home, I added the book to my wishlist on LibraryThing, yet it took me a year and a half to get around to acquiring and reading it.

I am glad that I finally got unlazy about my reading habits and tackled this book. It's an interesting and informative book, not only about seahorses, but about ecology, art, folklore, and natural history. I learned a lot from it, and not just the eternal question of how scientists know it is the male of the species who gives birth (and also why!).

The explanation of seahorse reproduction is fascinating, as are other descriptions of the creature that I had never known - for example, their eyes can look in two different directions, or how they are able to disguise themselves like an octopus: one neon orange seahorse was found off the coast of England and thought to be a new species, until it was noted that it had changed its color to match a submerged plastic object.

To give a full, holistic idea of the seahorse, why it maintains such a mystical position in our culture, and why the many species deserve protection, Scales discusses a variety of subjects that don't necessarily seem to have much in common with them. Yet, ultimately, by learning about various mythologies or the history of aquariums or undersea filming, the reader can more fully appreciate the information Scales does provide. Of course, she also discusses things which directly touch upon the subject of seahorses, such as ocean trawling, seahorse breeding and ranching, and climate change.

The one place where I really fault the author is in her depiction of Chinese Traditional Medicine. While she explains and provides references for how CTM is causing many species to go extinct, and thus chides it for endangering the careful balance and beauty and diversity of nature, she doesn't come out and state that CTM has no basis in science. Undoubtedly, arguing that CTM as based on such ephemeral and spiritual concepts as yin/yang and qi and thus has no business existing in the modern era is a topic that could fill several books, and thus doesn't necessarily belong in a book about seahorses. Yet, Scales doesn't even remotely suggest that one way to conserve seahorses and other species, such as the rhinoceros, would be to discontinue the practice. She repeats the notion that dried seahorses used as charms worn around the neck assist in making childbirth easy and less painful, and that the same seahorses when crushed into powder and ingested can cure incontinence or impotence, and when made into a poultice can cure baldness, but says nothing outright about these being folk beliefs with no basis in science - in fact, she seems to liken the idea that "if some traditional remedies work, then all remedies are worthy", such as willow bark for headaches. Scales also explains how the Chinese government tested various traditional remedies in the 1960s and discovered that a select few had a molecular structure that made them actually useful as remedies (a very few out of how many hundreds or thousands?), which she then seems to take as a "why not?" reason for accepting other TCM.

Despite the nonsense about folkloric medicine in the third chapter, the rest of the book holds strong and moves towards an idea Scales expresses on page 188, just before the epilogue: "Increasingly, seahorses are being used as catalysts for conservation initiatives; they are being held aloft as poster species to help muster support for protecting the oceans. They are touchstones to remind people of the vulnerable, beautiful creatures that live there, giving us a reason to care. Not only that, but in many ways seahorses are the oceans' equivalent of miners' canaries. They are sensitive creatures, thriving only in undamaged habitats in unpolluted waters. ... The idea is that to save seahorses, you need to save the seas, or if you like, the other way around."

It may not be a super happy fun times book about seahorses for someone interested only in them, but a book like that would do a disservice to the reader. Poseidon's Steed is well worth a read, both for learning about the intriguing creature, and for becoming more aware of issues impacting our oceans. ( )