ANNALES · Ser. hist. nat. · 30 · 2020 · 2 284 OCENE IN POROČILA, 283–286 a glossary of technical terms and abbreviations, and source materials. The book concludes with a factual index of Latin and Croatian names and terms and a brief description of both authors. The book was co-financed by the Croatian Ministry of Science and Education. This monograph is a modern overview of the Adriatic fish fauna, which takes into account all the new records on the emergence of alien species and those associated with the northward spread of ther- mophilic species, which have been discovered and described in recent years. In his monograph, Šoljan presented 365 species, Jardas almost fifty years later 407 species; Dulčić and Kovačić describe as many as 444 species of fish in the Adriatic Sea. The key for the determination of fish species is much clearer and more understandable than in the earlier two monographs, which in most cases promises a correct identification to every reader. The book is a 680-page hard cover. The cost of the book is 320 Croatian kunas (just over 40 euros), making it accessible to the general public as well as experts, all who are in- terested in exploring the richness of the Adriatic fish fauna, offering good prospects that readers will be able to recognise every species they find in their hands. Lovrenc Lipej Marine Biology Station Piran, National Institute of Biology Book review: KNIGHTS, BALLERINAS AND INVISIBLES: THE DECAPOD CRUSTACEANS OF THE BRIJUNI MARINE PROTECTED AREA Authors: Roland Melzer, Felica Ceseña, Moira Buršić, Tobias Lehmann, Roland Mayer, Borut Mavrič, Tihomir Makovec, Martin Pfannkuchen, Jessica McHenry & Martin Heß Editor: Javna ustanova Nacionalni park Brijuni, Schwarzprint, 123 pp., 2019. The book can be purchased for 20 euros by sending mail to: infombp@nib.si At the end of last year, a monographic work with the poetic title Knights, Ballerinas and Invisibles – The Decapod Crustaceans of the Brijuni Marine Protected Area was published by ten researchers: from Germany, Croatia, Austria, Slovenia, and the USA, led by Prof. Roland Melzer. The international research group had been conducting studies on va- rious aspects of marine biodiversity of the Brijuni National Park (NW Croatia) for many years. The book, which dedicates particular interest to deca- pods (Crustacea: Decapoda), has 123 pages and is enriched with quality photographs of shrimps, crabs, and other members of this taxonomic group. The way in which the authors present individual groups of decapod crabs is also interesting: we read about knights with strong armours, ballerinas, and ghosts - masters of disguise. The ballerinas are the shrimps, which the authors saw as dancing on the seabed, lobsters are squires, and crabs are dark knights. The introductory chapter with the definition of decapod crustaceans, description of their body structure, and an evolutionary and systematic review, is followed by an extensive presentation of the species found in Brijuni, which covers the largest part of the publication. In addition to the lavish photographic material (213 colour images), the book is furnished with elegant and extremely elaborate illustrations of the external anatomical features of decapod crustaceans (28 BW and colour images). Higher taxonomical groups are presented in subchapters, each opening with a presentation ANNALES · Ser. hist. nat. · 30 · 2020 · 2 285 OCENE IN POROČILA, 283–286 of the typical characteristic of the higher taxon, and continuing with a basic description of each species, stating the morphological features useful for its distinction from similar species, and pro- viding information on its habitat preferences and typical biological and ecological characteristics. The photographs of the species in their typical natural environments are also very helpful. The monograph is an excellent identification tool for many decapod crustaceans. Although dea- ling with the decapod fauna present in the Brijuni archipelago, it will also be handy in identifying shrimps and crabs in the Slovenian coastal sea and broader northern Adriatic. I am confident that it will be of great use to researchers, biology students, underwater photographers, divers, and amateur naturalists alike. I congratulate the authors on publishing the monograph, and the administration of the Brijuni National Park on their valuable support in the pu- blishing process. Two Slovenian researchers from the Marine Biology Station of the National Institute of Biology (Piran), Borut Mavrič and Tihomir Ma- kovec, both skilled divers, also contributed. This scientific monograph includes all the information expected by students in the field, but also uses imagination to perhaps retrieve the wonder that humans who first came upon various aquatic (and terrestrial) animals surely were su- ffused with. Lovrenc Lipej Marine Biology Station Piran, National Institute of Biology Book review: BIODIVERZITETA BIOGENIH FORMACIJ. ZAKLADNICA NARAVE SLOVENSKEGA MORJA Authors: Lovrenc Lipej, Martina Orlando-Bonaca, Valentina Pitacco, Borut Mavrič Založnik: Nacionalni inštitut za biologijo, Morska biološka postaja Piran, 2020, 230 str. Pred nami je knjiga, ki bo razveselila vse, ki bi radi izvedeli več o življenju v našem morju. Slovenci smo veliki ljubitelji morja, v hladnem in deževnem vremenu pogosto sanjamo o počitnicah na morskih obalah. Nekateri radi pokukajo pod morsko gladino in želijo bolje spoznati pestrost živih bitij, a pogosto podcenjujejo bogastvo ži- vljenja v našem delu Jadranskega morja. Nekatere značilnosti in posebnosti tega najsevernejšega dela Sredozemskega morja nam razkrivajo raziskovalci Morske biološke postaje Nacionalnega inštituta za biologijo v pričujoči knjigi. Razveseljivo je, da se s tem množijo spoznanja o biotski pestrosti našega morja, nove vsebine pa bogatijo tudi slovenski jezik. Avtorji nam najprej predstavijo različne bioge- ne formacije in opozarjajo na pomen teh skalna- tih osamelcev (v sicer prevladujoče muljastem in peščenem življenjskem okolju severnega Jadrana) za biotsko raznovrstnost. Osnovne podatke o bi- ogenih formacijah v slovenskem morju so podali v zelo informativni preglednici, nato pa kratko opisali okolja, v katerih se pojavljajo. Zatem se posvetijo podrobnemu opisu posameznih vrst biogenih formacij. Tako spoznamo gruče, gre- bene cevkarjev, “trezze” in “tegnùe”, slednje so posebnost tudi v Sredozemskem morju. Posebna pozornost avtorjev je namenjena grebenom sre- dozemske kamene korale (Cladocora caespitosa) in koraligenim algam, ki so ključni biogradniki sekundarnega trdnega dna v našem morju. Po- drobno so predstavili predele s kameno koralo in z njimi povezane organizme. Zanimiv je prikaz odnosa med številom vrst nevretenčarjev in rib ter velikostjo kolonij kamene korale. V slovenskem morju sta dve večji biogeni formaciji, in sicer pred rtom Ronek in pred Debelim rtičem. Obe sta povezani s kameno koralo, saj ju v veliki meri tvorijo njeni odmrli koraliti; pomemben gradnik so tudi koraligene alge, med njimi predvsem rde- če alge (Rhodophyta). V naslednjih treh sklopih vsebin so se avtorji posvetili ključnim biološkim procesom, ki vplivajo na dinamiko biogenih formacij. Opisali so zara- ščanje trdnih struktur, naseljevanje planktonskih ličink in privabljanje drugih organizmov; ti pro- cesi prispevajo k nastajanju novih bivalnih niš. Z biogenimi formacijami so povezani različni rastli- nojedi in plenilski organizmi. Avtorji ob tem zgo- ščeno razložijo tudi različne življenjske strategije od prikrivanja do sobivanja. Opozorili so tudi na kriptobentoške habitate in zaenkrat še ne dovolj znane kriptobentoške organizme, med katerimi so posebej predstavljene ribe. Osrednji in najobširnejši del knjige zavze- majo predstavitve rastlinskih in živalskih vrst, ki so na različne načine povezane z biogenimi formacijami. Predstavljeni organizmi so združeni po širših taksonomskih skupinah, opisane so njihove značilnosti in življenjska okolja, ki jih ti organizmi naseljujejo. Dodani so tudi podatki o pogostosti pojavljanja in o ogroženosti vrst. Med 130 opisanimi vrstami je 18 vrst alg, med njimi največ rdečih, po 14 vrst spužev, mnogoščetincev