The book by marine biologist Helen Scales is dedicated to the most ordinary and mysterious, well-known and in some ways completely unfamiliar creatures - fish. Their fascinatingly interesting life takes place hidden from us, under the surface of the water, in the depths of the ocean and therefore remains largely underestimated and misunderstood by us.

The writer, being a diver, spent hundreds of hours underwater, observing the life of marine inhabitants, and now, as a guide, invites us on a fascinating journey across the seas and oceans, along the rivers of Europe and America, along the reefs and the depths of the sea.

At first glance, fish are mute and deaf creatures. <...> In reality, fish make and hear sounds, but it took people a long time to realize how sonorous the underwater world can be, partly because we are not adapted to hearing with ears filled with water.

We will swim with manta rays and sharks, marvel at the intelligence of cleaner wrasses, and rejoice in the beauty and bizarre habits of a wide variety of fish, from clownfish to piranhas and deep-sea anglers. We will also learn a lot about why deadly poisonous fish do not poison themselves, how fish in a school do not collide with each other, how they manage to avoid the jaws of fast predators, why they draw secret graffiti on their bodies (and who reads them), what sounds they make, and how they made a deal with bacteria to glow and see in the dark.

We will learn that fish are far from the primitive creatures they were once thought to be - they can count, use tools, understand the laws of physics, can solve complex logical problems, have social intelligence, and are capable of cooperation. Fish exhibit behavior that was previously thought to be characteristic only of humans and some primates with large brains.

Underwater soundscapes are very subtle. Recent studies have shown that this is not a chaotic cacophony, fish scream when and how they want: they adjust their voices to the overall sound, like an orchestra creating a melody.

On the pages of the book, we will also meet tireless scientists of the past and present who have dedicated their lives to studying sea creatures, learn about the most ancient fish and how fish learned to live on land. Fascinating, full of a huge number of facts, the book will undoubtedly inspire readers to get to know these amazing creatures better and make them think that they are much smarter and live an incomparably more complex and interesting life than is commonly believed.

Mating rituals of people can also occur with the participation of fish swim bladders. About 100 years ago in Europe, reusable condoms were made from them.

For whom
The book will be of interest to those who are not indifferent to the underwater world and its inhabitants, as well as to everyone who loves the mysterious world of nature that surrounds us.