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THERE is no shortage of fascinating candidates for Ellen Prager’s celebration of the oceans’ most bizarre creatures. Among those making an appearance in Sex, Drugs and Sea Slime you will find the ferocious sand tiger shark, which attacks and kills its siblings while still in its mother’s womb; the barreleye fish that sports tubular eyes within a transparent head; and the queen conch, a snail that is endowed with a penis half the length of its body.

Prager makes a case for each animal’s unique value to humankind, but at times her arguments seem a bit hit-or-miss. Coral reefs are indeed important for their potential medicinal benefits, but should we really care about seahorses simply because they were used as a cure for baldness in Roman times?

It’s a great cast of characters, and Prager’s style is accessible and at times amusing. But after a couple of chapters, her efforts to include as many creatures as possible – instead of giving fewer species in-depth treatment – make the book feel less like a manifesto on the marvels of marine animals and more like a futile attempt to list them all.