‘XINGU – BELOW WATER’ BY OLIVER LUCANUS AND LEANDRO SOUSA
Reviewed by: Steven Grant
Price: £120 from cefishessentials.com
More info: belowwater.com When I heard that this book was being released, I signed up for it immediately, without even knowing specifics—the chances were high that it would be a beautiful testimony to the Xingu basin; a place filled with beautiful and interesting catfishes, that is sadly under threat. I can honestly say that I was not mistaken.
Whilst some casual book buyers may consider it relatively expensive, it is large, being 28x28cm (11x11in), with a beautiful front and back cover, and has a lovely weighty feel. 215 fish species are shown in their natural habitat, across 348 pages, adorned by 530 unique photographs. Available in the USA and Canada for US$85 + $15 shipping (USA), C$115 + $20 shipping (Canada), one could be tempted, due to the size and the lavish array of beautiful photographs, to call it a coffee-table book. One could certainly have it on display for casual reading (perhaps showing off), or wondering at the photographs, and it would be a great feature for any fishkeeper’s or scientist’s coffee-table. However, classifying the book solely as such would be doing it an injustice.
The title of the book is similar to that of Oliver’s previous book Amazon – Below Water, but the title of this new book (like the previous one) is particularly apt. If you are expecting a scientific catalogue of fish species then you may be disappointed (although one of these is forthcoming), but that disappointment will soon change to wonder. The book truly is the Xingu below water.
The authors’ clear intent is to take the reader on a visual and literary riparian and underwater journey from the mouth of the river at its confluence with the legendary Amazon River, to the many tributaries. Each section has a chapter detailing the biotopes and all that live in them, not just fishes. Some of the photographs are so stunning that I exclaimed ‘wow!’ out loud. These are not perfectly lateral photos in photo tanks, or of preserved specimens; these are photographs of the Xingu basin and its inhabitants, some of them from above water, but as the title states, most of them below. Even photographs that appear blurred are included—in some of the sections of the river, that is what it looks like when diving the fast-flowing water. The pictures and the words help transport the reader right there,
