title: Killers of the Seas: The Dangerous Creatures that Threaten Man in an Alien Environment
author:  Edward R. Ricciuti 
description: <DIV>Killers of the Seas is a rousing, scientifically sound survey of all the sea creatures that instill dread in the hearts of humans. Edward Ricciuti, a science writer with a passion for scuba diving and oceanographic expeditions, has swum eye-to-eye with a killer whale, tagged and captured sharks, and had numerous tense exchanges with barracuda, moray eels, and stingrays.<BR>Supplementing his own experiences with interviews that feature scores of the world's leading marine biologists, Ricciuti explores the latest research and the lingering legends of oceanic and freshwater predators including: sharks and shark attacks (including the little-known horned goblin shark); the incredibly venomous Japanese puffer fish ("fugu" when cooked); the ominous migrations of Pacific sea snakes through the Panama Canal; the aquatic Borgia, a tiny blue-ringed octopus that can kill a man in seconds; the monsters of the seas - legendary, prehistoric, and possibly still alive and well.<BR>Killers of the Seas also includes the fascinating evolutionary and environmental factors that make these creatures and many others behave as they do.<BR><BR></DIV>
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The Market in Aliens
  
  
  by Barry N. Malzberg
  
  
  The first thing I did when I brought the alien home from auction was to plop
  him right into the tub. No sense in taking chances, even though they had
  assured me as usual that he was strong enough to exist out of the aqueous
  environment for several days. These were the same boys who had learned only
  after a lot of trial and error that they needed an aqueous environment in the
  first place, of course. The one thing I couldn't take would be an alien dying
  on me right off, and thanks to the liars and cheats who run these farces,
  there's a lot of precedent.
  
  
  The next thing I did, after I established that he was going to lie there
  quietly, breathing slowly, turning the water their characteristic black, was
  to make a strong drink and call Intercontinental. I didn't even want to _try_
  making conversation with him; I had gone through that with the earlier ones,
  and it always came down to the same frustration, backed by whistling. S