Victor S Kennedy, Roger I E Newell & Albert F Eble (eds). 1996. The Maryland Seagrant College. ISBN 0-943-647-61-4. 734 pages, 400 illustrations. US$ 95 + $3.50 shipping. Order from Merrill Leffler, Maryland Sea Grant College, 0112 Skinner Hall, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.

Oysters, along with mussels, have been important sources of human food since primitive times and, in a global context, these two taxa dominate commercial exploitation of molluscs today. In addition, the cultivation of oysters probably has a longer history than that of any other invertebrate taxon. Consequently, any major review on oyster biology will attract great interest from biologists with interests in bivalves as well as from oyster producers and aquaculturists. This book is such a review. Its aims are to consolidate, update and extend Galtsoff's classic work, The American Oyster, published in 1964. The United States is the largest producer of oysters and the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, is a major component of this production. As a result of its high economic importance, C. virginica has long been a topic of research which has generated a wide and extensive literature. Because the study of oyster biology is now such a large and complex discipline, each of the 21 chapters of The Eastern Oyster has been written by invited specialists.

Topics covered range from ultrastructural descriptions to the ecology of oyster communities and include: taxonomy (Ch.1); structure and function (Chs. 2-8); reproduction and larval biology (Chs.9&10); cytogenetics, biochemical and population genetics, and genetic improvement (Chs.11, 12 &18); natural and anthropogenic environmental factors (Chs. 13-15); predators, pests and disease (Chs.16-17) and transfer, cultivation and management of natural populations (Chs.19-21).

The first chapter deals with the 'tangled' systematics and taxonomy of oysters by producing an alphabetical catalogue listing current names and synonyms. Chapters dealing with structural and functional aspects of oyster biology are long, detailed and generally furnished with excellent illustrations. They will provide an important resource for oyster specialists as well as students new to the field. Most of these chapters, but in particular those dealing with the complexities of feeding and circulation, gave me a better insight into bivalve function. Chapters dealing with the physiological ecology of C. virginica are also very detailed and examine the diversity of environmental influences on gametogenesis, on the complex sex life of oysters and on larval nutrition and spat settlement. Studies on predators, pests and diseases and the management of natural populations are generally treated more broadly but also pose interesting problems such as the limited success of attempts to introduce C. virginica to other localities despite the accidental co-introduction of gastropod pests such as Crepidula fornicata and Urosalpinx cinerea. Although genetic studies on commercially important bivalves have been undertaken for more than twenty years, information on oysters has not developed to the same extent as that for mussels. Nevertheless, the need to delineate micro- and macrogeographic population structure by means of allozyme and DNA studies and the potential for genetic improvement of C. virginica and other oysters for cultivation, are identified as topics which merit further attention.

Like its subject, this book is a very valuable resource but is not cover to cover reading for anyone other than a reviewer. In general, each chapter stands alone starting from basic principles and develops a detailed account of one topic. The repeated citation and use of illustrations from Galtsoff's 1964 monograph is a tribute to this earlier work as was probably intended. The 21, sometimes very long, chapters would have benefitted from being grouped into distinct areas of study. In addition, areas of overlap (e.g. figs 7 & 8 in Ch. 2 appear as figs 5 & 6 in Ch. 5) would have benefitted from editorial guidance. Notwithstanding these minor criticisms, the text acheives its aims by providing a consolidated body of information which will be of interest to researchers on this and other species of oyster.

Dai Roberts