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 Clam diversity in the northern Pacific -important new study Eugene Coan, Paul, V. Scott & Frank R. Bernard. 2000. Bivalve Seashells of Western North America. Marine Bivalve Mollusks from Arctic Alaska to Baja California. Santa
Barbara Museum of Natural History Monographs Number 2. 764pp. ISBN 0-936494-30-1.
Because it trends roughly north-south with a narrow continental shelf and has a relatively well-studied molluscan fauna the western coast of north America has long been and continues to be the focus of studies of biogeographic provinces and latitudinal gradients in diversity. Despite this interest it surprising that there no comprehensive work exists concerning the systematics of bivalve fauna of this region. This lack is remedied by the publication of this huge and weighty new volume. The book covers the bivalve fauna of the western north American coast from the northern Arctic coast of Alaska south to Baja California, Mexico, a latitudinal range of around 44 degrees and with a depth range from the high intertidal to bathyal and abyssal depths. Some 472 species from 66 families are described and illustrated with over a thousand black and white photographs of the shells. The book also includes descriptions of three new species and 23 non-native species. Work on the book was initiated by Frank Bernard and he had nearly completed a second draft by the time he died in 1989; thereafter distinguished West Coast systematists Gene Coan and Paul Scott brought the book to fruition with extensive work on the species descriptions and illustrations. Introductory sections include a history of bivalve research in the area, a seventeen page summary of bivalve anatomy and a chapter concerning bivalves of economic importance. There is a key to superfamilies which uses clearly labelled photographs of the characters used as a guide. The meat of the book comprises the systematic descriptions of superfamilies, families, genera and species and these are consistently excellent and a model of clarity. All species are illustrated with black and white photographs of the exterior and interior, with SEMís for the small species. Many of the species are well illustrated for the first time. Key references to systematics and biology are cited with each family, genus and species. Small vignette illustrations of the anatomy of different genera are scattered throughout the text. There are no keys for genera and species but tables listing discriminatory characters are given in many families. For instance the tricky and numerous north Pacific Macoma species have a table plus extra drawings of the features of shell interiors and outline drawings. There is a huge bibliography of more than 4700 entries which is a major literature source for all aspects of bivalve biology and systematics. Particularly noteworthy is the extensive and valuable coverage of Russian literature from the North Pacific. This bibliography is available on a ProCite database. A useful glossary defines nomenclatural terms and another explains anatomical and ecological terms although I failed to find "discrepant" or "idiomorphic" which are used in the text. Finally an appendix lists source data for all the illustrated specimens. This is a work of great scholarship which will become a major source book not only for the northern Pacific but for bivalve systematics globally. The comprehensive coverage of all the species including the very smallest and insignificant, the huge geographical area covered and the wealth of detail make this an outstandingly important work. Publications such as this act as a catalyst for further research and, indeed, a paper concerning diversity gradients using data from this book has already been published. Outside of the northern Pacific the book will be highly valued for the clarity of the generic descriptions and illustrations which in general and importantly in the case of difficult families such as the Galeommatidae and Lasaeidae are a considerable improvement on those in the "Treatise" the "first-stop" standard taxonomic source for generic diagnoses. Finally, the authors have unearthed a great quotation from the Memoirs of Casanova (1725-1798) which is a salutary warning to all systematists - "I also had the misfortune of meeting here a very learned man of a very wearisome kind; he knew the names of ten thousand shells by heart, and I was obliged to listen to him for two hours, although I was totally ignorant of his science." John Taylor The Evolutionary Biology of the Bivalvia. Editors: E.M.Harper, J.D.Taylor & J.A.Crame. Geological Society Special Publication No. 177. ISBN 1-86239-076-2. December 2000. Hardback. 494 pages. List price £99/US$165. Discount price for GSL and Malacological society members £45/US$73. This volume arises from the symposium on bivalves organised by The Malacological Society of London in September 1999, the first international bivalve meeting for over 20 years. It contains 32 diverse papers (see enclosed flyer for details - also special offer for members). The introductory paper (by the three editors) gives the raison díetre for the meeting and for the volume, summarises the entire contents and looks forward. As they comment, "the abundance of diversity of both Recent and fossil bivalves has made them attractive subjects for both zoologists and palaeontologists". The contents reflect this broad range of interests. Remaining papers fall (roughly) into the following groups: classification and phylogeny (10 papers); form and function (11 papers)- biodiversity and biogeography (4 papers); ecological and evolutionary trends (6 papers). Each group contains papers on both living and fossil bivalves and one of the main benefits of the meeting was the continued interchange of ideas between zoologists and palaeontologists. Perhaps now we should add "molecular biologists" to the mix, since one of the most significant developments in recent years has been the application of molecular techniques to taxonomy. Two papers consider the molecular phylogeny of bivalves. Both attempt to reconcile this with morphology, and seem to conclude that the morphologists were generally right all along and that there is good agreement between the two methods. Though there are some unresolved issues it seems that they are converging on an agreed classification. Another method in vogue is cladistic analysis and several papers utilise cladistic analysis in attempts to resolve relationships within groups of bivalves. Listing and commenting on all papers in such an extensive range is rather pointless. Suffice it to say that they are all authoritative and that this volume will be a standard work for many years to come. The authors, editors and publishers are to be congratulated on swift publication. As one expects of the Geological Society, the book is very well produced, though the full price is a little intimidating! At the offer price it represents excellent value! Hugh Jones, University of Manchester Book
News: Marine Shells of The Seychelles Alan G Jarrett 172 pages, hardcover, 305-235 mm. September 2000. ISBN 1-903479-00-2. £39.99 (20% discount to Society members + post and packaging). Carole Green Publishing, 4 Station Road, Swavesey, Cambridge CB4 5QJ. Tel: 01954 204704, Fax: 01954 206040; Email: cag....@virgin.net The Seychelles comprises about 100 islands distributed over an area of more than 400,000 square miles of the Western Indian Ocean. The author is a zoologist who, while working in the Seychelles, amassed a substantial collection of shells together with comprehensive records of their distribution and habitats. The book contains detailed descriptions and high quality photographs of more than 500 gastropods and over 100 bivalves, largely from specimens collected by the author. Many of the photographs are by Kim Sewell a teacher and gifted amateur photographer. The size of the shell for each species is found in the description. Useful sections on the distribution, collection, cleaning, and presentation of specimens are included, and the glossary offers clear explanation of all the technical terms used in the text. The author is aware that molluscan taxonomy has moved on since the structure of this book was established but has decided not to change it, recognising that any revision would soon become outdated as our understanding of the relationships between the groups continues to develop. (compiled from publisher's information) Geological Society Online bookshop Website: http://bookshop.geolsoc.org.uk This site shows the selection of books currently available. Sales only aply to orders placed and pre-paid on the internet. The full catalogue of special publications, journals and geologistsí association field guides is available from: Geological
Society Publishing House, Email: dawn...@geolsoc.org.uk (Sales) Three Mail Order Booksellers specialising in molluscs and natural history Dr
W Backhuys, PO Box 321 Tel:
+31-71-5170208 Naturama C.P.29 (Succ.26) - 90100 Palermo, Italy Fax:
+39+091.671.35.68 NHBS Ltd 2-3 Wills Road, Totnes, Devon TQ9 5XN, UK Tel:
+44 1803 865913
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