2002. 73 A4 size pp (26 plates) UK price £17.50 incl. p+p; overseas price £20.00 incl. p+p.

from Anna Holmes, The Department of Biodiversity and SystematicBiology, National Museum of Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NP, UK. Enquiries : anna...@nmgw.ac.uk

The Thyasiridae have become important organisms in environmental impact assessments because of their chemosymbiosis and association with anthropogenic sources of hydrocarbons. This publication provides keys and illustrations of the twelve species in shelf waters around the British Isles , the North Sea and adjacent regions.

New information on Norwegian nudibranchs

Species of Nudibranchia and their distribution along the Norwegian coast are poorly investigated: G.O. Sars published some information in 1878, P. Lyning in 1922, and M. Larsen in 1925 from the Oslofjord, Odhner in the 20s and 30s (from the Trondheimsfjord in 1926). This fjord was also covered in a book containing illustrations of nudibranchs by the late Henning Lemche in 1985.

Jussi Evertsen wrote his masters thesis (in Norwegian) in 2000 on nudibanchs in the Trondheimsfjord compared with species from Spitzbergen.  Now he, together with Mr Torkild Bakken, both working at the Museum of Natural History and Archaeology at NTNU in Trondheim, have produced a publication in English:  Heterobranchia (Mollusca, Gastropoda) from northern Norway, with notes on ecology and distribution. The article is published in Fauna norwegica 22 (2002): 15-22.

During a diving expedition to eight localities in the counties of Finnmark (4), Troms (1) and Nordland (3), they found 25 heterobranchiate taxa. 19 of these were expected in the different localities investigated, but Cutona pustulosa, C. viridis and Eubranchus pallidus had their northern distribution limit considerably extended northwards and Flabellina nobilis likewise southwards.

2002,  Zoology Dept, Natural History Museum, London, £3.50.

An eight page leaflet on plastic coated card, with all native Sri Lankan genera illustrated in colour photographs which will allow recognition of the major groups. A product of a Darwin Initiative sponsored project., this publication should raise awareness of a fascinating but long neglected fauna.

Available from the Museums bookshop.

The Dutch malacological society, NMV, following the discontinuation of Vita Marina, have decided to produce a successor, Vita Malacologica. This will be published in English once a year, with each issue devoted to one theme, and an opportunity for papers up to 64 pp. including colour plates. The first volume is devoted to Stromboidea, with articles on Stromboidea from NW Borneo (H. Raven), Tibia in Yemen (H Dekker),recent Tibia-like gastropods (G C Kronenberg & A W Burger), new genera of Indo-Pacific Strombidae (G C Kronenberg & G J Vermeij) and revision of Euprotomus (G C Kronenberg).

Membership of NMV with Spirula newsletter, Basteria and Vita Malacologica is 52 in Europe, 57 or $57 outside Europe. Payments to the Treasurer, Sporkenhout 4, NL-2211 PL Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands.

Wiedenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-82532-1. 415 pp. £30. (2002)

These two weighty tomes are both extensively illustrated with colour photographs and illustrations. Hart-Davis devotes 201 pages to mammals, wild, farmed, domestic, and re-introduced Ð a good guide to the various breeds; Buczacki covers them in 113. Buczacki take 181 pages for birds, Hart-Davis takes 77. Hart-Davis covers other vertebrates in 41 pages, Buczacki in 83. That leaves Buczacki 96 pages for invertebrates, with 20 on molluscs, while Hart-Davis covers Insects etc. in 30 pages, including 3 slugs and 2 snails but has 3 pages on marine molluscs under fish. The essence of Buczackis book is on folklore, custom, tradition, language and literature. So there are limpet mines and winkle-picker shoes; a snail race, a discourse on the word slug, the Galway Oyster Festival, and the problems of snails eating letters in rural post boxes. In contrast, Hart-Davis makes little comment on tradition, but provides a historical basis and odd facts of natural history - although he states male common octopus can grow to 25 kg. Odd that two contemporaneous books on the same subject should have so little overlap in content.

Number 11 is now available for downloading as a pdf file from http://www.hawaii.edu/ccrt/tentacle.html . Numbers 9 and 10 are also available as pdf files.