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Marine plants of the Caribbean. A field guide from Florida to Brazil
Aquaculture,
89 (1990)
387
387-390
Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam
Book Reviews MARINE PLANTS OF THE CARIBBEAN
Marine Plants of the Caribbean. Afield guide from Florida to Brazil. Diane S.
Littler, Mark M. Littler, Katina E. Bucher and James N. Norris. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, 1989.263 pp., US$l4.95. Most persons, be they biologists or non-biologist tourists to tropical waters, are usually attracted to the colorful fish, and the coral “gardens” that they encounter while swimming. Rarely do they examine the user-friendly marine algae that don’t have spines that could be poisonous, stinging nematocysts, or sharp teeth. In part, this might be because there are few references on seaweeds that can be taken to the sandy or wet seashore, while there are numerous fish and coral guides. So although the Caribbean is rather well-known in terms of a seaweed flora, the presentation of the plants has never before been made more attractive, or easy to carry around in a book that could easily be added to a bag holding swimming and scuba gear. The authors are members of the Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institution staff who are excellent divers, photographers and marine botanists. They spend parts of each year on algal research at Belize in the western Caribbean, and have taken advantage of days when the water was especially clear to photograph species in their natural habitats, from viewpoints that show their best characteristics. There were hundreds of pictures taken, from which the final 2 16 were chosen. In general, the photographs and their color renditions are superior to any of the comparable books now available, and certainly on a par with the best of the “coffee-table” type (large sized volumes that focus on the beauty of the photograph rather than the characteristics that would help one recognize a species). There are only two taxa that I think could have been better photographed for easier identification: Siphonocladus tropicus and Colpomenia sinuosa. The latter species can be described as “lumpy”, but lumps have different shapes and sizes; it wouldn’t be easy to choose a “typical” lump. On the other hand, those pinkish-white, gelatinous look-alike algae Trichogloeopsis pedicellata and Liagora mucosa become distinct species in their photographs. The taxa are arranged by general form or shape within each major algal division: thin, sheetlike or tubular; finely branched and delicate; coarse usually branched, and saclike; thick, leathery and rubbery; jointed or crustose
388
with hard layers. This kind of arrangement is similar to grouping flowering plant taxa as herbaceous, woody, bushes or trees, and should prove to be helpful to non-botanists. A general introduction gives information on habitats, some hints on how to look at a seaweed, and following the photographs of 204 kinds of algae and five common seagrasses, a short, helpful chapter on taking pictures underwater. Any one who is even only marginally interested in marine algae who is going to the Caribbean ought to pack a copy of this useful book next to the swimming suit. Whether you get wet or not, you’ll be amazed at how much you will learn! ISABELLA A. ABBOTT Department of Botany, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, U.S.A.
SURVEY OF AQUACULTURE
IN NORTH AMERICA
A Regional Survey of the Aquaculture Sector in North America including Canada, Greenland and the UnitedStates ofAmerica. Craig B. Kensler. ADCP/ REP/89/37, F.A.O., Rome, 1989.52 pp. This report is part of a series produced by the Aquaculture Development and Co-ordination Program of F.A.O., which examines, in a general way, the status of aquaculture in various regions of the world. According to the author, the North American Report is based on a brief desk-top study, and does not pretend to be complete or up to date. It is neither. Granted, the author apologises for errors and omissions and expresses a hope that they may be corrected in a later survey. He also invites correspondents to notify ADCP of errors, omissions, and new information. There are no acknowledgements, and one therefore assumes that no attempt was made to verify, augment or update any of the information which came to the author’s attention. Aquaculture is a dynamic and rapidly evolving industry; however, this alone seems poor justification for rushing into print. In the circumstances one wonders what value the report could realistically have, and which “...administrator, executive, or manager.. .” would care to make use of it. Commercial aquaculture is developing rapidly in both the U.S. and Canada, where there is also at least a century of experience in fish culture for wild stock enhancement. The report illustrates, but does not comment on, the different methods of reporting these two activities in the two countries. (There is no fish culture of consequence in Greenland. ) In general, commercially cultured species are reported by tonnage in Canada, and by dollar value in the U.S., whereas fish cultured for enhancement are reported by count. With the exception of the production tables listed at the end of the document (F.A.O. sources), the ligures reported are not consistently current, those in
89 (1990)
387
387-390
Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam
Book Reviews MARINE PLANTS OF THE CARIBBEAN
Marine Plants of the Caribbean. Afield guide from Florida to Brazil. Diane S.
Littler, Mark M. Littler, Katina E. Bucher and James N. Norris. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, 1989.263 pp., US$l4.95. Most persons, be they biologists or non-biologist tourists to tropical waters, are usually attracted to the colorful fish, and the coral “gardens” that they encounter while swimming. Rarely do they examine the user-friendly marine algae that don’t have spines that could be poisonous, stinging nematocysts, or sharp teeth. In part, this might be because there are few references on seaweeds that can be taken to the sandy or wet seashore, while there are numerous fish and coral guides. So although the Caribbean is rather well-known in terms of a seaweed flora, the presentation of the plants has never before been made more attractive, or easy to carry around in a book that could easily be added to a bag holding swimming and scuba gear. The authors are members of the Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institution staff who are excellent divers, photographers and marine botanists. They spend parts of each year on algal research at Belize in the western Caribbean, and have taken advantage of days when the water was especially clear to photograph species in their natural habitats, from viewpoints that show their best characteristics. There were hundreds of pictures taken, from which the final 2 16 were chosen. In general, the photographs and their color renditions are superior to any of the comparable books now available, and certainly on a par with the best of the “coffee-table” type (large sized volumes that focus on the beauty of the photograph rather than the characteristics that would help one recognize a species). There are only two taxa that I think could have been better photographed for easier identification: Siphonocladus tropicus and Colpomenia sinuosa. The latter species can be described as “lumpy”, but lumps have different shapes and sizes; it wouldn’t be easy to choose a “typical” lump. On the other hand, those pinkish-white, gelatinous look-alike algae Trichogloeopsis pedicellata and Liagora mucosa become distinct species in their photographs. The taxa are arranged by general form or shape within each major algal division: thin, sheetlike or tubular; finely branched and delicate; coarse usually branched, and saclike; thick, leathery and rubbery; jointed or crustose
388
with hard layers. This kind of arrangement is similar to grouping flowering plant taxa as herbaceous, woody, bushes or trees, and should prove to be helpful to non-botanists. A general introduction gives information on habitats, some hints on how to look at a seaweed, and following the photographs of 204 kinds of algae and five common seagrasses, a short, helpful chapter on taking pictures underwater. Any one who is even only marginally interested in marine algae who is going to the Caribbean ought to pack a copy of this useful book next to the swimming suit. Whether you get wet or not, you’ll be amazed at how much you will learn! ISABELLA A. ABBOTT Department of Botany, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, U.S.A.
SURVEY OF AQUACULTURE
IN NORTH AMERICA
A Regional Survey of the Aquaculture Sector in North America including Canada, Greenland and the UnitedStates ofAmerica. Craig B. Kensler. ADCP/ REP/89/37, F.A.O., Rome, 1989.52 pp. This report is part of a series produced by the Aquaculture Development and Co-ordination Program of F.A.O., which examines, in a general way, the status of aquaculture in various regions of the world. According to the author, the North American Report is based on a brief desk-top study, and does not pretend to be complete or up to date. It is neither. Granted, the author apologises for errors and omissions and expresses a hope that they may be corrected in a later survey. He also invites correspondents to notify ADCP of errors, omissions, and new information. There are no acknowledgements, and one therefore assumes that no attempt was made to verify, augment or update any of the information which came to the author’s attention. Aquaculture is a dynamic and rapidly evolving industry; however, this alone seems poor justification for rushing into print. In the circumstances one wonders what value the report could realistically have, and which “...administrator, executive, or manager.. .” would care to make use of it. Commercial aquaculture is developing rapidly in both the U.S. and Canada, where there is also at least a century of experience in fish culture for wild stock enhancement. The report illustrates, but does not comment on, the different methods of reporting these two activities in the two countries. (There is no fish culture of consequence in Greenland. ) In general, commercially cultured species are reported by tonnage in Canada, and by dollar value in the U.S., whereas fish cultured for enhancement are reported by count. With the exception of the production tables listed at the end of the document (F.A.O. sources), the ligures reported are not consistently current, those in