- Email: [email protected]
New perspectives in sponge biology
Book
Reviews
I J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol.
193 (1995) 277-295
279
assemblages “. “Fourth, ecologists must take a more active role in investigating the process of species production and extinction”. “ Finally, ecologists should join with physiologists, functional morphologists, and evolutionists in studying adaptive radiation and entry into new adaptive zones”. Who could not agree. This is a dense book which marine ecologists are not likely to read from cover to cover. But dipping in will provide them with plenty of food for thought.
Reference Clarke,
A., 1992. Is there a latitudinal
diversity
cline in the sea? Trends Ecol. Evol.,Vol.
7, pp. 286-287.
Richard Warwick Plymouth Marine Laboratory Prospect Place West Hoe Plymouth PLl 3DH UK
New Perspectives in Sponge Biology, edited by Klaus Riitzler; Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.; 1990; 533 pp.; US$ 50.00, GBP 38.95; ISBN O-87474-784-8.
The study of sponges is a neglected branch of zoology. In no other major group of marine invertebrates would it be conceivable to hold an international conference which would cover all aspects of the group, from their palaeontology to biochemistry, physiology, and ecology. Sponge biologists have convened four such international conferences since 1968. The first was held in London and its proceedings published as “The Biology of the Porifera” (Fry, 1970). This was followed by the second conference in Paris in 1978 (Levi & Boury-Esnault, 1979) the third in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA in 1985 and the fourth in Amsterdam in 1993. This book is the proceedings of the Massachusetts conference and contains 70 papers presented at that conference. It is a large volume of 533 pages in A4 format, with the text set in two columns in a proportional font and bound in hard covers. This contrasts with the 1979 volume in soft covers and courier type and says much for the advances in computer typesetting and its role in the production of minority interest books, which can now be produced to the highest standards. Sponges are an ancient group of animals which have always been of great
280
Book Reviews I J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 193 (1995) 277-29-5
ecological importance in the marine environment. The first four papers deal with palaeontology. Sponge classification is based largely on skeletal architecture and on the shapes of the silica or calcium carbonate spicules which make up the skeleton. As such these spicules, when fossilized, can often be related to modern forms. As with many groups of marine invertebrates major groups of sponges have flourished in the past only to be decimated and reduced to a few surviving species at the present time. An example of this is given by the Pharetronid sponges (discussed here by Finks), which became major reef builders in the Permian only to be reduced to two surviving rare species today. Fossil stromatoporoids and their relationship to sclerosponges (shown in other papers later in the volume to be a polyphyletic group themselves) are discussed in a paper by Wood, who concludes that these rather enigmatic fossils which have at one time been considered to be cyanobacteria, hydrozoans, corals or foraminiferans really are fossil sclerosponges. Further sections cover biochemistry and chemotaxonomy; immunology and chemical defense; cell structure and mobility; developmental biology; tissue organisation, morphology and mechanics; systematics, biogeography and evolutionary biology; community structure and ecology; and finally species interaction and ecophysiology. The papers cover the latest research in all these aspects of sponge biology and each lists a comprehensive bibliography at the end. This alone makes this volume a valuable starting point for any biologist beginning research in sponge biology. The methods employed are often novel and are described in great detail, making the volume a useful source for biologists wanting to use the latest techniques of, for example, electron microscopy, biochemistry and in situ sublittoral ecology. The number of papers on the biochemical aspects of sponges at the Amsterdam symposium in 1993 represented a far greater proportion of the conference, indicating the rapid growth of this field of sponge biology. The recent discoveries of bioactive compounds in sponges, in greater numbers and variety than in any other group of organisms, have resulted in an increased economic importance of sponges. It is to be hoped that this economic importance will be translated into improved funding for basic taxonomic and ecological work, necessary for a better understanding of these organisms. The report of a carnivorous sponge on the front cover of Nature recently (Vacelet & Bout-y-Esnault, 1995) even attracted the attention of the newspapers and television. While this media attention was unexpected, it does emphasise the possibility of surprising discoveries within this ancient group of animals.
References Fry, W.G., ed., 1970. The Biology of the Porifera. Symposia of the Zoological Society of London, Academic Press, London: 512 pp. Internationaux L&i, C. & N. Boury-Esnault, eds., 1979. Biologic des Spongiares. Colloques C.N.R.S. 291, Centre National de la RCcherche Scientifique, Paris. 533 pp.
25. du
Book Vacelet,
Reviews
J. & N. Boury-Esnault,
I J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 193 (1995) 277-295 1995. Carnivorous
sponges.
Nature,
281
vol. 373, pp. 333-335.
B.E. Picton Environmental Sciences Unit University of Dublin Trinity College Dublin 2 Bire
Statistical Methods in Biology (3rd edition), by N.T.J. Bailey; Cambridge University Press, Cambridge; 1995; 255 pp.; GBP 9.95, US$ 16.95 (paperback); ISBN O-521-46983-X (paperback), o-521-47032-3 (hardback). This is a new edition of a book which will be familiar to many students and teachers of statistics throughout the biological sciences. Therefore, it was with a certain amount of anticipation that I approached this book; the second edition was dated 1981 and we all know how much computational techniques have advanced since then. I was looking forward to a radical re-write and the incorporation of the use of statistical packages which are now available for the computers many people have at home and at work. My disappointment mounted as I read through the volume and consistently failed to locate any changes between this edition and the previous one. In fact, the only modifications seem to be in the final chapter which includes a new section on how to choose calculators and computers; this amounts to six new pages from the total of 255. It is true that the formulae for calculating a mean, standard deviation or correlation coefficient have, of course, not changed since they were devised. What should, however, be recognised is that the methods of teaching the subject and pursuing the calculations of statistics have changed considerably in the last ten years. We need to acknowledge the fact that many students of biology have no interest in and no motivation for mathematics of any kind and statistical formulae in particular. This is not say that this is a bad book, on the contrary it is a fine example of a repository of statistical formulae and derivations. This will mean that it will be familiar to many biologists who have grown up with this approach and who can still remember how to do an analysis of variance by band. Unfortunately, though it is increasingly difficult to find students (at both under and post graduate level) who see the necessity of doing so. What is needed is a book which outlines the concepts and ideas behind statistics and which deals with the problems of when and why to use particular statistics and neglects the how - computers and calculators are now too good at this. Statistics are, after all, a tool in the differentation of systematic from random variation and should not be regarded as an end in themselves. I have perhaps been overly critical of this book, it is an excellent, if traditional introduction to the application of statistics in biology. It covers the breadth of the
Reviews
I J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol.
193 (1995) 277-295
279
assemblages “. “Fourth, ecologists must take a more active role in investigating the process of species production and extinction”. “ Finally, ecologists should join with physiologists, functional morphologists, and evolutionists in studying adaptive radiation and entry into new adaptive zones”. Who could not agree. This is a dense book which marine ecologists are not likely to read from cover to cover. But dipping in will provide them with plenty of food for thought.
Reference Clarke,
A., 1992. Is there a latitudinal
diversity
cline in the sea? Trends Ecol. Evol.,Vol.
7, pp. 286-287.
Richard Warwick Plymouth Marine Laboratory Prospect Place West Hoe Plymouth PLl 3DH UK
New Perspectives in Sponge Biology, edited by Klaus Riitzler; Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.; 1990; 533 pp.; US$ 50.00, GBP 38.95; ISBN O-87474-784-8.
The study of sponges is a neglected branch of zoology. In no other major group of marine invertebrates would it be conceivable to hold an international conference which would cover all aspects of the group, from their palaeontology to biochemistry, physiology, and ecology. Sponge biologists have convened four such international conferences since 1968. The first was held in London and its proceedings published as “The Biology of the Porifera” (Fry, 1970). This was followed by the second conference in Paris in 1978 (Levi & Boury-Esnault, 1979) the third in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA in 1985 and the fourth in Amsterdam in 1993. This book is the proceedings of the Massachusetts conference and contains 70 papers presented at that conference. It is a large volume of 533 pages in A4 format, with the text set in two columns in a proportional font and bound in hard covers. This contrasts with the 1979 volume in soft covers and courier type and says much for the advances in computer typesetting and its role in the production of minority interest books, which can now be produced to the highest standards. Sponges are an ancient group of animals which have always been of great
280
Book Reviews I J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 193 (1995) 277-29-5
ecological importance in the marine environment. The first four papers deal with palaeontology. Sponge classification is based largely on skeletal architecture and on the shapes of the silica or calcium carbonate spicules which make up the skeleton. As such these spicules, when fossilized, can often be related to modern forms. As with many groups of marine invertebrates major groups of sponges have flourished in the past only to be decimated and reduced to a few surviving species at the present time. An example of this is given by the Pharetronid sponges (discussed here by Finks), which became major reef builders in the Permian only to be reduced to two surviving rare species today. Fossil stromatoporoids and their relationship to sclerosponges (shown in other papers later in the volume to be a polyphyletic group themselves) are discussed in a paper by Wood, who concludes that these rather enigmatic fossils which have at one time been considered to be cyanobacteria, hydrozoans, corals or foraminiferans really are fossil sclerosponges. Further sections cover biochemistry and chemotaxonomy; immunology and chemical defense; cell structure and mobility; developmental biology; tissue organisation, morphology and mechanics; systematics, biogeography and evolutionary biology; community structure and ecology; and finally species interaction and ecophysiology. The papers cover the latest research in all these aspects of sponge biology and each lists a comprehensive bibliography at the end. This alone makes this volume a valuable starting point for any biologist beginning research in sponge biology. The methods employed are often novel and are described in great detail, making the volume a useful source for biologists wanting to use the latest techniques of, for example, electron microscopy, biochemistry and in situ sublittoral ecology. The number of papers on the biochemical aspects of sponges at the Amsterdam symposium in 1993 represented a far greater proportion of the conference, indicating the rapid growth of this field of sponge biology. The recent discoveries of bioactive compounds in sponges, in greater numbers and variety than in any other group of organisms, have resulted in an increased economic importance of sponges. It is to be hoped that this economic importance will be translated into improved funding for basic taxonomic and ecological work, necessary for a better understanding of these organisms. The report of a carnivorous sponge on the front cover of Nature recently (Vacelet & Bout-y-Esnault, 1995) even attracted the attention of the newspapers and television. While this media attention was unexpected, it does emphasise the possibility of surprising discoveries within this ancient group of animals.
References Fry, W.G., ed., 1970. The Biology of the Porifera. Symposia of the Zoological Society of London, Academic Press, London: 512 pp. Internationaux L&i, C. & N. Boury-Esnault, eds., 1979. Biologic des Spongiares. Colloques C.N.R.S. 291, Centre National de la RCcherche Scientifique, Paris. 533 pp.
25. du
Book Vacelet,
Reviews
J. & N. Boury-Esnault,
I J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 193 (1995) 277-295 1995. Carnivorous
sponges.
Nature,
281
vol. 373, pp. 333-335.
B.E. Picton Environmental Sciences Unit University of Dublin Trinity College Dublin 2 Bire
Statistical Methods in Biology (3rd edition), by N.T.J. Bailey; Cambridge University Press, Cambridge; 1995; 255 pp.; GBP 9.95, US$ 16.95 (paperback); ISBN O-521-46983-X (paperback), o-521-47032-3 (hardback). This is a new edition of a book which will be familiar to many students and teachers of statistics throughout the biological sciences. Therefore, it was with a certain amount of anticipation that I approached this book; the second edition was dated 1981 and we all know how much computational techniques have advanced since then. I was looking forward to a radical re-write and the incorporation of the use of statistical packages which are now available for the computers many people have at home and at work. My disappointment mounted as I read through the volume and consistently failed to locate any changes between this edition and the previous one. In fact, the only modifications seem to be in the final chapter which includes a new section on how to choose calculators and computers; this amounts to six new pages from the total of 255. It is true that the formulae for calculating a mean, standard deviation or correlation coefficient have, of course, not changed since they were devised. What should, however, be recognised is that the methods of teaching the subject and pursuing the calculations of statistics have changed considerably in the last ten years. We need to acknowledge the fact that many students of biology have no interest in and no motivation for mathematics of any kind and statistical formulae in particular. This is not say that this is a bad book, on the contrary it is a fine example of a repository of statistical formulae and derivations. This will mean that it will be familiar to many biologists who have grown up with this approach and who can still remember how to do an analysis of variance by band. Unfortunately, though it is increasingly difficult to find students (at both under and post graduate level) who see the necessity of doing so. What is needed is a book which outlines the concepts and ideas behind statistics and which deals with the problems of when and why to use particular statistics and neglects the how - computers and calculators are now too good at this. Statistics are, after all, a tool in the differentation of systematic from random variation and should not be regarded as an end in themselves. I have perhaps been overly critical of this book, it is an excellent, if traditional introduction to the application of statistics in biology. It covers the breadth of the