This is the last issue of TORPEDO for 1997 so I will take an early opportunity to wish all recipients a Very Happy Christmas and all the Best for the New Year.

          For 1998, the software for sending out TORPEDO will be changed to improve efficiency in sending out communications. This means the database of addresses will have to changed to the new format. If you do not receive the new TORPEDO 98 in the first week of January, please send an EMail to the above address, as there is always a possibility that the addresses will not have been transferred over properly.

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                                    DIARY OF EVENTS
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          Events open to the public, free or for a nominal charge only are included, unless like the Sea Empress Conference they are considered to be very important. Most Seminars need to be booked in advance.

          It is essential that readers should contact the organisers in advance to confirm dates and times and whether the meeting is open to members of the public.

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          16/17 December 1997

          The Marine Forum, Challenger Society, Scottish Assoc. for Marine Science, Estuarine and Coastal Sciences Assoc.

          Marine Science & the Media
          University of York. Joint meeting.

          Marine Forum:  S M Shastri (Secretary) at University College, Scarborough.
          Tel:  01723 362392   EMail:  marforum@ucscarb.ac.uk

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          1998
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          16 January 1998.

          Marine Forum: NE Atlantic Liaison Group, DOE, at the Linnean Society, Burlington House,  Piccadilly, London. W1V 0LQ.

          Tel: 01723 362392 S M Shastri (Secretary) at University College Scarborough. Fax: 01723 370815.
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          11-13 February 1998 (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday).

          Sea Empress Oil Spill Conference
          at Cardiff
          Reardon Smith Lecture Theatre, National Museum of Wales
          Chartered Institution of Water & Environmental Management

          Contact: Hannah Sime, CIWEM Events, 15 John Street, London. WC1N 2EB,
          Tel: 0171 831 3110 Fax: 0171 405 4967 Registration Fee œ200 + VAT.

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          10 February 1998 5.30 pm (Tuesday)

          Zoological Society of London Scientific Meetings

          LITTLE FISHES THAT BEAR LIVE YOUNG

          Speakers:

          Dr Peter Miller (Univ. of Bristol)
          Dr B. H. Seghers (Univ. of Bristol)
          Dr Peter Burgess (formerly Univ. of Plymouth)
          Dr G McGregor Reid (Chester Zoo)

          Contact:
          Zoological Society Tel: 0171 449 6361/6363

          BMLSS members are expected to attend this meeting, including Andy Horton (Director).

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                           MARINE WILDLIFE HEADLINES
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          Late Autumn 1997

          Reports of marine wildlife from all around the British Isles, with pollution incidents and conservation  initiatives as they affect the fauna and flora of the NE Atlantic Ocean.

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          The Latest News and Wildlife Links are  posted on the BMLSS Web Site at:
          news2.htm
          The Web Site contains to links to other sites for more information about British marine life and news.

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          8 November 1997. A White-tailed Sea Eagle, Haliaetus albicilla, is spotted by Andy Fitchett in the Shetland Isles.
          (Shetland Wildlife News  URL= http://www.wildlife.shetland.co.uk/).

          3 November 1997. A 13 metres long Minke Whale, Balaenoptera acutorostrata, perished in the Humber estuary, east England, despite a well co-ordinated rescue attempt.

          29 October 1997. Elliot Morley, Fisheries Minister will announce at a meeting of EU Fisheries Ministers that Britain will broker a deal to outlaw Tuna Net fisheries in the Bay of Biscay.

          18 October 1997. A Leatherback Turtle, Dermochelys coriacea, is observed at the head of Sullom Voe, Shetland Islands.

          New National Aquarium at Plymouth

          The Marine Biological Association of the U.K. Aquarium at Citadel Hill, Plymouth, will not close until the New National Marine Aquarium opens in the Sutton Harbour area of Plymouth in April 1998. The Citadel Hill building will become a Resource Centre for Marine Science.

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                                  INFORMATION REQUIRED
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          Gobius couchii

          Any information on this species is required. Latest evidence seems to indicate that this is not a good  species, but the collation of evidence is not complete. Any comments and discoveries, identification
          problems to:
          Andy Horton  EMail:  Glaucus@hotmail.com

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                              ARTICLES IN OTHER MAGAZINES
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         Shore Watch series every month in the Aquarist & Pondkeeper  magazine available in all good  newsagents. Series by Andy Horton 1997:
 

          The Aquarist & Pondkeeper, December 1997 issue, contains the 1997 Marine Life Book Review as well as other interesting articles on marine life, including tropical Sea Horses and a dive to observe the marine life of the Similan Island Marine National Park off the western Andaman Sea coast of  Thailand.

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                                  ROCKPOOLING
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          There are tentative plans for a weekend rockpooling Field Trip on the Dorset coast planned for March or April 1998. If you are interested please EMail details in, including your home address. The possible venues are Lyme Regis and Osmington Mills.

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                                 BOOK REVIEWS
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CHRISTMAS BOOKLIST  1997

          BOOK OF THE YEAR

          (1)
SEALIFE
          A Complete Guide to the Marine Environment
          Edited by Geoffrey Waller

          Principal Contributors:
          Marc Dando and Michael Burchett
          Pica  1996  RRP: £30.00
          ISBN  1-873403-26-7

 

 If I was asked to recommend one book for the reader to be informed about the oceans of this planet and creatures that live in it, this is the book I would pick. It is absolutely packed full of facts with both colour and excellent black and white illustrations and diagrams. It is a comprehensive introduction and features the life below and above (sea birds) the waves. This well written reference book is extremely good value.

          (2)
Oceanography
          An Illustrated Guide
          Edited by Dr. C. P. Summerhayes &
          Professor S.A. Thorpe
          (Southampton Oceanography Centre)
          Manson Publishing Ltd
          ISBN 1-874545-37-5 Softcover £24.95
          ISBN 1-874545-38-3 Hardcover £48.00



          Mostly new stuff about the oceans of the world in this book, with the latest developments and information previously only available in technical papers, this book may prove too difficult for readers without a scientific background.

          However, if you enjoy the Open University television programmes on oceanography this book will appeal to you. The book is well arranged with colour photographs and lots of graphs and diagrams.

Chapter 6  features marine Phytoplankton Blooms by DA Purdie.

          (3)
UNDER NORTHERN SEAS
          by Linda Pitkin
          Salamander Books Ltd 1997
          ISBN  0-86101-973-3

          Wow! was my first reaction. This is a coffee table book with large pages full of fantastic underwater photographs of the sea life around the British Isles, and is both a 'Work of Art' and the best advertisement for conservation and protection of out valuable marine wildlife habitats. The text is  well written and organised according to the habitats as seen by divers. All the photographs are good enough to grace any wall. It is an ideal Christmas present.

          (4)
          Collins Pocket Guide
          FISH of Britain & Europe
          by Peter J Miller
          Illustrated by Mick Loates
          Collins 1997  RRP  £12.99
          Special Offer of £10.99 for BMLSS members.
          ISBN 0 00 219945 9
 

          This new Collin's Guide is far more accurate than the previous Collin's guide especially for the small rock pool fishes. It is the best budget guide available for the fish found around
          Britain and in the Mediterranean and adjacent seas and rivers. The fish are described
          phylogenetically, according to the families, and not according to the habitats in which they are found.

          (5)
          Collins Watch Guide  No. 5
          Seashore
          by Jean-Baptiste de Panafieu
          Translated by Josephine Weightman
          Harper Collins 1997
          ISBN 0-00-220088-0
          Recommended Price: œ5.99

          This handy guide for novices to the seashore and children is the best one this year.

          (6)
          The Book of Dolphins
          by Mark Carwardine
          Dragon's World 1996
          ISBN  1-85028-338-9
          Price  £18.99

          This beautifully written book presents all the known facts about the marine mammals with the common name of Dolphin with over 100 excellent colour photographs.

          (7)
          Collins
          SHARKS & RAYS
          Consultant Editor:  Leighton R. Taylor
          Collins 1997
          RRP:  £16.99

          ISBN  0 00 220104 6

          Despite the scores, perhaps even hundreds of books about these underwater predators, I found that there was not a popular book on sharks I could recommend until this book was published. The Field Guide includes all the major families of sharks and rays with a colour photograph for every one including the Megamouth. A list of all the shark species in the world was omitted.

          There is a thorough treatment of the biology, evolution and habitats in which sharks and rays are found. Special Offers are available at W.H. Smith & Sons.

          (8)
          SEAHORSES
          Conservation & Care
          by Neil Garrick-Maidment
          t.f.h./Kingdom Books 1997
          Price £7.95
          ISBN 185279071-7

          Neil Garrick-Maidment runs the Seahorse Nature Aquarium in Exeter and he passes on his knowledge of keeping and breeding them in captivity in this small book. The most important snippet of  information is on page 15 when it says that adult seahorses eat about 40 mysid shrimps a day. Feeding live food to seahorses is more likely than not to be an insurmountable problem for the home aquarist, and anybody wishing to keep this fish will need to buy this book. If you are just interested in these fascinating fish the 48 page book contains information not published elsewhere.

          (9)
          INTERTIDAL ECOLOGY
          by David Raffaelli and Stephen Hawkins
          Chapman & Hall 1996
          ISBN 0 412 299607 (pb)
          ISBN 0 412 29950 X (hb)

          This book is designed for the young scientist studying the intertidal zone on all types of shore. It is a difficult read even for the experienced seashore ecologist and is included on the list because it is the only book of its kind, more akin to the oceanographic text than a biological treatise. Readers of this Bulletin may appreciate a simpler book on this subject, including one co-written by Stephen Hawkins.

          (10)
          Encyclopaedia Britannica CD 97
          CD-ROM

          The reader may be surprised to find a review of this reputable general encyclopaedia in a magazine on marine life. However, if you or your School Library can afford it, this is the best source of accurate information on oceans and marine life, and much more, including information of palaeontology and prehistoric reptiles. The text is the same as the book volumes.

          Britannica is viewed using Netscape Navigator 2.00 and the search methods and the ability to print out the text makes it an improvement than the books for finding out the information. The appearance on the screen is dramatically better than the cheap CD-ROM encyclopaedias. This is the future. There are major drawbacks, at present. The full gamut of black and white illustrations are not included and there are no colour photographs, sound or video sequences. Both English and American spellings are  included and either can be chosen.

  It might be best to wait for the planned upgrades. Meanwhile, Microsoft Encarta 97 also provides some good information on the oceans and marine life and the sequence and explanation on Tides is  worth looking at and listening to. The Britannica search methods are brilliant and can use the Boolean system. Encarta 97 is just not in the same league.

          On some modern computers it is necessary to use Netscape Navigator 3.0 which can be downloaded  from the web site. If your copy of Britannica comes with Netscape 2 and does not work properly, buy  the December 1997 issue of INTERNET.WORKS if you want to download the later Netscape Communicator (the CD-ROM links to the site where Netscape 3 can be downloaded)  (see below).

          Budding biologists should have a look at the following CD-ROMs:

          Five Kingdoms
          A Multimedia guide to the phyla of life on earth
          by L. Margulis &  K.V. Schwartz + other scientists
          ETI Expert Centre for Taxonomic Identification 1996,

          and

          Evolution
          by Mark Ridley
          Blackwell Science 1996

          Shallow-water Crabs by Ray Ingle is the definite identification guide to the crabs found in the seas   and estuaries of the British Isles, published by the Field Studies Council.
          ISBN 1 85153 258 7

          Planet Ocean by Brian Bett and illustrated by Mic Rolph is a book about the deep oceans for the Primary School Library.  Portland Press.
          ISBN  1-85578-094-1

          One Small square Seashore CD-ROM from Virgin features American seashore life, which includes species similar but not identical to those found around the British Isles.

          NEW BOOKS:

          Corals for the Mini-Reef Aquarium
          by Dr. Herbert R. Axelrod
          Colour photos by Walt Deas
          t.f.h. / Kingdom Books 1997
          ISBN 0-7938-0500-7

          Quote from the book:
          "What do corals eat? About 95% of their food is supplied by organic waste excreted by the zooxanthellae.  Ahermatypic corals do not have zooxanthellae and are all predatory carnivores ."
          (page 19)

          Desert Sea
          by Hagen Schmid
          Fauna of the Saudi-Arabian Red Sea coast.
          + 12 other contributing photographers
          Gazelle Book Services   (Tel:  01524 68765)
          Price  £28.99
          ISBN  3-00-001293-1

          This book contains mainly excellent photographs accompanied by pertinent information. The underwater photographs are very clear and good enough for identification purposes. They are also  very attractive.
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          Old publication just received.

          Nature in Devon
          No. 12  1991
          Special Marine Conservation Issue
          Designed by Joan Edwards and Simon Roper
          ISSN  01 43/9634

          Published by
          Devon Wildlife Trust
          Shirehampton House
          35-37 St. David's Hill
          Exeter.
          Devon
          EX4 4DA
          Tel:  01392 279244

          This is an excellent publication and essential reading.

Books Top Titles 1998

• Books for Advanced Students
• Book Hunt

Books: Popular Guides
Other Journals: References to Articles only

A New Series as part of the TORPEDO initiative is planned for 1998. This will feature a selected species of fish, crab, molluscs, sea anemone or some other invertebrate every month. If you wish to receive this service please indicate.

Torpedo EMail:  Glaucus@hotmail.com