Coastal Fishes of the Western Indian Ocean.

1st edition. South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, a National Research Facility of the National Research Foundation (NRF-SAIAB). ISBN    1998950409, 9781998950409

Volltext Bd. 5

Verlagstext:

Coastal Fishes of the Western Indian Ocean follows the fine tradition of producing multi-authored, illustrated volumes on fish diversity pioneered by Margaret Smith and Phil Heemstra with Smiths’ Sea Fishes. It is the culmination of the work of more than 100 authors, photographers and illustrators from 20 countries, over 25 years. The book is divided into five volumes and its primary purpose is to aid in identifying about 3 500 species of fishes that occur in the coastal waters (to about 200 m) of the Western Indian Ocean (WIO). The latter covers the Red Sea, Persian/Arabian Gulf, to Kanyakumari, India, in the east; west to Cape Point, South Africa; and south to St Paul and Amsterdam Islands at 38° S.

heemstra-biblio

A review of the leucogaster species complex of the Indo-Pacific pomacentrid genus Amblyglyphidodon, with descriptions of two new species.

aqua, J. Ichthyol. Aquat. Biol. 5(4):139-152.

Zusammenfassung:

Bisher wurde angenommen, dass der indo-pazifische Pomacentride Amblyglyphidodon leucogaster aus verschiedenen, geografischen Farbvarianten bestesteht. Die vorliegende Untersuchung deutet jedoch auf einen aus vier Arten bestehenden Komplex hin: A. leucogaster (Bleeker) aus dem westlichen Pazifik und ostlichen Randgebiet des indischen Ozeans; A. orbicularis (Hombron u. Jacquinot) von Samoa, Fiji und Neu Kaledonien und zwei hier neu beschriebene Arten - A. indicus vom Roten Meer und Indischenr Ozean und A. melanopterus von Tonga. Die einzelnen Arten des leucogaster-Komplexes unterscheiden sich hautsachlich durch Kombinationen von Farbmustern und Anzahl der Kiemenreusen. Ein Bestimmungsschlussel fur Amblyglyphidodon-Arten liegt bei.

allen-biblio

Lost Land of the Dodo.

480 Seiten, Schwarzweiße und 16 farbige Abbildungen.
Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN: 9781408108826.

Verlagstext:

The Mascarene islands in the southern Indian Ocean - Mauritius, Réunion and Rodrigues - were once home to an extraordinary range of birds and reptiles. Evolving on these isolated volcanic islands in the absence of mammalian predators or competitors, the land was dominated by giant tortoises, parrots, skinks and geckos, burrowing boas, flightless rails & herons, and of course (in Mauritius) the Dodo. Uninhabited and only discovered in the 1500s, colonisation by European settlers in the 1600s led to dramatic changes in the ecology of the islands; the birds and tortoises were slaughtered indiscriminately while introduced rats, cats, pigs and monkeys destroyed their eggs, the once-extensive forests logged, and invasive introduced plants from all over the tropics devastated the ecosystem. The now-familiar icon of extinction, the Dodo, was gone from Mauritius within 50 years of human settlement, and over the next 150 years many of the Mascarenes' other native vertebrates followed suit.

The product of over 30 years research by Anthony Cheke, Lost Land of the Dodo provides a comprehensive yet hugely enjoyable account of the story of the islands' changing ecology, interspersed with human stories, the islands' biogeographical anomalies, and much else. Many French publications, old and new, especially for Réunion, are discussed and referenced in English for the first time. The book is richly illustrated with maps and contemporary illustrations of the animals and their environment, many of which have rarely been reprinted before. Illustrated box texts look in detail at each extinct vertebrate species, while Julian Hume's superb colour plates bring many of the extinct birds to life. Lost Land of the Dodo provides the definitive account of this tragic yet remarkable fauna, and is a must-read for anyone interested in islands, their ecology and the history of our relationship with the world around us.

cheke-biblio

Revision of the Indo-Pacific Gobiid Fish Genus Valenciennea, with Descriptions of Seven New Species.

71 Seiten, 6 Bildtafeln mit 35 Farbfotos, 11 Strichzeichnungen und Verbreitungskarten, 26 Tabellen.
Bishop Museum, Hawaii.

Inhalt:

The Indo-Pacific gobiid genus Valenciennea is distinctive from other gobiids in having completely separate pelvic fins, reduced gill rakers on the first arch, large fleshy flaps dorsally on the gill arch, single row of teeth in the upperjaw, small scales in 62-142 rows, second dorsal and anal rays I,11-19, relatively large adult body size of 30 to about 160 mm SL, and usually with one or more longitudinal stripes on the head and often the body.

Fifteen species are recognized, separable on the basis of scale and fin-ray counts, first dorsal fin shape, and color pattern: V. alleni, n. sp., described from Australia, has 2 stripes on the body, a black spot at the tip of the first dorsal fin, and second dorsal rays usually I,15; V. bella, n. sp. from Japan and the Philippines, has a single head stripe, no body stripes, second dorsal usually I,15, and a high first dorsal fin; V. decora, n. sp. from Australia and New Caledonia, has one or more vertical bars connected to a single ventral stripe, an elongate black bar on the first dorsal fin, and second dorsal I,11; V. helsdingenii, widespread in the Indo-west Pacific, has an elongate black spot on the first dorsal fin, 2 dark stripes on the body, and 2 elongate filaments on the caudal fin; V. immaculata, with a disjunct distribution (China, Western Australia, and southeastern Australia), has 2 stripes on the body, a low rounded first dorsal fin without black spots, and second dorsal usually I,14-17 (it is most similar to V. alleni); V. limicola, n. sp. described from Thailand and Fiji, has 2 stripes on the body, a low rounded first dorsal fin without black spots, and second dorsal usually I,17; V. longipinnis, a widespread species from the eastern Indian Ocean and western Pacific, has a low rounded first dorsal fin, horseshoe-shaped marks on the midside, and second dorsal I,12; V. muralis, similar to and having the same distribution as V. longipinnis, has 3 stripes on the body, a pointed first dorsal fin. with a small black spot at the tip, and second dorsal I,12; V. parva, n. sp., a widespread Indo-west Pacific dwarf species, has longitudinal stripes, a low rounded first dorsal fin, and second dorsal I,12 (juveniles are easily mistaken for V. longipinnis, which has higher scale counts); V. persica, n. sp., endemic to the Persian Gulf, has a single stripe posteriorly on the body, a longitudinal series of spots above the midside, and second dorsal ray counts of I,13-14 (it is most similar to V. puellaris); V. puellaris, a widespread Indo-west Pacific species which varies considerably geographically is distinctive in having a moderately high first dorsal fin without black spots, body with a single stripe and spots or oblique or vertical bars on body, and second dorsal I,12; V. randalli, n. sp. from the western Pacific, has a high first dorsal fin, a single stripe on the body, and second dorsal usually I,l7 (it is similar to V. bella and V. strigata); V. sexguttata, a widespread Indo-west Pacific species, has a pointed first dorsal fin with a black spot at the tip, round spots on the head, a single stripe on the body, and second dorsal I,l2; V. strigata, a widespread Indo-west Pacific species, has a high first dorsal fin without black spots, no stripe on the body, and second dorsal usually I,17-18; V. wardii, a rare, but widespread Indian Ocean and western Pacific species, has a large black spot posteriorly on the first dorsal. a series of vertical bars, no stripe on body, and second dorsal I,12.

Fishes of the genus dig their own burrows and most species occur in male-female pairs. These fishes feed on small invertebrates, particularly copepods, by sifting sand. The species are typically associated with specific types of sediment, and only rarely does more than one species occur in the same habitat.

Considerable geographical variation was found in fin-ray and scale counts in several species, but only V. puellaris, V. sexguttata, and V. wardii showed much variation in coloration.