A single specimen of an undescribed Chaetodon was collected in 36 m off Orote Peninsula, Guam. It is closel y related to Chaetodon tinkeri Schultz from the Hawaiian and Marshall Islands, differing mainly in details of coloration which appear to link that species with C. burgessi Allen and Starck from Palau and C. mitratus Günther from the Indian Ocean. It represents the fifth known member of the tinkeri complex of the subgenus Roa, a relatively poorly known group of allopatric deep-dwelling Indo-West Pacific chaetodontids.

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We identify the gorgonian Echinomuricea sp. as a keystone species in subtidal benthic communities in the Gulf of Oman, this being the first record of Echinomuricea in the northwestern Indian Ocean. An otherwise undisturbed Echinomuricea dominated community at Qalhat (Gulf of Oman) underwent a marked change in community structure over a two year period. Upon the onset of marine construction activities, an outbreak of the diatom Chrysanthemodiscus floriatus Mann was an early indicator of a change in community structure. C. floriatus is a wide-spread yet enigmatic tropical species, and is a common component in damselfish gardens. Diatoms are generally overlooked in monitoring studies but here we demonstrate their potential value in monitoring hard-bottom benthic communities following sudden environmental changes, including natural disasters like tsunamis.

Already in the last century, several scholars noted the green coloration of reef corals. But the fluorescent properties of the green pigment were first observed about thirty years ago at Palau. The pigment seems to be functional as a filter for strong irradiations under transparent tropical sea water.

The green fluorescent pigment is found only in the ectodermal cells. It is most brilliant when the coral polyps are fully expanded and when they are exposed to bright sunshine. Under an electron microscope the pigment appears as various distributions of dense spherical bodies of 0.2 μ or less in diameter. It is easily dissolved in distilled water.

The pigment solution is green in reflected light but pink in transmitted light. Its absorption spectrum shows a strong absorption in the ultraviolet region with a sharp maximum at 330 mμ. Fluorescence spectroscopy indicates that the pigment emits green light (ranging 450-510 mμ) when it is activated by light of 380 mμ. The same phenomenon is observed also in the intact green coral.

This fact suggests that the harmful ultraviolet light is converted into light useful for the photosynthesis of zooxanthellae in the endoderm.

Marshall (1974) recently compiled a bibliography of research dealing with alcohol and kava use in the Pacific Islands consisting of 70 separate items divided more or less equally between alcohol and kava studies. Scholars familiar with the Pacific know that the preparation and consumption of kava by Pacific Islanders has caught the attention of outsiders for a long time and this fact is made apparent by the additional bibliography on alcohol and kava in Oceania provided below. Fully 63 of the 84 new items concern kava and a substantial number of these date from the nineteenth century. Six of the items listed below are updates of work mentioned in the 1974 compilation (e.g., papers read at professional meetings that subsequently have been published). Since much of the kava literature appears in languages other than English, we have provided translations of titles not readily comprehensible to persons unfamiliar with the language in question.

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The presence or absence of certain pantropic genera of marine benthic algae on Pacific islands has presented some puzzling but interesting problems. Doty (1954), in a note on the distribution of Sargassum and Rhipilia on Pacific islands, discussed the apparent exclusiveness of range between the two genera and hypothesized that the genus Sargassum may be restricted to only high islands (igneous substratum).

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Many observations on the taxonomy, nomenclature and distribution of vascular plants of the Pacific islands have accumulated in the course of determining the identities and correct names of collections made in Micronesia, Hawaii, southeastern Polynesia, and various coral islands. Certain of these are placed on record below, involving members of the genera Casuarina, Alternanthera, Desmodium, Tristellateia, Corchorus, Abutilon, Ambroma, Bruguiera, Ipomoea, and Hemigraphis. New varieties, forms, or combinations are published in Casuarina, Desmodium, Corchorus, Abutilon, and Ipomoea.

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Fifteen species of sponges from the Hawaiian Islands are considered below; of these two have been recorded previously by de Laubenfels, but were either incompletely described or incorrectl y named; three are new species and the remainder are recorded for the first time from the Hawaiian area.

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The gammaridean Amphipoda are the dominant peracaridan group of crustaceans in most shallow seas, including the tropics. This discussion reviews the status of our knowledge of this group in Indo-Pacific tropical zones, especially on coral reefs.

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Captive Siganus canaliculatus reared and held in 3 m diameter circular tanks with running sea water were induced to spawn each month during 1974 by one or two intramuscular injections of human chorionic gonadotropin at dosages of 500 units per treatment. Natural spawnings occurred, without the use of hormone, only during the months of April, June, July, and August.

There are but two situations where Acanthaster is known to have overwhelmed the carrying capacity of a reef-the Great Barrier Reef and Guam. References in earlier scientific literature suggest that large aggregations of Acanthaster are not unprecedented. Thus these aggregations may be thought of as evolutionarily determined responses to natural events. Analysis of the size structure of aggregated and non-aggregated Acanthaster populations leads to the conclusion that aggregated populations have growth dynamics virtually the same as non-aggregated ones. Aggregated populations, then, must consist of individuals brought together in response to some peculiar feature of their local environment. Extended periods of abnormally high typhoon frequencies followed by local flurries and direct strikes was a sequence of unusual events preceding the observation of massive aggregations. This suggests that aggregation and migration may be a behavioral response to the food limitation imposed by typhoon damage to a reef's living corals.

The genus Parapilumnus Kossmann, 1877, is redefined on the basis of the type species, Pilumnus cristimanus A. Milne Edwards, 1873, and a new species, Parapilumnus oryctos from Guam. The present study completely changes the current understanding of the genus and necessitates the transfer of Parapilumnus s. str. out of the Pilumnidae and into the subfamily Chasmocarcininae in the family Goneplacidae. Most of the species now assigned to Parapilumnus are referred back to the genus Pilumnus s. lato, pending a revision of the genus.  A replacement name, Pilumnus debae, is proposed for Parapilumnus guinotae Deb, 1987, which is here transferred to Pilumnus and becomes a junior homonym of Pilumnus guinotae Takeda & Miyake, 1968. A species previously referred to “Parapilumnus”, P. quadridentatus (De Man, 1895), possesses a suite of distinctive adult and larval characters, and is here referred to a new pilumnid genus, Aniptumnus.

Reports of a total of 19 species of marine mammals from Micronesia have been gleaned from published and unpublished sources. The first records of seals occurring in Micronesia, specifically the Marshall Islands, are included.

The genus Rukia (Zosteropidae) contains four species of "greater" white-eyes endemic to island groups of Micronesia (Mayr 1945, Baker 1951, Morony et al. 1975). Little is known about the status and life histories of these species, and the taxonomic affinity of at least one (R. palauensis) has been strongly questioned (Pratt et al. 1980). Nests or nesting behavior have not been previously described for any member of this genus.

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Eggs of the siganid fish Siganus canaliculatus, were obtained from a hormone-induced spawning, and approximately 200 larvae were reared to metamorphosis in outdoor tanks shielded from rain by a transluscent roof. Water temperatures ranged from 28 to 32°C. Rearing was more successful in large (5,500 liter) containers than in small (500 liter) ones. Larvae fed upon cultured rotifers (Brachionus plicatilis) as well as copepods which become established in the rearing tanks. Older larvae were fed newly hatched Artemia nauplii, but larval mortality associated with this diet was observed. Larvae began to metamorphose on day 23; in general, metamorphosis took place at standard lengths between 20 and 24 mm. The overall percentage survival, from hatching to metamorphosis, was approximately 0.3%.

One hundred and eleven species of fishes are newly recorded from Guam and the nearby islands of Rota, Tinian, and Saipan, raising the total number of fishes known from the southern Marianas to 772 species in 106 families. A preliminary zoogeographic analysis shows the area's ichthyofauna to consist mainly of species widely distributed on both sides of the andesite line. Species having primarily continental distributions and species having primarily insular distributions are important elements, and endemism is low. The nomenclature of many species previously recorded from Guam is brought into agreement with current scientific usage.

Robert E. Beck, Jr., noteworthy conservationist in the Mariana Islands, died of melanoma on Guam on 24 May 2008 at the age of 63. Born on 2 September 1944 and raised in Hagerstown, Maryland, Bob first came to Guam in 1974 to teach high school, then returned to the States in 1978 and attended graduate school at the University of Tennessee, where he studied under Dr. James Tanner of Ivory-billed Woodpecker fame. He returned to Guam in 1981 and was hired as a wildlife biologist with the Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources (DAWR) in late 1982. He became DAWR’s wildlife section supervisor in 1990 and remained in that job until retiring in 2003.

See article for the entire obituary.

Review of the literature (general reviews of methods of stomach analyses are found in Hynes, 1950 and Pillay, 1953) has revealed that quantitative analysis of gut contents of animals feeding on multicellular benthic algae is virtually unknown. Even when readily identifiable, the algae are not easily separated for quantitative determinations. Some of the methods commonly found in other works follow:

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Large collections made by Bryce G. Decker, J.-N. Maclet, and M.-H.Sachet in the Marquesas and other islands of southeastern Polynesia have brought to light a considerable number of noteworthy records and critical observations that should be placed on record, looking toward eventual floras of certain of the islands. This series is initiated for this purpose. The present paper contains notes on Panicum, Crotalaria, Goethea, Hibiscus, Pavonia, Terminalia, Cordia, Hyptis, Jacaranda, Blumea, and Vernonia, with a new species in Hibiscus. The explorations by Decker were carried out under a Foreign Field Research Program of the National Academy of Sciences, sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. Maclet is a local official of the Tahiti Department of Agriculture, Papeete. The collections of the junior author were made during trips in French Polynesia, sponsored by the Fondation Singer-Polignac and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique of France, and aided by a grant from the American Philosophical Society (Penrose Fund). The help of these organizations is deeply appreciated, as well as that received from local officials and friends in the islands.

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Up to the present time our knowledge of the sponge fauna of the North Coast of Australia derives from the work of Ridley (1884) who described shallow water and intertidal collections from Darwin eastward to Torres Strait, Hentschel (1912) who reported on collections from the Arafura Sea, and, to a lesser extent, Poléjoeff (1884) whose collections came, in part, from Torres Strait. Ridley is, however, the only author who has dealt specifically with the Darwin area.

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The decapod Crustacea are among the most abundant and diverse animals in the tropical Indo-West Pacific. Serène (1972) estimated that this area is inhabited by nearly 2,000 species of Brachyura alone. A large proportion of the tropical Indo-West Pacific decapods live on coral reefs: Serène gave their number as over 500 for the brachyurans and classified them as associates with other living coral reef organisms; regular inhabitants of the dead part of the reefs; and species which ordinarily live on rocky, sandy, or muddy substrates off the reefs, but occasionally occur there in suitable microhabitats.

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Diving observations of fishes inhabiting two small nuclear test craters at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands indicate that mullids, sparids, acanthurids, scarids, kyphosids, and carangids are transient residents of the craters with their presence dependent on the tide level. Chaetodontids and lutjanids seem to be permanent residents. Censuses conducted along permanent transects demonstrate a high correlation between the spatial distribution of fish species and the distribution of shelter. Estimates of fish biomass are compared with those of other reef areas and it is concluded that the craters are an energetically open system. Utilization of crater mullids as a potential food resource is considered.

The paucity of juvenile asteroids and other echinoderms in the field has been recognized by a number of workers from various localities. Some authors have paid special attention to trying to locate such juvenile populations, but have failed in most cases. This is true for the common asteroids of Guam such as Linckia laevigata, L . multifora, and Culcita novaeguineae. This fact is surprising because the adult populations are so conspicuous. Acanthaster represents a similar picture in population structure. The aggregating populations of Acanthaster from various localities in the Indo-West Pacific show a uniform unimodality in the size-frequency distribution of the animals, except for one from the Red Sea. Juvenile Acanthaster have seldom been located in the field. Field evidence suggests that recruitments of many echinoderms, which produce larvae of similar feeding requirements and similar life-spans, is very sporadic in intensity from year to year although they reproduce annually or semi-continuously. Their populations are maintained by occasional year-classes which settle at high intensity and their longevous nature may keep the populations superficially stable, although the exact longevity data in the animals are unknown.

A suite of new radiocarbon dates (including two conventional and nineteen AMS) provide the first chronology of Yapese stone money quarries in western Micronesia. Early ethnohistoric records document the Yapese carving of their large disks of ‘money’in the limestone Rock Islands of Palau while oral traditions suggest it was also taking place prior to European contact. However, there has been no archaeological data to substantiate the antiquity of this exchange system. Recent archaeological excavation at three quarry sites has addressed this issue. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal, shell, and human bone, in conjunction with oral traditions and ethnohistorical accounts, suggest these stone money quarries were multi-component and that quarrying activity was taking place at least several hundred years prior to European contact and intensified shortly thereafter. 

Abstract in Palauan:

Ngarngii a omesuub el mla meketmokl el olecholt el kmo, a rechad ra Belulechab a mirael el mei era ikal iungs el ngara Ngebard ra Micronesia el melasech a ududir el balang. Elsel tial omesuub, eng mla mo er ngii a luich ma tang el loruul aikel de dung el kmo, radiocarbon dating. Tiang a tara teletael el ousbech er ngii el olecholt a rekil a klalo. A omesuub el milketmokl ra ngaramong el tirkel semmong el chad ra omesubel a tekoi ma teletelel a klechad ma siukang a rirellii ma uldedlid el cheldecheduch ra irechar a ochotii el kmo, a rechad ra Belulechab a mla er Belau el melasech a ududir ra uchei ra lemei a rechad ra Ngebard (Europeans). Meng uaisei, eng di dimlak el rak e mle ua ngerang a klemengetir el ngar Belau el melasech aika el ududir. Tirkel semmong ra omesubel aua ekakid el tekoi a mla kmiis a edei el kekerous el basio el ikel mla er ngii a rechad ra Belulechab e melasech a baling el osiik a klalo el ngii a mo sebechel sumecheklii tial tekoi. A omesubel a rikel a bas, ma kai, ma chiuesir a rechad el milngai ra ikal basio el mla er ngii omelasech el balang, ma uldelid el cheldechederir a mle chad ra erechar, ma di mla meketmokl el omesuub, eng meketeklii el kmo, aika el basio a mla er ngii a usbechellel ra rechuodel ra uchei ra rechad ra Belulechab a lemei er Belau. Ng dirrek el meketeklii el kmo, a re Belulechab a mla er Belau el melasech a balang era uchei ra lemei a re chad ra Ngebard. A uriul ra lemei a rechad ra Ngebard ea omelsechel a balang a merael el kmal mo klou.

Sediments collected from reef fronts off six islands in the Mariana Islands were analyzed for composition and texture. These deposits are highly varied binary mixtures: coarser, poorly-sorted reef-derived bioclastics, and finer, better-sorted terrigenous materials.

Compositional variation is statistically related to extrabasinal parameters including: island area, erodable volcanic terrain, coastal-exposure direction, and perhaps volcanic activity and/or latitude. Bioeroder population differences among the islands may be a contributing factor to compositional variability.

Texture (size/sorting) of the terrigenous silicate fraction is strongly influenced by coastal exposure direction as well as erodable island terrain; texture in biogenic fractions is controlled by skeletal geometry and reef productivity (availability).

Bioclastic sediment diversity and taxon variability are greatest within finer-size fractions and especially in samples collected around southern limestone islands of the older arc. Factor analysis indicates that sediment variability can be simplified into carbonate framework clasts in coarser sediments, and non-framework particles in finer sizes. Bioclastic fractions evolve into two populations: coarse, low-diversity assemblages, dominated by reef framework particles, and finer sands composed of a more diverse mixture of smaller non-framework skeletal materials.