Patterns of species diversity in the gastrointestinal helminths of a coral reef fish, Epinephelus merra (Serranidae), from French Polynesia and the south Pacific Ocean

Large-scale patterns of species diversity in the gastrointestinal helminth faunas of the coral reef fish Epinephelus merra (Serranidae) were investigated in French Polynesia and the South Pacific Ocean. The richer barrier reef community in French Polynesia supported richer parasite communities in E. merra than that on the fringing reef. While parasite communities among fish from the same archipelago were similar, differences in potential host species and the distance between archipelagos may have contributed to a qualitative difference in parasite communities between archipelagos. Digenean community diversity in coral reef fishes was greater in the western South Pacific, following similar patterns in free-living species. However, overall species diversity of camallanid nematodes of coral reef fishes does not appear to have been similarly affected.

A Century of Change in Coral Reef Status in Southeast and Central Pacific: Polynesia Mana Node, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Niue, Tokelau, Tonga, Wallis and Futuna

The Polynesia Mana Node of the southeast and central Pacific contains 7 independent or autonomous countries or territories with only 6,000 km2 of land on 347 islands, but surrounded by 12 million km2 of EEZ. These seas contain 13,000 km2 of coral reefs as the main natural ecosystem providing food resources and opportunities for development, especially for tourism and pearl culture for 500,000 inhabitants. During the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries, there was major exploitation by the colonial powers of mother-of-pearl oysters for the button industry, as well as guano, sandalwood and trepang. The Polynesian people were largely involved in a subsistence economy and all coral reefs and lagoons were healthy. During the last two decades of the 20th, all countries experienced rapid development and urbanization, rising populations, and some increased agriculture. These developments were limited to a few islands of each country (i.e. 15 islands amongst the 347) with resulting degradation of the coral reefs around these sites. The other islands remained mostly uninhabited and pristine, and continued with a subsistence economy. Generally, there was more damage to the coral reefs through natural events such as cyclones and coral bleaching, than by human activities. There is however, an urgent need to combat the threats on some islands from increased sedimentation, over-fishing, dredging and nutrient pollution.

Identical digeneans in coral reef fishes from French Polynesia and the Great Barrier Reef (Australia) demonstrated by morphology and molecules

Three coral reef fish species, Zanclus cornutus, Chaetodon vagabundus and Naso lituratus, were collected in French Polynesia and on the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland. These fish species were each infected by one morphologically similar digenean species in both localities; Schistorchis Zancli Hanson, 1953 was found in Zanclus cornutus. Preptetos laguncula Bray and Cribb, 1996 in Naso lituratus and Neohypocreadium dorsoporum Machida and Uchida, 1987 in Chaetodon vagabundus. In addition, on the Great Barrier Reef P. laguncula was also found in Naso unicornis and N. dorsoporum in Chaetodon ephippium and Chaetodon flavirostris. Morphometric differences between the species from the two sites were only slight. Sequences from the second internal transcribed spacer of the ribosomal DNA of each worm revealed total homology or negligible divergence between samples from hosts caught in French Polynesia and on the Great Barrier Reef. These results show that across more than 6000 km these digeneans are similar in morphology and genotype. Some species of fishes and molluscs a-re considered to have distributions that encompass the entire tropical Indo-West Pacific. These findings suggest that at least some of their parasites have similarly broad distributions. (C) 2001 Australian Society for Parasitology Inc. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Lepocreadiinae lepocreadiids (Digenea) from tetraodontiform fishes in the waters off Tasmania, Queensland and Moorea, French Polynesia

Two new species of Pseudocreadium are described from off northern Tasmania, P maturini sp. nov. from Meuschenia freycineti and P aubreyi sp. nov. from Acanthaluteres vittiger. They differ from the only other recognised species in the genus by the number of ovarian lobes and by size, and they differ from each other by size, shape, caecal length, forebody length, pre-oral lobe size, uterine position, excretory vesicle length and oral sucker shape. Lobatocreadium exiguum is redescribed from Sufflamen bursa, off Moorea, French Polynesia and Abalistes stellatus, Swain Reefs, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland. Records and measurements are given for Hypocreadium cavum from Sufflamen fraenatus and Lepotrema clavatum from Melichthys vidua, both off Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland.

A short note on starch and xylem of Colocasia esculenta (taro) in archaeological deposits from Pitcairn Island, southeast Polynesia

We present results of starch analysis of archaeological deposits from Pitcairn Island. High concentrations of starch grains preserved in cell membranes, and xylem tracheary elements, consistent with introduced Colocasia esculenta (taro) were found. Because of limited age control, we are uncertain if the microfossils are prehistoric. Problems associated with identifying taxa with small starch grains in extractions from weathered deposits are highlighted. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysis of plant microfossils in archaeological deposits from two remote archipelagos: The Marshall Islands, Eastern Micronesia, and the Pitcairn Group, Southeast Polynesia

Pollen and starch residue analyses were conducted on 24 sediment samples from archaeological sites on Maloelap and Ebon Atolls in the Marshall Islands, eastern Micronesia, and Henderson and Pitcairn Islands in the Pitcairn Group, Southeast Polynesia. The sampled islands, two of which are mystery islands (Henderson and Pitcairn), previously occupied and abandoned before European contact, comprise three types of Pacific islands: low coral atolls, raised atolls, and volcanic islands. Pollen, starch grains, calcium oxylate crystals, and xylem cells of introduced non-Colocasia Araceae (aroids) were identified in the Marshalls and Henderson (ca. 1,900 yr B.P. and 1,200 yr B.P. at the earliest, respectively). The data provide direct evidence of prehistoric horticulture in those islands and initial fossil pollen sequences from Pitcairn Island. Combined with previous studies, the data also indicate a horticultural system on Henderson comprising both field and tree crops, with seven different cultigens, including at least two species of the Araceae. Starch grains and xylem cells of Ipomoea sp., possibly introduced 1. batatas, were identified in Pitcairn Island deposits dated to the last few centuries before European contact in 1790.

Traditional architecture in the Pacific

Architecture of the Pacific covers a region of more than third of the earth’s surface. The sparse Pacific population spreads over some 30 000 islands, which graduate in size from small atolls to the largest island, Australia, a continent. Pacific architecture can be studied as four cultural units: Micronesia, Polynesia, Melanesia, and Australasia (Australia and New Zealand). While many of the islands of Micronesia lie above the Equator, the remaining Pacific islands are in the southern hemisphere. With the exception of Australia, most of the islands have a warm and humid tropical climate with high rainfalls and lush vegetation. Some islands lie in the cyclonic and earthquake belts. Two distinct racial groups settled the region. The indigenous people, the Micronesians, Melanesians, Polynesians, Australian Aborigines and New Zealand Maoris, migrated from Asia thousands of years ago. The second group, the recent immigrants, were Europeans, who occupied the region during the last two centuries, and pockets of Asians brought in by colonial administrations as labourers during the early twentieth century.

Parasites of recruiting coral reef fish larvae in New Caledonia

Recruiting coral reef fish larvae from 38 species and 19 families from New Caledonia were examined for parasites. We found 13 parasite species (Platyhelminthes: Monogenea, Cestoda and Trematoda) but no acanthocephalan, crustacean or nematode parasites. Over 23% of individual fish were infected. Didymozoid metacercariae were the most abundant parasites. We conclude that most of the parasites are pelagic species that become 'lost' once the fish larvae have recruited to the reef. Larval coral reef fish probably contribute little to the dispersal of the parasites of the adult fish so that parasite dispersal is more difficult than that of the fish themselves. (C) 2000 Australian Society for Parasitology Inc. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Further observations on the Enenteridae Yamaguti, 1958 (Digenea, Lepocreadioidea) of the Indo-West Pacific region, including a new species from Western Australia

Measurements are given for all and full descriptions and illustrations for some of the following enenterid species: Enenterum aureum Linton, 1910 in Kyphosus bigibbus and K. sydneyanus? from Ningaloo Coral Reef, Western Australia, K. vaigiensis from off Heron Island, Queensland and K. vaigiensis from off Moorea, French Polynesia; E. mannarense Hafeezullah, 1980 in K. bigibbus and K. sydneyanus? from Ningaloo Coral Reef; E. elongatum Yamaguti, 1970 in K. vaigiensis from Heron Island, Queensland and K. bigibbus and K. sydneyanus? from Ningaloo Coral Reef; Koseiria alanwilliamsi sp. nov. in Kyphosus cornelii from off Kalbarri, Western Australia; Koseiria xishaense Gu et Shen, 1983 in K. vaigiensis from off Heron Island and K. bigibbus from off Palau, Micronesia; Proenenterum isocotylum Manter, 1954 in Aplodactylus arctidens from off Stanley, Tasmania; R ericotylum Manter, 1954 in A. arctidens from off Stanley; Cadenatella isuzumi Machida, 1993 from Kyphosus bigibbus and K. sydneyanus? from Ningaloo Coral Reef; Cadenatella pacifica (Yamaguti, 1970) from Kyphosus bigibbus from Ningaloo Coral Reef. Two recent cladistic studies of the Enenteridae are discussed and a further analysis has shown that Enenterum and Cadenatella are monophyletic, whilst Koseiria appears polyphyletic. The zoogeography and host-specificity of Kyphosus-inhabiting enenterids is discussed.

Species of Stephanostomum Looss, 1899 (Digenea : Acanthocolpidae) from fishes of Australian and South Pacific waters, including five new species

Nine species of Stephanostomum are described from Australian and Southern Pacific marine fishes: Stephanostomum madhaviae n. sp. [syn. S. orientalis of Madhavi ( 1976)] from Caranx ignobilis, off Hope Island, Queensland, with 30-34 circum-oral spines and vitelline fields almost reaching to the posterior extremity of the cirrus-sac; S. bicoronatum (Stossich, 1883) from Argyrosomus hololepidotus, off Southport Broadwater, Queensland; S. votonimoli n. sp. from Scomberoides lysan, off Moorea, French Polynesia ( type-locality) and Western Samoa, with 33-38 circum-oral spines, a uroproct and the vitelline fields not reaching the cirrus-sac; S. nyoomwa n. sp. from Caranx sexfasciatus, off Heron Island, Queensland, with 33-38 circum-oral spines, a uroproct and the vitelline fields reaching the cirrus-sac; S. cobia n. sp. from Rachycentron canadum, off Heron Island, with 36 circum-oral spines, a uroproct and the vitelline fields reaching the cirrus-sac; S. petimba Yamaguti, 1970 from Seriola hippos, off Rottnest Island, Western Australia; S. pacificum ( Yamaguti, 1951) from Pseudocaranx wrighti, off Fremantle, Western Australia; S. aaravi n. sp. from Lethrinus miniatus, off Heron Island, with 36-39 circumoral spines, probably a uroproct and the vitelline fields reaching the ventral sucker; S. pagrosomi ( Yamaguti, 1939) from L. nebulosus, L. miniatus and L. atkinsoni off Heron Island, Pagrus auratus, off Rottnest Island, Western Australia and Gymnocranius audleyi, off Heron Island. A digest of described species of Stephanostomum is included as an appendix.

Cleaner fish become hosts: a novel form of parasite transmission

Adult bucephalid trematodes (Digenea) generally only occur in piscivorous fish. Within labrid fishes they are very rare, however, we have found them in labrid cleaner fish that feed on the ectoparasites of fish. We surveyed 969 labrid fishes from the tropical Pacific and found bucephalids only in cleaners (Lahroides dimidiatus, L. bicolor, and Bodianus axillaris) and none in piscivores. The prevalences of bucephalids in L. dimidiatus at Lizard Island, Heron Island, Orpheus Island (all on the Great Barrier Reef), New Caledonia, and Moorea (French Polynesia) were 51, 47, 67, 56, and 67%, respectively. All of the L. bicolor examined from Moorea were infected. Bucephalids were highly prevalent in all size classes of L. dimidiatus from Lizard Island. Bucephalids were found in a 1.6-cm long juvenile L. dimidiatus, in which, piscivory is highly unlikely. We examined the literature on the worldwide bucephalid fauna in labrids and all hosts were found to be cleaners (Symphodus tinca, S. mediterraneus, L. dimidiatus, L. bicolor, and Bodianus axillaris) except Notolabrus parilus, whose ecology is unknown. We suggest that cleaners eat bucephalid metacercariae directly from the exterior surface of client fish during cleaning interactions. This is the first evidence of digeneans in the diet of L. dimidiatus, and the first study to show this novel form of parasite transmission where infective stages are eaten as a result of cleaning behaviour. Cleaning-mediated parasite transmission may result in behavioural modification of second intermediate hosts because clients and parasites both benefit from transmission. If the infection is costly to cleaners and acquired during cheating behaviour, then this parasite might regulate mutualism. Alternatively, if infective stages are targeted, infection by these bucephalids may be a negative consequence of an honest foraging strategy.