Parasite communities and diet of Coris Batuensis (Pisces Labridae) from Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef

Parasite infracommunities of the wrasse Coris batuensis (Bleeker, 1857) were analysed, and the relationship between endoparasites, diet, and host body weight inferred. Thirty-two fish were collected from Lizard Island, Australia. Percentage frequency of occurrence of prey categories in the gut was determined and abundance, prevalence and species richness of parasites were calculated. Fish mainly ate snails, bivalves and crustaceans and this did not vary with body weight. Thirty-one fish were parasitised with at least one of 21 taxa of parasites (4 ectoparasite and 17 endoparasite species), with an average of 4 species and 47 individuals per host. Tetraphyllidean cestode larvae were the most common and abundant group. Parasite life cycles are not known in detail, but small crustaceans, such as copepods and amphipods, are likely to be intermediate hosts for the cestodes, nematodes and digeneans found in C. batuensis. Molluscs, although frequent in the diet, may not be transmitting any parasite species. Numbers of prey and parasite species richness were not correlated. Composition, abundance and species richness of the parasite fauna were similar in hosts with different body weight, corresponding with C. batuensis having a similar diet throughout life. © Queensland Museum.

A paralysis in public health policy: water fluoridation in Queensland (1996-2006)

By focusing on developments between 1996 and 2006, this paper explains the reasons for one of Australia’s public health inconsistencies, the comparatively low adoption of adjusted water fluoridation in Queensland. As such, this work involved literature review and traditional historical method. In Queensland, parliamentary support for water fluoridation is conditional on community approval. Political ambivalence and the constraints of the “Fluoridation of Public Water Supplies Act (1963)” Qld have hindered the advocacy of water fluoridation. The political circumstance surrounding the “Lord Mayor’s Taskforce on Fluoridation Report” (1997) influenced its findings and confirms that Australia’s biggest local authority, the Brisbane City Council, failed to authoritatively analyse water fluoridation. In 2004, a private member’s bill to mandate fluoridation failed in a spectacular fashion. In 2005, an official systems review of Queensland Health recommended public debate about water fluoridation. Our principal conclusion is that without mandatory legislation, widespread implementationof water fluoridation in Queensland is most unlikely.