Synonymy of Perkinsus olseni Lester & Davis, 1981 and Perkinsus atlanticus Azevedo, 1989 and an update on the phylogenetic position of the genus Perkinsus

Sequences of the rRNA nontranscribed spacer (NTS) were determined for six isolates of Perkinsus olseni, seven isolates of Perkinsus sp. from Anadara trapezia and one isolate of Perkinsus sp. from Austrovenus stutchburyi. These sequences were compared with previously published NTS sequences for R atlanticus, P. marinus and P. andrewsi. Consensus sequences for Perkinsus olseni, the Perkinsus isolates and P. atlanticus were approximately 98-99% similar to each other but only 65-79% similar to P. marinus and P. andrewsi sequences. Some individual P. olseni sequences were less similar to each other (97.4%) than they were to P. atlanticus sequences (97.8-98.2%), therefore NTS provides further evidence that P. atlanticus, P. olseni, Perkinsus sp. from Anadara trapezia and Perkinsus sp. from Austrovenus stutchburyi are conspecific. We propose that P. atlanticus be synonymised with P. olseni Lester & Davis, 1981 which has taxonomic priority, and that Perkinsus sp. from Anadara trapezia and Perkinsus sp. from Austrovenus stutchburyi belong to R olseni sensu lato as well. A phylogenetic analysis of SSU rDNA, incorporating recently published Perkinsus sequences, supports the placement of the Perkinsus species with Parvilucifera infectans within the Dinoflagellata.

Western Images of Islam, 1700-1900

This paper traces fluctuating attitudes to Islam and its Prophet, particularly in the eighteenth and nineteenth. Western perceptions, as revealed by writers of the period, encyclopaedias, biographies and commentaries, were sometimes sympathetic, sometimes dismissive; sometimes celebrating Islam's piousness; sometimes accusing it of fraud. Sometimes Islam is seen as benign; sometimes its violence is seen as endemic. Often the cultural biases of western observers are obvious: the west is progressive and historically dominant, the east (and its cultural accoutrements) is degenerate and over-zealous. But we ought not judge religions or cultures by their worst manifestations alone. Oriental societies were never just Islamic or traditional. They comprise not only those who perpetuate oppressive practices towards women but also modernizers who seek change.