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.

Pholeohedra overstreeti n.g., n.sp. (Digenea : Haploporidae) from Girella zebra (Kyphosidae) in south Australia

Pholeohedra overstreeti n. g., n. sp. (Digenea: Haploporidae) is described from Girella zebra (Kyphosidae) in South Australia. The new genus is compared with all genera of Haploporidae sensu late (including Atractotrematidae, Megasolenidae and Waretrematidae) and has a unique bell-shaped concavity at its posterior end. The genus otherwise resembles Hapladena in the arrangement of the testis, vitellarium and gut but also resembles Megasolena, Metamegasolena and Vitellibaculum except in having a single testis. This is the first haploporid reported from kyphosid fishes in Australia.

Book review of Mark McGillivray and Gary Smith's (eds.) "Australia and Asia", Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1997. vii + 248 pp

The political capital invested in Australia's engagement with Asia over the past decade has sparked a lively discussion in the Australian academic community. The back cover of the book under review suggests that there are 'few bigger contemporary issues facing Australia than its relationship with Asia'. If the volume of scholarly material being produced on this issue is any indication, they are right. Like a number of similar works covering the shift in Australian foreign, defence, and trade policies towards Asia over the last decade, this book acknowledges a particular debt of gratitude to the Keating government for establishing regional engagement at the forefront of our national consciousness. Unlike some others however, this book seeks to place Australia's more recent 'discovery' of Asia into a broader historical framework.