Porcupine Newsletter - No. 16 November 2004 - Porcupine Marine ...

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Reviews 5“The Ecology of the RockyShores of Sherkin Island.A Twenty-Year Perspective”by Gillian Bishop, published by SherkinIsland Marine Station, 305 pp., 2003.ISBN 1 870492 37 4 (hardback, 1 870492 579 (softback).Reviewer: Frances DipperI have twice been to Sherkin Island MarineStation in southern Ireland, back in the 1970sto take part in baseline diving surveys. Bothvisits were memorable particularly the warmwelcome from the director, Matt Murphy andhis family and the terrible food (muchimproved now!!). The diving too was excellentin spite of the antiquated equipment we usedback then. The clear cool water during theday contrasted well with the dark warm beerin the evenings – followed by a 3 mile hikeback from the pub-that-never-closed.Sherkin Marine Station has alwayschampioned the efforts of volunteers and thisbook is a great tribute to all their efforts overthe years as well as being a fascinating recordof one of the longest ever European rocky shorestudies. At a time when most scientists andpoliticians (with a few notable exceptions)have accepted that climate change is anuncomfortable reality, long-term data sets arebecoming an increasingly important asset. Ifwe don’t know the natural variations ofabundance within species and populations, wecannot easily attribute changes to globalwarming, pollution or any other Man-madeinfluence (I can’t spell anthropogenic).Gill Bishop’s book is cleanly laid out withuncluttered text, and clear diagramsinterspersed with black and white and colourphotographs to add interest and visual appeal(well the non-human ones anyway). Thestraightforward style and clear layout make itboth easy to read and a good reference book.The first two chapters provide an interestingbackground to Sherkin Island, the marinestation and the basics of rocky shore ecology.The survey methodology is described in chapter3. There are now 152 marked monitoring sitesextending from Cork Harbour to Bantry Baywith 145 surveyed annually and seven moreon Sherkin Island surveyed monthly from Aprilto October. It is these 7 sites that are the focusof the book. Chapters 4-7 describe 26 speciesor groups at each of the 7 monthly surveysites. Histograms show variations in abundanceof each species down each shore, monthlyquantitative changes and annual variationsover a 20-year period. Shores with differingexposures can easily be compared as eachchapter covers shores in a different exposurerange: very exposed, exposed, moderatelyexposed and sheltered. Scattered throughoutthese chapters are text boxes highlightingparticularly interesting or important speciesor groups. Trends are discussed at the end ofeach chapter.The final chapter covers natural variationof species on the shore and discusses bothseasonality and variation over the 20-yearperiod with a summary of key findings. Thereare also a number of useful appendices.Appendices 3 and 4 list all the species recordedeach year at each of the seven sites.A book review should naturally includeany bad points as well as good. However Istruggle to find any real critisisms – ex ceptperhaps that the book is just a little too heavyto read (physically) comfortably in bed! Thisbook claims to appeal to a wide audienceincluding environmental scientists, studentsand anyone interested in marine ecology. Ithink it deserves a place on any of theseshelves and more.REVIEWSPMNHS Newsletter No.16 Nov 2004 5Porcupine Marine Natural History Society (www.pmnhs.co.uk) newsletter archive
6PORCUPINE PROBLEMS6Request for records ofunusual prawnsFrom Chris Ashelby, Unicomarine Ltd7 Diamond Centre, Works Road, LetchworthGarden City, Herts., SG6 1LW. email:chrisashelby@unicomarine.comRecently, a large non-native prawn,Palaemon macrodactylus Rathbun, wasdiscovered in the Orwell Estuary, Suffolk(Ashelby et al., 2004). This represented thefirst record of the species in British watersbut it has also recently been found in severalother European locations (Cuesta et al., 2004;M. Faasse in prep.; C. d’Udekem d’Acoz in prep.;Cuesta in prep.). The prawn may already bewidespread, but unreported, in other parts ofthe British Isles.Superficially the prawn resemblesPalaemon longirostris H. Milne Edwards andPalaemon elegans Rathke. Differences may befound in the numbers of rostral teeth (up to15), the size and shape of pereopod 2 chelaeand the mandible palp. Live P. macrodactylusare dull green in colour, without pigmentstreaks, but may have a pale longitudinaldorsal stripe.I am particularly interested in this species,and trying to establish its current Britishdistribution, but would be grateful for recordsof any prawns that do not to match publisheddescriptions for native prawns.Ashelby, C.W., Worsfold, T.M. & Fransen,C.H.J.M. 2004. First records of the orientalprawn Palaemon macrodactylus (Decapoda:Caridea), an alien species in European waters,with a revised key to British Palaemonidae.Journal of the Marine Biological Association ofthe United Kingdom, 84, 1041-1050.Cuesta, J. A., González-Ortegón, E., Drake,P & Rodríguez, A. 2004. First record ofPalaemon macrodactylus Rathbun, 1902(Decapoda, Caridea, Palaemonidae) fromEuropean waters. Crustaceana, 77(3), 377-380.Rare fish recordsInformation requests and observationsPMNHS Newsletter No.16 Nov 2004From Douglas Herdson, Information Officer,National Marine Aquarium, Rope Walk, Coxside,Plymouth PL4 OLF. Email:Douglas.Herdson@national-aquarium.co.ukTwo rare Jacks or carangids have recentlybeen caught in Cornwall and taken by thefishermen to Cornish aquariums.An Amberjack Seriola sp., caught by anangler off the rocks of the Lizard in mid-September and taken to Matt Slater at theBlue Reef Aquarium in Newquay foridentification, will be a new British rod-caughtrecord. It is thought to be a Lesser AmberjackSeriola fasciata which has never been recordedin Britain before, but could turn out to be anAlmaco Jack Seriola rivoliana, which would bethe sixth for British waters, and the first takenby an angler. Two weeks later a related jackknown as a Blue Runner Caranx crysos, wascaught by a fisherman in a bass net just offMevagissey and taken in to Chris Gilbertsonat Mevagissey Aquarium, who passed it on tome for identification. This is thought to bethe fourth or fifth specimen of this fishreported in the UK.The jack family of fish (Carangidae) arewidespread in the warmer waters of the world,but the only member of the family which iscommon in the North East Atlantic is the HorseMackerel or Scad Trachurus trachurus.Carangids seem to be being found moreregularly as the temperature of local watersincreases. This is a great example of how threeWest country aquariums working together canbuild our knowledge of what is happening inthe seas around our shores.Porcupine Marine Natural History Society (www.pmnhs.co.uk) newsletter archive
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Page 36 and 37: 33Observations and DiscussionThe ma
Page 38 and 39: 35Figure 3. Osilinus lineatus: all
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