Parasitism is one of the most successful modes of life displayed by living organisms, as measured by how often it evolved and how many parasitic species are presently in existence. Studying the diversity of parasites is particularly relevant because sympatric diversification may be important in some parasite taxa, and because of the opportunity for independent tests of evolutionary hypotheses in the many separate lineages in which parasitism evolved. Our incomplete knowledge of existing parasite species--the result of a range of phenomena that includes inadequate sampling effort or the lumping of different cryptic species under one name--is not always a major obstacle for the study of parasite diversity. Patterns in the diversity of parasites may be associated with either host or parasite characteristics. The distribution of parasite diversity among host taxa does not simply reflect the species diversity of the host taxa themselves; life history and ecological traits of hosts appear to play important roles. These may determine the likelihood that hosts are colonized by parasite species over evolutionary time. It is not yet clear whether some host traits also favor intrahost speciation and diversification of parasites, and the formation of new parasite species. Certain features of parasites may also be associated with speciation and diversification. Only parasite body size has received much attention; the patterns observed are not greatly different from those of free-living species, with small-bodied parasite taxa being more speciose than related large-bodied taxa. Epidemiological parameters such as the basic reproductive rate of parasites, or R0, can also generate predictions regarding the distribution or evolution of parasite diversity. For instance, parasite taxa characterized by high R0 values may be more speciose than related taxa with lower values of R0; such predictions remain untested. Large-scale biogeographical patterns of diversity have only been well studied for metazoan parasites of marine fish; for these parasites, latitudinal patterns can be explained by effects of temperature on speciation rates and epidemiological variables, though other causes are possible. The emphasis for future research must shift from pattern description to the elucidation of the processes responsible for the structure and diversity of parasite faunas. A better integration of ecological and historical (or phylogenetic) approaches to the study of parasite diversity should make this objective possible.

The diversity of parasites.

This study confirms reports by fishermen of a large and predictable aggregation of whale sharks Rhincodon typus along the Belize Barrier Reef. Although whale sharks are rarely sighted at this location during most of the year, we counted as many as 25 whale sharks in a 50 m diameter area on 1 occasion and tagged 6 sharks during a 22 min period on another. The whale shark aggregation coincides seasonally and temporally with a multispecies reef-fish spawning aggregation at a reef promontory, Gladden Spit, at sunset, during the full and last-quarter moon periods of April and May each year. We report here, for the first time, that whale sharks feed on the freshly released spawn of cubera snappers Lutjanus cyanopterus and dog snappers L. jocu (Lutjanidae), and have documented the phenomenon with still and digital video photography of hundreds of feeding events. There is consensus locally that this remarkable interaction is in need of immediate protection from overfishing of snappers and unregulated tourism development. Our continued investigations are providing management recommendations for a new marine reserve at the site.

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Whale sharks Rhincodon typus aggregate to feed on fish spawn in Belize

This report owes its genesis to the foresight and enthusiam
of Dr. Kazuhiro Mizue. By happy circumstance, Professor Mizue contacted me in 1983 with his visionary ideas on cooperative programs. He noted that the time was right because the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the National Science Foundation had mutually given priority to cooperative programs in marine biology.

I therefore agreed to act as the U.S. coordinator and proposed to NSF, a short trip to Japan to negotiate site visits and timing with ten previously appointed Japanese scientists and, if that trip were successful, to negotiate a joint research project, possibly followed by a joint seminar. (PDF file contains 528 pages.)

Elasmobranchs as living resources: advances in the biology, ecology, systematics, and the status of the fisheries. Proceedings

The family-group names of animals (superfamily, family, subfamily, supertribe, tribe and subtribe) are regulated by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Family names are particularly important because they are among the most widely used of all technical animal names. Apart from using the correct family-group name according to the Code, it is also important to use one unique universal name (with a fixed spelling) to avoid confusion. We have compiled a list of family-group names for Recent fishes, applied the rules of the Code and, if possible, tried to conserve the names in prevailing recent practice. We list all of the family-group names found to date for Recent fishes (N=2625), together with their author(s) and year of publication. This list can be used in assigning the correct family-group name to a genus or a group of genera. With this publication we contribute to the usage of correct, universal family-group names in the classification of, and for communication about, Recent fishes.

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Family-group names of Recent fishes.

The information available on the biology and ecology of the whale shark is reviewed, and is updated from material published since 1986. Research work carried out on the seasonal aggregation of whale sharks at the Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia is summarized. Future research studies on whale sharks in the Ningaloo Marine Park are discussed in the context of management of sustainable whale shark interaction tourism.

A review of the biology and ecology of the whale shark

Megachasma pelagios, a new genus and species of lamnoid shark assigned to the new family Megachasmidae, is described and defined from a single adult male, 4.46 m total length. The holotype and only known specimen was collected approximately 42 km ne of Oahu, Hawaii. Structure and habitus distinctly differ from other lamnoid sharks, particularly in head and tooth morphology and in mesopelagic filter feeding.

Leighton R Taylor

Papers

Megamouth--a new species, genus, and family of lamnoid shark (Megachasma pelagios, family Megachasmidae) from the Hawaiian Islands