This volume, the proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Coelenterate Biology, is organized as the meeting was around six topics. Because several sessions of ICCB7 constituted the 2003 North American meeting of the International Society for Reef Studies, the subject of coral reefs is strongly represented in the section on Ecology. The other themes are Neurobiology; Reproduction, Development, and Life Cycles; Pioneers in Coelenterate Biology; Cnidae; and Taxonomy and Systematics. Ctenophores, as well as representatives of all four classes of cnidarians are among the study subjects of the research reported in this volume. The theme of variability runs through the volume – be it in cnidae, morphology, behavior, neurobiology, ecology, colony form, or reproduction, variability is a major reason these animals are so interesting and challenging to study! This is a must-read resource for anyone doing research – or planning to do research – on cnidarians and ctenophores.

Coelenterate Biology: Reviews and New Perspectives highlights research areas in which coelenterates are exceptionally useful and interesting experimental animals. It outlines the state of knowledge in coelenterate research and draws attention to some of the challenging problems that are amenable for study. Coelenterates offer valuable material for many levels of inquiry—from the population and organismic to the cellular, subcellular, and molecular levels. They are especially attractive animals for studies in developmental biology and behavior. The book begins by discussing cnidarians histology, focusing on the light and electron microscopy of cnidarian tissues. There are separate chapters on the skeletal system of cnidarians; the morphology, functions, and chemistry of nematocytes; and a few aspects of the enormous subject of cnidarian development. The subsequent chapters deal with cnidarian neurobiology, behavior, locomotion, flotation, and dispersal; experimental studies on algae-cnidarian symbioses; and coelenterate bioluminescence. The book concludes with a discussion of the systems of coordination and nervous system of ctenophores.

The Fourth Edition of The Light and Smith Manual continues a sixty-five-year tradition of providing to both students and professionals an indispensable, comprehensive, and authoritative guide to Pacific coast marine invertebrates of coastal waters, rocky shores, sandy beaches, tidal mud flats, salt marshes, and floats and docks. This classic and unparalleled reference has been newly expanded to include all common and many rare species from Point Conception, California, to the Columbia River, one of the most studied areas in the world for marine invertebrates. In addition, although focused on the central and northern California and Oregon coasts, this encyclopedic source is useful for anyone working in North American coastal ecosystems, from Alaska to Mexico. More than one hundred scholars have provided new keys, illustrations, and annotated species lists for over 3,500 species of intertidal and many shallow water marine organisms ranging from protozoans to sea squirts. This expanded volume covers sponges, sea anemones, hydroids, jellyfish, flatworms, polychaetes, amphipods, crabs, insects, snails, clams, chitons, and scores of other important groups. The Fourth Edition also features introductory chapters on marine habitats and biogeography, interstitial marine life, and intertidal parasites, as well as expanded treatments of common planktonic organisms likely to be encountered in near-to-shore shallow waters.

Coral disease is quickly becoming a crisis to the health and management of the world’s coral reefs. There is a great interest from many in preserving coral reefs. Unfortunately, the field of epizootiology is disorganized and lacks a standard vocabulary, methods, and diagnostic techniques, and tropical marine scientists are poorly trained in wildlife pathology, veterinary medicine, and epidemiology. Diseases of Coral will help to rectify this situation.

Here, a diverse group of geologists and paleobiologists focus their attention on the richly fossiliferous Neogene stratigraphic sections of the Dominican Republic. They provide an updated geological framework and a series of novel studies of evolutionary stasis and change among different lineages and associated ecological communities. This collection of studies illustrates the immense potential of collaborative, multidisciplinary, and field-based paleobiological research.