140
J.
Reviews
"Effects of abatement of domestic sewage pollution on
the benthos, volumes of zooplankton and the fouling organisms of Biscayne
Bay, Florida". University of Miami Press, Coral Gables, Florida. Studies
in Tropical Oceanography No. 9, 1970, 128 pp., $6-95.
KNEELAND M C N U L T Y :
This "before and after" study of ecological conditions in a shallow water
tropical environment gives an account of the changes in the numbers of coliform bacteria, shallow water benthos, zooplankton and in inorganic phosphate
after the installation of a sewage disposal plant on Virginia Key, and the
abatement of previous sewage discharges into the Miami River. Sixty benthic
stations were sampled, but the sample size was so small that many of the
entries to the tables refer only to one or two individuals from all the samples
taken of a given habitat. Thus in Table 3 Zone X, the total number of benthic
organisms (9-0/m2 and 10-5/m2 in 1956 and 1960 respectively) really means
only 6 animals collected in 1956 and 7 in 1960 from all three stations sampled.
The species diagnosis is also rather superficial, over a quarter of the macrofauna and most of the algae are not specifically identified. There is no attempt
at statistical analysis of the results.
A consequence of these limitations is that only dramatic changes could possibly have been shown up. Those observed were:
(1) The expected reduction of dissolved phosphorus and in numbers of coliform bacteria.
(2) A zone of rich benthos found on hard bottoms situated between 185 and
740 m from the outfalls disappeared after abatement and the biomass then
appeared more uniformly distributed.
(3) Algae disappeared from the more estuarine areas.
It is by no means clear, however, whether the last mentioned and quite
unexpected change was a result of sewage abatement; the authors suggest an
effect of dredging operations, made simultaneously with the abatement, is
more likely.
Unfortunately, several important variables which would link abatement with
environmental change were not dealt with in the survey, notably nutrient levels
other than phosphate, water transparency, and primary production. Nor is
there any mention of the efficiency of the new system - the question of storm
overflows for example - nor of the fate of the discharge from the new treatment
plant on Virginia Key which must provide a corresponding enrichment of the
sea at some other point. These criticisms really refer to the scope of the survey
rather than to any failure in carrying it out. Surveys of this kind need much
more careful planning, not only by biologists but also by marine chemists and
engineers, and a necessarily high investment of research effort, otherwise they
will not yield a sufficient understanding of environmental mechanics to enable
future predictions to be based on them, and so fail as exercises in applied
research.
The author states that the benthic enrichment observed at an optimal distance from the source of domestic pollution could not be beneficial to fisheries.
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| 34 | No. I I 141-42 I Copenhague, octobre 1971 I
Reviews
141
This claim may be true but, as he admits, there is insufficient evidence to
substantiate it. It is most unfortunate that such a vitally important aspect
was not included.
D. J. Crisp
University College of North Wales
Marine Science Laboratories
Menai Bridge
Anglesey.
HERMAN KLEEREKOPER:
"Olfaction in fishes". Indiana University Press, 1969,
352 pp., $12.50
The senses of fish can be divided into three main groups, vision, acousticolateralis and the chemical senses. It is undoubtedly the chemical senses which
are the most neglected, and in some ways the least understood: therefore
Professor KLEEREKOPER'S book on olfaction is most welcome. The book is
perhaps unusual in being divided into only two chapters: "Morphology and
Function of the Olfactory Organ in Fishes" and "Olfaction and Behaviour in
Fishes". The morphology of the olfactory organ is covered from the points of
view of embryology, histology and comparative morphology. Considerable
attention is given to the arrangement of the lamellae in the olfactory organ
which form the olfactory rosette and the position of the nares, in relation to
water flow through the organ.
The generalized function of the olfactory organ is as a "distance receptor"
of chemical stimuli, but the author is at pains to point out the deficiencies in
our knowledge of the details of function. This applies particularly to the mode
and site of action of odorous molecules on the receptor membrane surface.
Some discussion of current theories of receptor mechanism is given although
this is derived in most cases from higher terrestrial vertebrates, but this is quite
valid because there is little functional difference between olfaction in air and
olfaction in water. Recent electrophysiological work on the olfactory organ
and its innervation in fish is well covered, and has profited from the acknowledged help of Dr K. B. DGVING of the Karolinska Institut, Stockholm.
The second chapter on olfaction and behaviour is quite short and rather
less satisfying than the first. This is a disappointment as this is the field in
which Professor KLEEREKOPER and his associates have done much work. One
might have expected more of his wisdom and experience to be expressed, but
the same review style is followed in this chapter also. Olfaction is considered
in relation to the procurement of food, social behaviour, defence mechanisms
(e.g. Schreckreaktion), parental behaviour and homing orientation, with a final
section on mechanisms of orientation. It seems remarkable that a section on
orientation can be written without mentioning the classification of orientation
mechanisms by KUHN (1919) or FRAENKEL and GUNN (1940). Although both
these references are listed in the bibliography, they do not appear in the author
index or as far as the reviewer can determine, in the text. The use of KUHN'S
outdated term "phobotaxis" and the complete absence of any mention of the
kinesis/taxis distinction seems unaccountable. There are a number of interestJ. Cons. int. Explor. Mer
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No. 1
142-43
Copenhague, octobre 1971