Loyalty Islands Research Articles

Morphological, behavioural and genetic differentiation within the Horned Parakeet (Eunymphicus cornutus) and its affinities to Cyanoramphus and Prosopeia

We revise the taxonomy of the two parakeet taxa in the psittaciform genus Eunymphicus—E. cornutus cornutus (Horned Parakeet) and E. c. uvaeensis (Ouvéa Parakeet)—which are restricted to New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands, in the south-western Pacific, and we investigate their relationship with the genera Cyanoramphus, considered traditionally as its closest related genus, and Prosopeia. We used three sets of characters to assess the level of differentiation between the Eunymphicus taxa: behaviour (vocalisations), morphology (biometrics and plumage coloration) and genetic (mitochondrial cytochrome b DNA sequence variation, 924 nucleotides). The analysis of vocalisations revealed significant differences, as did morphological analyses (size and number of feathers of the crest, size of the bill, and colour pattern of the head). Genetic distance between the Horned and Ouvéa Parakeets is similar to that recorded between closely related species of Cyanoramphus and both taxa possess novel and diagnostic synapomorphic substitutions. From these genetic, behavioural and morphological data, the two Eunymphicus taxa should be considered separate species, a suggestion that is supported by ecological data as well as anecdotal data on hybridisation from captive birds. Our molecular data also support the traditional view that Cyanoramphus is the closest relative of Eunymphicus, with Prosopeia a sister group to this clade. The consistency with which Platycercus clusters next to the Cyanoramphus—Eunymphicus—Prosopeia grouping suggests that Platycercus may well be the next closest relative of this clade.

Spatial patterns of meiofauna and diversity of nematode species assemblages in the Uvea lagoon (Loyalty Islands, South Pacific)

Meiofauna assemblages were investigated at 15 stations on triplicated samples in the Uvea Atoll (Loyalty Islands) in relation to 9 selected environmental parameters. Spatial patterns and variability of meiofauna density were quantified according to location, macrofauna and nematode species assemblages. Meiofauna was dominated by ciliates and nematodes. Densities of total meiofauna and of most of the meiofauna taxa were significantly higher in the back reef North Pléiades stations than the leeward side of the Island. The highest correlation between biotic patterns and environmental parameters that best explains the pattern was with sediment thickness and to a lesser extent organic matter, C/N ratio and depth. One hundred and thirty-four nematode species were identified with four dominant species Chromadora macrolaimoides, an undescribed species of Bolbonema, Daptonema svalbardense and Prochromadorella septempapillata. Three significantly different nematode species assemblages were detected in two of the previously described macrofauna assemblages by cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling methods suggesting that nematodes are more sensible ecological indicators than macrofauna. Diversity indices based on dominance were not significantly different among the three nematode species assemblages but indices based on species richness and rarefaction were significantly higher leeward of Uvea Island. Estimates of total species richness showed no sign of stabilizing with sample size. However, rare species stabilized very quickly, whereas abundant species were added with increasing sampling coverage, indicating a high spatial variability of the local composition of nematodes.

In Memoriam, Françoise Ozanne-Rivierre, 1941–2007

Francoise Ozanne-Rivierre was born at St. Julien-sur-Calonne in the departement of Calvados in Normandy, France, on January 2, 1941. She passed away at her home in Montreuil, Paris, on November 11, 2007 after a long illness. She will be deeply missed by friends and colleagues alike. Francoise was a distinguished French linguist and a key member of the Laboratoire de Langues et Civilisations a Tradition Orale (LACITO), situated at Villejuif in Paris. LACITO is itself a unit within the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), the French national center for scientific research. She completed her doctorate in linguistics in 1973, her dissertation titled Le iaai, langue melanesienne d'Ouvea (Nouvelle-Caledonie), at Universite Paris III. She formally became a member of CNRS in 1972 where she remained throughout her career until her retirement in 2006. Francoise continued to play an active role right up until the time of her death. Her research on Oceanic languages began in 1972 under Andre-Georges Haudricourt (Ethnohistory of the Pacific Program), and continued from 1976 onwards as a member of LACITO, directed initially by Jacqueline M. C. Thomas. However, the association of the Rivierre family with New Caledonia goes back to 1965, when Francoise's husband Jean-Claude undertook his first fieldwork in Melanesia, under the aegis and guidance of Andre-Georges Haudricourt, who launched them into what was to become a lifelong preoccupation with the languages of New Caledonia. Coincidentally, the first time that I met Francoise and Jean-Claude and their two then small children, Nicolas and David, was at the South Pacific Commission in Noumea in 1965, upon their return from fieldwork in northern New Caledonia. We immediately became close friends and colleagues, working together in the field of Oceanic linguistics for the next forty years. It is not surprising, therefore, that the passing of Francoise continues to weigh heavily on me particularly, and on the linguistics community in the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian National University, with whom the members of LACITO have long enjoyed a fruitful collaborative relationship. While she accompanied Jean-Claude on his first fieldwork trip to Melanesia in 1965, Francoise undertook her first solo field research in New Caledonia from July to October 1971, when she conducted research into Iaai, spoken on Ouvea in the Loyalty Islands to the northeast of the New Caledonian mainland. After that period, she was a constant visitor to many areas in the north of the mainland, with fieldwork in New Caledonia in 1973, 1976, 1978, and several further field trips in the period 1986-92. Her final period of fieldwork in New Caledonia was conducted in 1997, when she completed her earlier work on two northern languages, Pwaamei and Pwapwa. This intensive field research resulted in the publication of the following major works: Le iaai (1976); Textes nemi (1979); Les langues melanesiennes de Nouvelle-Caledonie (1979), with Andre-Georges Haudricourt, Jean-Claude Rivierre, Claire Moyse-Faurie, and Jacqueline de La Fontinelle; Mythes et contes de la Grande Terre et des Iles Loyaute (Nouvelle-Caledonie) (1980), with Claire Moyse-Faurie and Jean-Claude Rivierre; Dictionnaire thematique des langues de la region de Hienghene (Nouvelle-Caledonie): Pije-fwai-nemi-jawe (1982), with Andre-Georges Haudricourt; Dictionnaire iaai-francais (1984); De Muna Fagauvea, I: Dictionnaire fagauvea-francais (1987), with K. J. Hollyman; Le nyelayu de Balade (Nouvelle-Caledonie) (1998); and Complex predicates in Oceanic languages (2004), co-edited with Isabelle Bril. At the time of her death, she had just completed the first draft of a thematic dictionary of Pwaamei and Pwapwa, spoken on the northwest of the New Caledonian mainland. Francoise enjoyed a high degree of respect internationally in the field of Austronesian comparative linguistics, particularly through her publications and international conference presentations on the languages of New Caledonia. …

Are cyanobacteria involved in Ciguatera Fish Poisoning-like outbreaks in New Caledonia?

From 2001 to 2005, numerous cases of seafood poisonings were reported in a tribe from Lifou (Loyalty Islands Province, New Caledonia) of which 35 were thoroughly examined. Observations outlined by the epidemiological and clinical data (including severity and rapid onset of certain symptoms following consumption of either giant clams ( Tridacna spp.) or grazing and molluscivorous fish together with the apparent inefficacy of traditional remedies, were not in favour of a classical Ciguatera Fish Poisoning (CFP) outbreak. From 2005 onwards, an environmental offshore survey of the affected area was conducted. Screening of the damaged coral area revealed the presence of large populations of cyanobacteria identified as Hydrocoleum Kützing, but the absence of Gambierdiscus spp., the well-known dinoflagellate causative agent of CFP. In vivo and in vitro toxicological studies of extracts obtained from cyanobacteria and giant clams, strongly suggested the co-occurrence of ciguatoxin-like, anatoxin-like and paralytic shellfish toxins in these samples. These new findings shed new light on the complexity of the CFP symptomatology and treatment and also on the diversity and origin of the CFP toxins. Furthermore they provide new evidence of the overall variability of seafood poisonings following the ingestion of different sea products living in a marine environment where significant harmful populations of microalgae and cyanobacteria coexist. This is the first report on the involvement of cyanobacteria in CFP-like outbreaks following the consumption of giant clams or fish specimens. Consequently, it is recommended that CFP risk assessment programs now include monitoring of cyanobacteria besides the obvious screening of CFP-promoting dinoflagellates.

Effect of ingestion byDrepanoptila holosericea(Columbidae) on the seed germination ofSantalum austrocaledonicum(Santalaceae)

Santalum austrocaledonicumVieill. (Santalaceae) is a small tree endemic to New Caledonia and Vanuatu, well-known for the highly priced aromatic oil of its heartwood (Nasi & Ehrhart 1996). In New Caledonia, sandalwood grows on Loyalty Islands, the Isle of Pines and Grande-Terre (Bottinet al. 2006). The tree produces single-seeded fleshy drupes, which turn dark-red at maturity. Sandalwood seeds are dormant because of their hard coat and germinate only on physical scarification, or after removing the coat (Chauvin & Ehrhart 1998). In natural habitats, such seeds need further processing to relieve dormancy and promote germination, within a period where there is a good chance of successful seedling establishment (Murdoch & Ellis 2000).

A model for fracturation in the Loyalty Islands

The Loyalty Islands are a series of limestone karstified islands that are currently uplifted and deformed on the elastic bulge of the Australian plate before its subduction at the Vanuatu trench (SW Pacific). These islands have been extensively surveyed for geology and hydrogeology, and fracturation maps have been produced which indicate a major direction N 110 ± 35 ° . This fracture orientation is analytically modeled as resulting from the elastic deformation of the Australian lithosphere before its subduction. First, the vertical deflection around a circular subduction zone is determined. Second, a point force is introduced which accounts for the first stages of a collision between the Loyalty ridge and this circular subduction zone. This model yields principal stress orientations and elevations of the islands in fair agreement with real data.

Porcellanidae (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura) from New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands

Thirty-one species of the family Porcellanidae are reported on the basis of rich material recently collected from New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands. They include two species of Aliaporcellana Nakasone & Miyake, 1971, one of Capilliporcellana Haig, 1978, two of Enosteoides Johnson, 1970, one of Heteropolyonyx Osawa, 2001, four of Lissoporcellana Haig, 1978, two of Pachycheles Stimpson, 1858, 11 species of Petrolisthes Stimpson, 1858, one of Pisidia Leach, 1820, six of Polyonyx Stimpson, 1858, and one of Porcellana Lamarck, 1801. Two species, one each of Lissoporcellana and Polyonyx, are new to science and are herein described and illustrated. Some records greatly extend the previously known distribution ranges of their species. A neotype is designated for Polyonyx biunguiculatus (Dana, 1852), of which the type specimen is apparently lost, in order to fix its identity. A key to all the Indo-West Pacific porcellanid genera is provided. For the genera recorded from New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands, keys to species known from whole the Indo-West Pacific or presently from the islands are also given.

New taxa of signal flies (Diptera: Platystomatidae) of New Caledonia

Possible explanations are sought for the distribution patterns of platystomatid genera in Pacific Oceania, with special reference to those of New Caledonia. A key to the eleven known genera of New Caledonia (including the Loyalty Islands) is given. Five of these genera are endemic to this province of the Australasian Region. A key to the known Australasian species of Naupoda is given. Dayomyia molens n.gen. and n.sp., Eumeka koghii n.sp., Pogonortalis monteithi n.sp., Sors wrightae n.gen. and n.sp., and Naupoda (Gonga) burwelli n.sp. are described from New Caledonia (Grande Terre). Abrasion of part of the antenna in D. molens is apparently due to some unexplained behavioural trait.

A new species of Polyonyx Stimpson, 1858 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura: Porcellanidae) from the Philippines and Loyalty Islands

A new porcellanid crab, Polyonyx spina, is described from the Philippines and Loyalty Islands. Among the Indo-West Pacific species of the genus, the spines on the flexor margins of the meri of the ambulatory legs are found only in the new species and P. pedalis Nobili, 1905. Polyonyx spina is distinguished from P. pedalis by the shape of the carapace and third thoracic sternite, and the strength of spines on the meri of the ambulatory legs.

New genera of Bogidiellidae (Amphipoda: Gammaridea) from SW Pacific and Mediterranean marine caves

Two new genera and species of the stygobiont gammaridean amphipod family Bogidiellidae are described from anchialine or fully marine subterranean habitats in Mediterranean and SW Pacific Islands. Fidelidiella pectinata, from a littoral cave in Lifou (Loyalty Islands), differs from any other bogidiellid known thus far by the presence on the left mandible of a modified lacinia which is hypertrophied and expanded laterally, and by the possession of a transverse row of strong rounded processes on the anterior side of the distomedial corner of the fourth segment of the maxillipedal palp. This is the most easterly record of bogidiellid amphipods in the SW Pacific. Racovella uniramea, discovered in a Mallorcan anchialine cave, is remarkable among the Bogidiellidae in exhibiting a combination of only six distal spines on the basal endite of the maxillule, and presence of coxal gills on pereopods 3–6. We place particular emphasis on the determination of segmental homologies of all limbs and on the resolution of fine‐scale integumentary details, in order to provide a sound basis for future comparison with other family members.

Time trends and geographic variations for thyroid cancer in New Caledonia, a very high incidence area (1985–1999)

Thyroid cancer incidence in New Caledonia is the highest reported in the world and is approximately 10-fold higher than in most developed countries. We describe the incidence patterns in this country according to histological and sociodemographic characteristics to give clues about potential etiologic factors. Another objective is to see whether the incidence figures are related to enhanced detection of small size carcinomas. The study included all 498 cases of thyroid cancer diagnosed in 1985-1999. Pathology reports were systematically reviewed to determine the histological type of the tumor and the size of the cancerous nodules. The incidence of carcinomas < or =10 mm was taken as an indicator of enhanced detection due to improved screening procedures. The age-standardized incidence rates in 1985-1999 were exceptionally high in Melanesian women (71.4/100,000) and men (10.4/100,000). The incidence increased three-fold in women from 1995 onwards. The increase in incidence was more striking for papillary carcinomas < or =10 mm than for large size carcinomas, but an increased incidence of carcinomas >10 mm was also observed among women. The analysis by municipality of residence in Melanesian women showed that the incidence was twice as high in 1995-1999 in the Loyalty Islands as in the rest of the country. The sharp increase of thyroid cancer incidence in 1985-1999 in New Caledonia was partly related to enhanced detection of small size carcinomas. The elevated incidence of thyroid cancers, as well as the ethnic and geographic disparities, may result from common environmental or lifestyle risk factors that need to be identified.

Six new species of the gutless genus Olavius (Annelida: Clitellata: Tubificidae) from New Caledonia

Six species of the gutless marine tubificid genus Olavius Erséus, 1984 (Phallodrilinae), O. paraloisae sp. nov., O. amplectens sp. nov., O. isomerus sp. nov., O. fidelis sp. nov., O.lifouensis sp. nov., and O. nivalis sp. nov., are described from shallow-water sediments in New Caledonia (including the Loyalty Islands), in the South West Pacific Ocean. Olavius amplectus is similar (but not necessarily closely related) to a North West Atlantic species. The others appear closely related to previously described taxa in the Indo-West Pacific region, but they differ in the number of secondary body annuli, the number, shape and arrangement of chaetae, or in details of the male genitalia and/or spermathecae. Moreover, fixed (contracted) specimens of O. nivalis measured up to 34 mm length, which makes it one of the largest species of gutless Phallodrilinae known to date.

Six new species of the gutless genus Olavius (Annelida: Clitellata: Tubificidae) from New Caledonia

Six species of the gutless marine tubificid genus Olavius Erséus, 1984 (Phallodrilinae), O. paraloisae sp. nov., O. amplectens sp. nov., O. isomerus sp. nov., O. fidelis sp. nov., O.lifouensis sp. nov., and O. nivalis sp. nov., are described from shallow-water sediments in New Caledonia (including the Loyalty Islands), in the South West Pacific Ocean. Olavius amplectus is similar (but not necessarily closely related) to a North West Atlantic species. The others appear closely related to previously described taxa in the Indo-West Pacific region, but they differ in the number of secondary body annuli, the number, shape and arrangement of chaetae, or in details of the male genitalia and/or spermathecae. Moreover, fixed (contracted) specimens of O. nivalis measured up to 34 mm length, which makes it one of the largest species of gutless Phallodrilinae known to date.

The leaf essential oil of Murraya crenulata (Turcz.) Oliver from New Caledonia

AbstractThe essential oil of Murraya crenulata (Turcz.) Oliver (Rutaceae) was obtained from fresh leaves by hydrodistillation of plant material collected in Lifou, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia. Analysis by a combination of GC and GC–MS indicates a characteristic chemical composition dominated by p‐menthane derivatives, mainly perilla aldehyde (73.2%), limonene (8.2%), perilla alcohol (6.5%) and its acetate (6.0%). Copyright © 2006 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Laticauda frontalis (de Vis, 1905) and Laticauda saintgironsi n.sp. from Vanuatu and New Caledonia (Serpentes: Elapidae: Laticaudinae)—a new lineage of sea kraits?

The sea krait Laticauda colubrina is the most widespread member of its genus, extending from the Bay of Bengal through much of Asia and the Indo-Malayan Archipelago to New Guinea and many islands of the western Pacific Ocean. Unconfirmed records of the species may extend the range to the western coast of Central America. The species is subject to marked geographic variation in a number of morphological and meristic characters that have to date defied finer taxonomic resolution. Two members of this complex previously subsumed under the specific name colubrina are here formally elevated to full species status. One species—Laticauda saintgironsi n.sp.—consists of those populations of L. colubrina s.l. found around the coast and in the coastal waters of the main island of New Caledonia. The second species—Laticauda frontalis (de Vis, 1905)—is a dwarf species found in sympatry and syntopy with Laticauda colubrina in Vanuatu and the Loyalty Islands of New Caledonia.

Deixis and demonstratives in Oceanic languages (review)

Reviewed by: Deixis and demonstratives in Oceanic languages Paul Geraghty Senft, Gunter , ed. 2004. Deixis and demonstratives in Oceanic languages. PL562. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. vii + 204 pp. ISBN 0-85883-551-7. Aus$54.00, paper. This collection of papers grew out of a workshop on "Spatial Deixis in Austronesian languages" organized by Senft at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen in 1998 and complements similar recent collections of papers inspired by researchers at the same institute (Senft 1997, Bennardo 2002). It consists of an introductory chapter by the editor followed by seven language-specific descriptions, and a concluding chapter in which Malcolm Ross attempts to pull the various threads together in a study of some deictic elements of Proto-Oceanic, and their development in daughter languages. Deixis is an area that has until recently been rather neglected in Oceanic language studies. Essentially it concerns those elements of language whose meaning is determined by the context of the utterance, so includes tense, some time adverbials (e.g., today), some verbs (e.g., come/go, bring/take), demonstratives, some locationals, and pronouns. I like to think of deictics as words with an extra dimension. The emphasis in this collection is on spatial deixis, and particularly demonstratives, though local nouns, directionals, and other deictic forms and uses (such as time and discourse deixis) are also covered by some of the authors. Languages treated are Takia (Bel family, Madang, Papua New Guinea), Saliba (Papuan Tip, Papua New Guinea), Kilivila (Papuan Tip, Papua New Guinea), Pileni (Polynesian outlier, Solomons), Nêlêmwa (New Caledonia), Iaai (Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia), and Samoan (Polynesian). It seems that a chapter on Port Sandwich (South Malakula, Vanuatu) was also planned, but it does not appear—we are not told why, but there are references to this "phantom" chapter in chapter 9. The editor's introduction, chapter 1, sets the scene with a thorough (sometimes perhaps even too thorough!) exposition of what deixis is, and helpful summaries of the following chapters. Readers used to materials written in English will find a refreshing change here, for in addition to the usual suspects of Lyons, Fillmore, Levinson, and Dixon, there are a number of German-language sources, notably Bühler, Ehrlich, and Ebert. Chapter 2, "Aspects of deixis in Takia" by Malcolm Ross, is a description of Takia, a papuanized Oceanic language spoken on a small island off the north coast of New Guinea, focusing on demonstratives, locative noun phrases, and directional and positional verbs. These verbs are used as the second element in serial verb constructions, corresponding to postverbal particles in other Oceanic languages, and Ross argues (in chapter 9) that similar verbs were used in Proto-Oceanic. Unusually for an Oceanic language, Takia demonstratives now exhibit only two (rather than three) degrees of proximity, and Ross suggests that the current anaphoric series derive from what were previously the second-person demonstratives. Some readers may be irked by the odd instance of etymological glossing in this chapter. For instance, the Takia verb en clearly means 'to be' (in its locational sense), as the translation of example 15 as 'there was a house' shows (also example 34). Why then is it glossed in the morpheme-by-morpheme line as 'sleep'? Houses do not sleep, so it cannot [End Page 257] have that meaning here. Whatever the meaning of its Proto-Oceanic precursor may have been is not relevant, nor is the meaning of any homophone it may have. A similar example is the glossing of mala- 'kinsman' as 'eye' (27), and mala- 'front' as 'eye' (28-29), when the meaning 'front' can be reconstructed as far back as Proto-Oceanic, and in chapter 4 Kilivila mata- is similarly glossed as 'eye' when it clearly means 'tip' (76). It's a bit like glossing the English bottom as in the bottom of the garden as 'buttocks'. Chapter 3 is "Spatial deictics in Saliba" by Anna Margetts. Saliba is spoken on and around Saliba Island in Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea, and this paper focuses on demonstratives, in particular what factors determine which of the three degrees of proximity is selected. Chapter 4 is "Aspects of spatial deixis in Kilivila...

Marine mammal strandings in the New Caledonia region, Southwest Pacific

Four hundred twenty three marine mammals, in 72 stranding events, were recorded between 1877 and 2005 in New Caledonia, the Loyalty Islands, and Vanuatu in the southwest Pacific. Sixteen species were represented in this count, including: minke whale, Balaenoptera acutorostrata (1 single stranding), sei whale, B. borealis (1 single stranding), blue whale, B. musculus (1 single stranding), humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae (2 single strandings), giant sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus (18 single strandings, 2 pair strandings), pygmy sperm whale, Kogia breviceps (5 single strandings), dwarf sperm whale, K. sima (2 single strandings, 1 triple stranding), Blainville's beaked whale, Mesoplodon densirostris (2 single strandings), short-finned pilot whale, Globicephala macrorhynchus (4 strandings, 56 individuals), melon-headed whale, Peponocephala electra (1 single stranding and 2 mass strandings totalling 231 individuals), common dolphin, Delphinus delphis (1 single stranding), spinner dolphin, Stenella longirostris (1 pair stranding and 2 mass strandings of groups of ∼30 individuals each), Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops aduncus (2 single strandings), dugong, Dugong dugon (14 single strandings), and New Zealand fur seal, Arctocephalus forsteri (3 single strandings). A stranded rorqual identified as an Antarctic minke whale ( B. bonaerensis), with coloration patterns that did not match known descriptions, was also reported. Sei whale was recorded for the first time in the tropical Southwest Pacific region and Antarctic minke whale, melon-headed whale, and Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphin were recorded for the first time in New Caledonia. Strandings of sperm whales were most frequent in the spring, but also occurred in autumn months, suggesting a seasonal pattern of occurrence possibly related to seasonal migration. One stranded humpback whale bore the scars of a killer whale's attack and one dugong was injured by a shark. Scars left by propellers were noted on several stranded animals including one Antarctic minke whale, one pygmy sperm whale, one dwarf sperm whale, and four dugongs. Collisions with vessels were suspected to be a frequent cause of death for dugong. To cite this article: P. Borsa, C. R. Biologies 329 (2006).

Les oiseaux de l’archipel des Loyauté (Nouvelle-Calédonie) : inventaire et éléments d’écologie et de biogéographie

The birds of the Loyalty Islands (New Caledonia) : census, ecological and biogeographical issues. — The avifauna of the Loyalty Islands comprises 62 species, including 14 breeding or erratic seabirds, 5 migratory birds, 7 herons, ducks and rails, 4 birds of prey, 28 indigenous land breeders (belonging to 33 subspecies) and 2 species introduced from the Grande Terre (main island of New Caledonia). Six species are endemic : 3 on the Grande Terre and in the Loyalty Islands (New Caledonian Friarbird Philemon diemenensis, Green-backed White-eye Zosterops xanthochrous, Striated Starling Aplonis striatus) and 3 only found in the Loyalty Islands (Ouvea Parakeet Eunymphicus uvaeensis, Large Lifou White-eye Zosterops inornatus and Small Lifou White-eye Z. minutus). Eunymphicus is an endemic genus of New Caledonia. Eight subspecies are endemic to both the Grande Terre and the Loyalty Islands and 11 are exclusive of the Loyalty Islands. Of the 24 taxa whose geographical origin could be identified, 58% are identical or similar to those on the Grande Terre, 105 km away, and 42% have affinities with birds in Vanuatu, twice as far away (225 km). The paths of cyclones could explain the specific influence of Vanuatu. The correlation between the islands’land area and the number of species that have successfully settled is very close (r = 0.97) and confirms this biogeographical standard. The land breeding species frequencies vary, with rare localized species limited to some islands (Bluefaced Parrotfinch Erythrura trichroa, Ouvea Parakeet), or possibly extinct (Island Thrush Turdus poliocephalus) and others whose frequency varies widely from place to place (Fan-tailed Cuckoo Cacomantis flabelliformis, Gerygone Gerygone flavolateralis, Silvereye Zosterops lateralis), while others show high (Red-bellied Fruit-Dove Ptilinopus greyii), average (Melanesian Flycatcher Myiagra caledonica, Sacred Kingfischer Todiramphus sanctus) or low (Emerald Dove Chalcophaps indica) frequencies that remain comparable between these islands. The species ecology has been determined with some species associated with wide forests, e. g. the Ouvea Parakeet, while others are typical of the open settings. The threats onto this avifauna are mainly linked to habitat destruction and the impact of introduced species. A specific effort should be made to ensure the protection of populations of that species for which there is the greatest concern, i. e. the Ouvea Parakeet.

Reef and shore fishes of the South Pacific: New Caledonia to Tahiti and the Pitcairn Islands

The South Pacific has long been in need of a comprehensive guide to reef and shore fishes. This volume covers the inshore fish fauna of New Caledonia, the Loyalty Islands, the southern Gilbert Islands (Kiribati), Tuvalu, Fiji, the Wallis Islands, Tonga, Samoa, American Samoa, the Tokelau Islands, the Phoenix Islands, the Cook Islands, the Austral Islands, Rapa, the Society Islands, the Tuamoto Archipelago, the Marquesas Islands, and the Pitcairn Islands. It contains accounts of nearly 1,500 species of fishes, illustrated with more than 2,000 color photographs, taken mostly underwater. (A few drab species are illustrated by only black and white photographs or drawings.) Species accounts are headed by the English common name, the scientific name, the author or authors who described the fish, and the date of the description. This is followed by a concise list of the characteristics needed to identify the species, the total length it attains, its distribution, habitat, and in summary form what may be known of its biology. More than 600 references are given for those seeking more information on individual species. The introduction contains a two-page color spread of the main external features of fishes. An extensive glossary of scientific terms precedes the index. This volume will become the benchmark and bible for anyone interested in the fishes of the South Pacific. Snorkelers and scuba divers will find it especially useful; virtually every known species of fish they might encounter can be found within its covers.

New thalassocypridine Ostracoda from anchialine caves of the Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia (Podocopida, Paracypridinae)

Four new species of Ostracoda belonging to the tribe Thalassocypridini are described from anchialine cave pools of the Loyalty Islands of New Caledonia: Dolerocypria iliffei n. sp., Paracypria uberis n. sp., Mungava woutersi n. sp., and Mungava xariessa n. sp. Detailed anatomical comparisons with 36 established species test the soundness of the emerging generic classification of thalassocypridines. Mangalocypria and Mungava are well-defined genera with exclusive, key diagnostic traits. Dolerocypria, Paracypria and Thalassocypria are somewhat less coherent. The essential qualities of Pontoparta and Parapontoparta remain elusive because of the heterogeneity of species referred to those nominal genera. Emended diagnoses are offered for the tribe Thalassocypridini and for the genera Dolerocypria, Paracypria, and Mungava.