Integrative and Comparative Biology Advance Access originally published online on February 11, 2008
Integrative and Comparative Biology 2008 48(3):437; doi:10.1093/icb/icn003
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Book Review |
Marine Parasitology. Klaus Rohde, editor.
UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS, UMR7628, Modèles en biologie cellulaire et évolutive, Laboratoire Arago, Avenue Fontaulé, BP44, F-66651 Banyuls-sur-Mer, France
Correspondence: E-mail: desdevises{at}obs-banyuls.fr
Marine Parasitology. Klaus Rohde, editor.
Victoria, Australia: Csiro Publishing, 2005. 592 pp. ISBN: 0643090258, AU$140.00.
This book is probably the first to address so widely the broad field of marine parasitology. It contains numerous and detailed chapters written by a team of international experts gathered by Klaus Rohde, and most aspects of marine parasitology are considered. With the help of beautiful illustrations and informative tables and graphics, very general topics are addressed, such as taxonomy, morphology, biology, and evolution of all marine parasitic taxa, as well as general concerns on ecology, behavior, coevolution, speciation, and biogeography of host-parasite associations in the sea. Much more applied issues are also described, for example the use of parasites as biological tags, as well as medical, economic, and environmental aspects related to marine parasites. Particularly, the effects of parasites on cultured species are finely addressed, with numerous examples. Each topic detailed in the book includes the most recent advances in the field. In the description of parasitic taxa, even minor groups are considered. It is questionable, however, whether some of these groups are bona fide parasites, for example Mesozoa, Myzostomids, or Cycliophora. A short discussion on this point would have been welcome. It is nevertheless very useful to have all of these taxa described in a single book, even though their descriptions remain quite short. The huge and very complete reference list is very useful for specialists and graduate students, even though this is not very practical to use, since there are no running page headers.
In conclusion, this book is an invaluable resource for teachers, as well as a reference for the professional scientist, marine parasitologist or not. For example, it is also a great reference for ecologists and aquaculturists. Marine Parasitology was much needed, and perfectly reaches its goal.
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