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The vertebrate fauna of Rotuma consists of over 425 fish species, no amphibians, 11 terrestrial reptiles, 15 land birds and two native mammals. The zoogeographic affinity of the Rotuman fish fauna is with the Pacific plate fauna; in contrast, the affinity of the reptile fauna is with the Fijian fauna. A species list of Rotuman occurrence is provided for each of the four vertebrate groups as well as brief descriptions of the marine and terrestrial habitats.

Masayoshi Okabe visited the Palau and Yap Islands to study the local medicinal plants and diseases treated through their use. He made reports of his findings (1941a, 1943a) in Japanese. In this paper the authors present for the first time in the English language a published record of Okabe's findings.

A faunistic account of the terrestrial reptiles occurring on islands and atolls of Eastern Polynesia is provided along with a description of their biogeographic characteristics. The distribution area of each species is presented in relation to frequencies of occurrence, maximum area of coverage, biology and limits of the present state of knowledge.

Field work conducted by the senior author at Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, in May 1986 yielded twenty-three species of birds; six of these were documented as nesting and an additional four species almost certainly nest as well. Six species were previously unrecorded for Bikini Atoll, and one of these, the Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla) was new to Micronesia. The recorded avifauna for Bikini Atoll now stands at twenty-six species. Major seabird colonies were located on Aomoen (and other northern islets), Nam, and Oroken/Jalete/Lukoj (and other southeastern islets). Scaevola and Tournefortia scrub and Pisonia grandis forests are the most frequently used habitats for nesting seabirds. Numerically, the most abundant breeding birds were the terns Anous minutus, A. stolidus and Gygis alba and the boobies Sula leucogaster and s. sula. Environmental rehabilitation options which minimize habitat alteration on the important nesting islets are recommended. Close monitoring and protection of seabird populations after Marshallese resettlement will guard against excessive disturbance and exploitation.