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Reef coral collections from American Samoa are in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., and in the Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt, W. Germany. The author has a collection of 790 coral specimens for a total of 1547 items known to be from American Samoa. A total of 177 species (including 3 species of non-scleractinian corals) belonging to 48 genera and subgenera (including the genera Millepora and Heliopora) known to date are listed with data as of frequency of occurrence and habitat.

The conservation status, ecology, and cultural importance of sea turtles at the three Polynesian atolls of Tokelau are presented. The green turtle, Chelonia mydas. is the most common species, occurring as a migrant breeder mostly during September through November. The hawks- bill, Eretmochelvs imbricata. is present in small numbers at all three atolls, but nesting is only known at Nukunonu Atoll. A third species, the loggerhead, Caretta caretta. has also been recorded on rare occasions. In Tokelau, sea turtles are considered "sacred fish" (ika ha) that must be shared among the entire village by an equitable system known as inati. The number of sea turtles has declined within historical times apparently as a result of modern and more efficient hunting methods.

Recent studies have shown that many coral reefs are capable of yielding a total fish catch of 18- 24 T.Km-2 (Hill, 1978; Alcala, 1981; Munro, 1987). There are, however, no estimates for the productivity and yield of fishes associated with coral reefs in French Polynesia. This study was designed to determine the fisheries yield from a part of the fringing reef on the island of Moorea, French Polynesia.

In a typical High Island coral reef complex of French Polynesia (transect of Tiahura, Hoorea Island, Society Archipelago!, 73 species of decapod Reptantia and stomatopod crustaceans were collected. Over 9 stations localised along the transect, 3 different units of hard coral substrate of simi1ar volume (about 17 litres each), were sampled at each station. The results are discussed from two aspects : the first shows that at least 50 carcinologic species occur within the cavitary biotopes ; 16 species (mainly Xanthid crabs), represent more than 90% of all collected individuals. Most of the dominant species are widely distributed along the transect (Chlorodiella barbata, Pilodius pugil, Lipcarpilodes integerrimus, Galathea aculeata), and locally, some others are numerically important (Chlorodiella Laevissima, Globopilumnus globosus, Daira perlata,Phymodius ungulatus, etc.). The second aspect concerns the repartition of species in the different biotopes in relation to their feeding habits. Based on the functional morphology of chelipeds, mouth-parts and gastric sill, and on gut content analysis, the species were placed into 5 MORPHO- LOGIC GROUPS : filter-suspension feeders, omnivores/herbivores, omnivores/carnivores, generalised omnivores and predators. The feeding habits and the distribution pattern of abundant species suggest that trophic and habitat partitioning say exist. The predominant species show either different nutritional modes, or inhabit different areas and/or biotopes. Distribution patterns of the morphologic groups ip the different substrates are proposed, and schemes of interspecific relation; are analysed.

Jonathan Sauer (1961) remarked, in his Coastal Plant Geography of Mauritius, that the chance to study the coastal vegetation there was like being "admitted to a field worker's paradise" and stressed that "most tropical coasts are beautiful and exciting, particularly to people concerned with natural processes . . .." The same can certainly be said for the tropical coasts of the often Edenized islands of the Pacific Ocean. Their "beauty and excitement" is considerably enhanced, however, when one is also "concerned" with cultural processes and ethnobotany, in particular, the immense cultural utility of coastal plants, a factor which strongly influences the distribution and character of plant communities.

Nukutipipi atoll (5 km2), of volcanic origin 16-17 million years old on the Pitcairn (hot spot) Hereheretue line, presents a land flora and fauna of low diversity but with a Pisonia forest and hundreds of resident red-tailed tropic birds. Nukutipipi suffered from the 1983 hurricanes : destruction of vegetation and motu as well as sand lagoon mollusc populations. The north and south rims present original geomorphological structures. Lagoon without patch reefs reaching the surface is characterised by dome patch reefs all constituted of dead Acropora with few scleractinian and mollusc species, but an important algae coverage. All these characteristics indicate the precariousness on a time scale of such a so tiny atoll, land and marine, with a closed lagoon.

This paper describes the channels known as hoa which are characteristic of atoll land rims and of some islands on barrier reefs, where they often dissect previously more continuous reef-top sediment accumulations and conglomerate platforms. They are especially common in the central Pacific, and are particularly well developed in some atolls of the Tuamotu Archipelago and on some of the Society Islands. Published hypotheses accounting for the origin and development of hoa of different kinds are outlined. Contemporary hoa on the north side of Hull Atoll in the Phoenix Islands are described and surveyed, as are older, probably Holocene hoa, here termed 'paleohoa', on the same atoll. Regional and local distributions of hoa and paleohoa and differences in hoa morphology are used to assess theories of hoa formation. Both hoa and paleohoa are attributed to hurricane activity, and the presence of paleohoa may thus give an indication of the distribution of hurricanes in the Holocene.

Microbenthos and macrobenthos were quantitatively studied at 62 stations distributed regularly over the Uvea Atoll lagoon (850 km2). Sampling was performed using both SCUBA and a 0.1 m2 Smith Mclntyre grab. Mean estimates of ATP, chlorophyll a and phaeopigments were 297.3ng/cm2, 77.01 mg/m2 and 35.28 mg/m2 respectively. The mean macrobenthic biomass was 4.14 gAFDW/m2 of which the macrophytobenthos accounts for 39%. The benthic biomass decreased from the coast to the deepest parts of the lagoon. Macrophytes were most abundant in the coastal area and became progressively scarcer with increasing depth. By comparison, sessile species dominated on hard substrates in intermediate and deep zones. The abundance of the surface-deposit feeder group, that dominated the trophic structure of zoobenthos (33% of the macrofauna biomass), could be explained by a microphytic biomass six times higher than macrophytobenthic one in terms of carbon. Carnivores (32%) were mainly represented by necrophagous species, and filter-feeders (27%) by bivalves. Herbivores were rare. Four main benthic communities were identified on the basis of their macrobenthic assemblages using a Detrended Correspondence analysis. They corresponded to (1) a coastal zone, with the highest mud percentage in sediments, (2) an intermediate zone, with moderate depth and dominated by hard substrates, (3) a back reef zone, with thick sand layers, and (4) a deep zone dominated by hard substrates. Relative distribution of the trophic groups varied according to the different zones and suggests distinct functional characteristics for the different benthic assemblages. From a biogeographic point of view, this study highlighted the richness of the Uvea Atoll lagoon in terms of benthic species and biomass, compared to other central Pacific atoll lagoons.

The shorefishes of Ouvea, an isolated atoll in the Loyalty Islands group of New Caledonia, had not been surveyed prior to 1990. An extensive survey was conducted by ORSTOM between 1991 and 1992 to obtain baseline information on the shorefishes. A total of 653 taxa among 72 families are now documented from this area. The most diverse families are the Labridae (69 species), Pomacentridae (58 species), Gobiidae (54 spccies),Serranidae (39 species), Chaetodontidae (31 species) and Apogonidae (28 species). The absence or very low diversity of some families (Clupeidae, Nemipteridae, Siganidae) or genera (Abudefduf, Neopomacentrus) is similar to findings for other isolated islands of the Coral Sea. Of the 653 species recorded from Ouvea, 51 species have not been reported from New Caledonia, a large high island to the South. Only one endemic species, Luzonichthys williamsi, has been recognized among the shorefishes at Ouvea. A number of Pacific Plate endemic species were recorded at Ouvea. which is positioned on the Australasian Plate to the south of the edge of the Pacific Plate. Antennarius duescus, previously known from three specimens taken at the Hawaiian Islands, is recorded from a single specimen taken at Ouvea. Another antitropical distribution pattern is exhibited by Dinemalichthys riukiuensis, which is known to occur at Fiji, Ouvea and Queensland in the South and from Okinawa.

The very productive lagoon fisheries of Tarawa atoll changed greatly in recent decades as human development and intensive harvesting increased. Tarawa typifies the increasingly common condition of resource depletion and marine community structure change with expanding human activities and population growth. Fisheries-dependent reports have documented the change in fisher landings for nearly two decades. A comparison of fisheries-independent data collected during 1992-93 with data collected in 1977 allowed for documentation of large changes in important finfish resources in Tarawa Lagoon. The historically important bonefish (Albula glossodonta), like other important fishery species, demonstrated declines in catch-per-unit effort (CPUE), proportion of catch, mean length and weight (1977: 46.4 cm, 1.31 kg; 1992-93: 37.6 cm and 0.84 kg), and sex ratio (1977: 0.71:1 [F:M]; 1992-93: 0.15:1). Beach seine sampling of bait fishes demonstrated a major shift in species composition between 1977 and 1992- 93, with severe depletion of some preferred species. These results suggest declining abundance in locally important fish species and large changes in species composition within Tarawa Lagoon.