Aspects of species life histories may increase their susceptibility to climate change. Owing to their exclusive reliance on environmental sources of heat for incubation, megapodes may be especially vulnerable. We employed a trait-based vulnerability assessment to weigh their exposure to projected climate variables of increasing temperatures, fluctuating rainfall and sea level rise and their biological sensitivity and capacity to adapt. While all 21 species were predicted to experience at least a 2 °C increase in mean annual temperature, 12 to experience a moderate or greater fluctuation in rainfall and 16 to experience rising seas, the most vulnerable megapodes are intrinsically rare and range restricted. Species that employ microbial decomposition for incubation may have an adaptive advantage over those that do not and may be more resilient to climate change. The moderate microclimate necessary for mound incubation, however, may in some areas be threatened by anthropogenic habitat loss exacerbated by warmer and seasonally drier conditions. As with many avian species, little is known about the capacity of megapodes to adapt to a changing climate. We therefore recommend that future research efforts investigate megapode fecundity, gene flow and genetic connectivity at the population level to better determine their adaptive capacity.

Polychaetes of 31 species from 17 families (Amphinomidae, Chrysopetalidae, Eunicidae, Glyceridae, Hesionidae, Iphionidae, Lumbrineridae, Maldanidae, Nereididae, Oenonidae, Phyllodocidae, Polynoidae, Sabellidae, Serpulidae, Syllidae, Terebellidae, Trichobranchidae) were studied from five locations around Abu Musa Island, the Persian Gulf. Perinereis iranica sp. nov. is described as a new species for the Persian Gulf. Perinereis iranica sp. nov. is most similar to members of the Perinereis cultrifera species complex, which are also found in the Persian Gulf, but can be most easily distinguished from them by the number, shape and arrangement of paragnaths in Areas V and VI. Perinereis camiguana is compared to members of the genus Pseudonereis, and found to resemble them closely, but until type specimens can be re-examined, we recommend treating this species as Nereidinae incertae sedis. Fifteen species, belonging to 13 genera: Eunice ‘sp_Abu Musa’, Marphysa ‘sp_Abu Musa’, Glycera cf. tesselata, Hesione splendida, Lumbrineris ‘sp_Abu Musa’, Notoproctus ‘sp_Abu Musa’, Nereis sp. cf. N. pelagica, Eteone ‘sp_Abu Musa’, Harmothoe liaoi, Potamilla ‘sp_Abu Musa’, Branchiosyllis cf. exilis, Trypanosyllis ‘sp. 1_Abu Musa’, Trypanosyllis ‘sp. 2_Abu Musa’, Terebella ‘sp_Abu Musa’, Terebellides cf. stroemi are reported for the first time from the Persian Gulf; nine species remain to be named formally. Three genera: Notoproctus, Eteone, Terebella are recorded for the first time from the Persian Gulf.

The Indonesian archipelago is a ‘hotspot’ for invertebrate biodiversity (‘Coral Triangle’). In this area of ‘peak’ biodiversity, the origins of this high species diversity have often been debated. Xestospongia testudinaria is one of the sponge species that dominates coral reef sponge communities in this region. The role of the so-called ‘giant barrel sponge’ for the reef ecosystem has been studied repeatedly, as have its various bioactive compounds. However, the genetic variation of this iconic sponge in the region remains unknown. We investigate over 200 barrel sponge samples from Indonesia, and neighbouring as well as more distant localities (Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, Thailand, Taiwan, Java, Sulawesi and the Great Barrier Reef, Australia) using the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1. We compare our results with those from the studies on the congeneric barrel sponges Xestospongia muta from the Caribbean, and Xestospongia bergquistia from the Indo-Pacific, and observe a high degree of overlapping haplotypes between the three barrel sponge species, likely indicating the presence of ancestral polymorphisms. We discuss the implications of these findings to better interpret the phylogeography of barrel sponge taxa in the Indo-Pacific.

This report presents the first record of the crowned jellyfish Netrostoma coerulescens from Pakistani waters and establishes its first confirmed record from the Arabian Sea. The jellyfish is briefly described and compared with its congeners. In the region, this is the second record of the genus; the first was Netrostoma setouchianum.

The first settlement of Australia over 40 000 years ago provides evidence of the maritime capabilities of early modern humans. Did they also take to the sea to fish? Recent analysis of fish remains from sites in Timor-Leste and on islands off the coast of Papua New Guinea have been held to include deep sea species that must have been obtained through pelagic fishing. Here Atholl Anderson takes issue with the evidence, arguing that inshore fishing is a more likely scenario, and that deep sea fishing was beyond the scope of Pleistocene communities. Despite the early settlement of Australia, advanced boat technology was developed only during the Holocene. His reassessment is followed by responses from Sue O'Connor and Rintaro Ono, Geoff Bailey and Jon Erlandson, and finally by Atholl Anderson's reply to those comments.

Observations of bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops spp. were made opportunistically between 1993 and 2009 in New Caledonian waters (eastern Coral Sea, south-western Pacific). Two morphotypes, defined from pigmentation patterns, were observed: morphotype-B individuals possessed a distinctive, extensive pale-grey blaze that indents the darker-grey dorsal cape towards the basis of the dorsal fin while morphotype-A individuals lacked it. Morphotype-A bottlenose dolphins occurred in pods of 2–10 individuals whereas pods of morphotype-B bottlenose dolphins comprised up to ~30 individuals. All morphotype-A bottlenose dolphin sightings were made in inshore waters, and all morphotype-B bottlenose dolphin sightings were made offshore. Wounds inflicted by large sharks, including the tiger shark, were documented for morphotype-A bottlenose dolphins. Leisure-boat traffic is likely to be the cause of additional injuries to bottlenose dolphins in the New Caledonian lagoon. Pigmentation patterns and correlated habitat preferences of morphotype-A and -B bottlenose dolphins were consistent with those of, respectively, T. aduncus and T. truncatus in the western Coral Sea and elsewhere in the Pacific Ocean.

The fauna and population densities of butterflyfish (Chaetodontidae: Perciformes) were studied at the Cobourg Marine Park (CMP), Cobourg Peninsula in the Arafura Sea, the Northern Territory, Australia. A total of five genera and 17 species of butterflyfish were recorded within the CMP, including nine new records for the Northern Territory. Goldstripe butterflyfish Chaetodon aureofasciatus Macleay, the most common and abundant species represented 64.3% of all 883 butterflyfish recorded followed by the Philippine butterflyfish Chaetodon adiergastos Seale (14.9%), margined butterflyfish Chelmon marginalis Richardson (10.8%), triangle butterflyfish Chaetodon baronessa Cuvier (5.1%) and chevroned butterflyfish C. trifascialis Quoy and Gaimard (1.2%). The CMP contains the richest chaetodontid fauna among all sites surveyed so far in the Northern Territory. Population density of the endemic Australian species Chelmon marginalis in the CMP is the highest across its range within studied locations. Abundances of Chaetodon adiergastos at Cobourg are similar to areas in the Philippines and Malaysia where population density of this species is the highest in the Indo-West Pacific region.

A collection of 32 specimens of the genus Plakortis (Demospongiae: Plakinidae) from Australia and the Indo-Pacific is here examined. Six species are described, four of which are new to science. Plakortis lita has microrhabds, an irregular tangential ectosomal reticulation, a confused choanosomal skeleton and irregular diods and triods. Plakortis quasiamphiaster has quasiamphiasters (spined diods and triods), spheres and a skeleton with a distinct subectosomal region. Plakortis communis sp. nov. has diods and a tangential ectosomal reticulation with circular meshes; triods and spheres may be present or absent. Plakortis bergquistae sp. nov. has diods in two size-classes, the larger one up to 330–356 µm long, and large triods (actines up to 75–121 µm long). Plakortis fromontae sp. nov. has large diods (up to 220 µm long), rare triods and a double ectosomal reticulation. Plakortis hooperi sp. nov. has diods, triods, microrhabds and spheres, with a confused ectosomal skeleton, a thinly encrusting shape and cream colour. Detailed descriptions of external morphology, skeletal arrangement of the ectosome and spicules in SEM are essential for the taxonomy of Plakortis. The number of valid species in the genus is raised from 15 to 19. A key to Indo-Australian species of Plakortis is given.