The series of Monographs entitled Fauna Iberica will enable publication of the results of studies on the biological diversity of the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands. Written by specialists in their individual fields, volumes on vertebrate and invertebrate groups will be produced. If the first volume in the Series is anything to go by, then the publishers have set themselves a very high standard to follow.

The bane of any historian using primary sources is the finding, or in many cases, not finding relevant archival material. Until now his success in the natural history field has relied on a happy combination of expertise, familiarity with existing catalogues of individual depositories and sheer luck. The work in question aims to reduce the tedious task of fruitless enquiries by attempting to catalogue, in one volume, all natural history manuscripts in the British Isles.

Kerney & Cameron's excellent field guide (1979) has been widely used on the continent. Foreign editions seemed to be a matter of time and market. Already in 1980 Dr E. Gittenberger's Dutch version was published, which also proved to be a success among a section of the western European malacological community. The Dutch book exhibits some additional features, viz., a well illustrated chapter on the snails of the mediterranean parts of France (specially composed by Kerney for this edition) and a nine page key by Gittenberger. The distribution maps of the British Isles were not incorporated.

Shells and shell collecting fascinate a large number of scientists and many laymen who find joy in collecting and arranging these attractive seashore objects. There is certainly a great deal of excitement in the anticipation of discovering a shell new to one's collection or even new to science.

This very handsomely produced book is a welcome addition to books on shells of specific areas. Its contents, after publication details, are a list of contents, a preface, a foreword by R. Tucker-Abbott, three pages on taxonomy, a map of the Sultanate of Oman, a page on 'Geological History Shaping Molluscan Life', a page on Plankton, two on 'Thumbnail Answers to Common Questions', two on Cleaning Shells in Oman and one on 'How Big? Where Found? What Arrangement?'. Pages 26 to 197 deal with the molluscs of Oman in their classes, subclasses, orders, families and sub-families.

This is a reprint of the 3rd edition of the Compendium published in 1986. It differs from the 1st edition (published in 1981) only in the correction of several figure captions (marked by an asterisk) and in the addition of an extra page (p. 411) listing further corrections which are left to the reader to carry out. It starts with a 17-page introduction on the classification, taxonomy, morphology, identification and habitat of marine molluscs, together with useful hints on the care and conservation of shells in collections.

This report is one of a series of eleven reports on the Wadden Sea covering Geomorphology; Hydrography; Flora and Vegetation; Invertebrates; Fishes and Fisheries; Birds; Mammals; Pollution; Flora and Vegetation of the Islands; Fauna of the islands; Physical planning and nature management in the area.

How can one assess a man's lifework in just a few paragraphs? In this elegant monograph Jan 0kland presents the results of research which began as an undergraduate project in 1953, with the objective of studying the distribution and ecology of freshwater snails in southeastern Norway. The fieldwork continued for a further 20 years and the scope of the project expanded to become the most comprehensive study of freshwater molluscs and their habitats ever undertaken.

This very attractively produced hardback, A4 format book is actually an illustrated catalogue of the marine molluscs found in the Italian sector of the mid-Adriatic, rather than an atlas. It includes all littoral and sub-littoral species recorded between 42@ 53.45'N and 43@ 58'N although the reasons for this delineation are not clear. It does not cover the coast or territorial waters of the former Yugoslavia, although I presume that there will be little difference in the fauna.

There has, for many years, been a need for a comprehensive and up-to-date guide to the identification of freshwater gastropods. British and Irish workers have had to rely on the out-of-date and incomplete works by Macan, Ellis or Janus, or turn to continental works such as Gloer & Meier-Brook's Susswassermollusken on the German fauna, and the Dutch work by Gittenberger et al, De Nederlandse Zoetwatermollusken. This new book. The freshwater gastropods of northern and central Europe, provides a very welcome addition to the identification literature on this group of molluscs.