236

BOOK REVIEWS

(2) to direct the engineer towards related background reading in the field of aquacultural engineering. It is in Part II, Aquatic Culture System Design, that the author really gets to grips with the problems confronting tile aquacultural engineer. This covers Chapter 7 through to Chapter 15. Chapter 7 - Modified Systems, i.e. open systems, senti-closed systems and closed systems; Chapter 8 Water Supply, i.e. quantities, quality and sources; Chapter 9 Fluids, i.e. fluid statics, dynamics and open channel flow; Chapter 1 0 - Measurement and Instrumentation, in particular liquid level and flow; Chapter 11 Pumps of all types; Chapter 12 Ponds, Tanks and Other Impounding Structures: Chapter 13 Filtration, both mechanical filters and gravity settling, chemical filtration and biological filtration; Chapter 14 - Disinfection using Chlorine, heat, UV light and ozone; Chapter 15 Aeration, the basic theory and types of aeration equipment. Analysis of the chapter contents, however, raises an interesting q u e s t i o n - how important is filtration in the field of aquaculture technology? This (Chapter 13) certainly dominates the second half of the book. For that reason 1 believe that it should have been sub-divided into three separate chapters, i.e. Mechanical filtration and gravity settling; Chemical filtration, Ion exchange and foam fractionation, and, finally, Biological filtration. This was done with the fluid mechanics section (Chapters 9, 10 and 11) and it serves to illustrate my earlier comment that this book should be released as two volumes, and I look forward to the 2nd edition should it ever be considered by the author. The author may, however, feel that once was enough and 1 personally would not blame him for that. Finally, the Ocean Engineering Series editors and Professor Wheaton in particular should be congratulated in publishing Aquacultural Engineering as long ago as 1977, for it has provided a handbook that has saved hundreds of hours of literature searching and left the researcher with the confidence that this book has brought together much of the state-of-the-art information scattered through the 50-100 different journals, or not published at all. Whether the journal of Aquacultural Engineering will help to support this remains to be seen. However, no serious aquacultural technologist should exclude Professor Wheaton's book from his personal library.

Fish and Invertebrate Culture: Water Management in Closed Systems. 2nd Edition. By S. Spotte. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1979.160 pp. ISBN 0-471-02306-X. Price: 16.85.
This is a good up-date on the 1st Edition published in 1970. The author does admit to an important point in the preface to the new edition - 'I have limited the field to aquariums, which have low densities of animals. Hatchery and aquaculture installations often have different problems because animal densities are higher.' This must not be

BOOK REVIEWS

237

missed by those who work with the intensive, recycle closed/quasi-closed systems as they are known. However, there is no doubt that Spotte's book will be well cited, or mis-quoted for a long time to come. As an introduction to some specific aspects of aquacultural engineering this book is excellent. The first five chapters' headings could quite easily be those of an undergraduate biochemical engineering 'unit operations' syllabus. I would have no hesitation, therefore, in recommending this as a must for the undergraduate bioengineer/ biologist who requires a background to the problems in aquaculture systems. The book is easily written, reads very well, and although at an engineering level, very low key; this can be ignored if the book is used as a basis for getting into the subject. The references are many, clearly cited and, on the whole, readily available. However, 1 do not like to see 'personal communications' with named individuals not cited in the list. Specific criticisms could be levelled at the tendency to go too far in the use of developed equations; for instance, Hirayama's equation (p. 15) was developed around the success he had with a relatively small number of fish. To scale that to body mass of 40000 g - Tables 1 and 2, p. 7 - is unrealistic, unless Spotte has had the work substantiated! Similarly, much space is given to the performance of air lift pumps but do not be misled by the tables, graphs and equations the values obtained for water flow rate are the maximum water flow rates possible from the pumps, and the air flow rate is not the optimal flow rate from an economic use of air point of view. Using the tabulated data to predict the total air requirement for a large number of aquaria, the unsuspecting will find himself installing an unnecessarily large air compressor. In the nine chapters, covering 140-odd pages, Spotte introduces the engineer, biologist, researcher or hobbyist to a lot of useful background theory and practical advice which should not be taken lightly. Although the above detailed criticisms have been levelled at the book's contents, they in no way detract from the value that this book has on the bookshelf. Those chapters well worth detailed reading are: Biological filtration with processes like mineralization, nitrification and conditioning; Mechanical filtration and the techniques used for fine solids removal; Organic carbon removal by chemical absorption or foam fractionation, plus the removal of specific ions from solution using ion exchange media; Ultraviolet and ozone sterilization and the problems in using these methods. The additional chapters associated with air exchange, essential elements in sea water, buffering capacity and finally toxicity/disease prevention make you appreciate why this book is fast becoming the pocket bible for the successful 'water management of closed systems'. K.R. MuRRAY