May, 1999 
SCAMIT Newsletter 
Vol. 18, No. 1 
ELECTION RESULTS 
We were a bit slow in getting out the ballots 
(the fault of the editor I’m afraid) for the recent 
SCAMIT Election of Officers. In consequence 
we accepted ballots for a full two weeks after 
the nominal closing date. There were no 
surprises. Turnout was light, in the American 
tradition, and the full slate of officers was 
elected. Three were returnees, with Ron 
Velarde (CSDMWWD) returning as President, 
Megan Lilly (CSDMWWD) as Secretary, and 
Ann Dalkey (CLAEMD) as Treasurer. Don 
Cadien did not run again for Vice-President, 
and Leslie Harris (NHMLAC) was elected as 
your new Vice-President. Several write-ins 
were received, but the one vote for each did not 
mount a serious challenge to the listed 
candidates. Members used the bottom of the 
ballot to forward a series of suggestions for 
meeting topics during the next year. These are 
being forwarded to the new Vice-President for 
her consideration and action. At the last minute 
an additional candidate for Vice-President was 
identified, but his candidate statement was not 
received in time for the election. Hopefully he 
will choose to run next year. All members are 
encouraged to consider running for office, and 
serving if elected. We are a small organization, 
and must include as much diversity as possible 
to remain viable. Please consider contributing 
to SCAMIT by running and serving; it really is 
not demanding of too much time, and we all 
benefit from broadening the scope of our 
officer pool. 
With the beginning of the new SCAMIT year 
our By-Law amendment takes effect, and the 
job of Newsletter Editor is no longer the 
responsibility of the Vice-President. We now 
have an appointed Newsletter Editor who is 
appointed by, and serving at the discretion of, 
the Executive Committee. Don Cadien has 
been offered, and has accepted the job. He will 
serve until removed by the Committee, or he 
resigns. 
NEW LITERATURE 
One of the suggested topics for the next year of 
SCAMIT meetings was a revisitation of the 
rationale for and methodology of formalin 
fixation of our biological materials. There are 
other ways of dealing with fixation, including 
the method of going straight into ethanol which 
is preferred for leaving the tissues suitable for 
later DNA analysis. Beladjal & Mertens (1999) 
discuss the dark side of alcohol “fixation” 
[alcohol does little to fix the sample, it only 
preserves it]. They report on a case where the 
method of specimen handling determined what 
species the specimens would prove to be. Not 
marine, but interesting and apropos. 
The subject of introduced species has 
frequently graced these pages. It is a “hot 
topic” and gets press in all the right places. 
Ruiz et al (1997) review the entire subject in a 
paper that was part of a symposium on Non- 
Indigenous Species (NIS). In a field where 
information accumulates so fast it is useful to 
have summary review articles quite frequently, 
if only to gather together the recent references 
in one place. The authors consider the 
consequences of NIS invasions for both the 
receiving environment, and for man’s 
exploitation of it. There is also the added 
dimension of human health effects which 
comes into play with some introduced species. 
Accidental introductions such as that of the 
abalone boring sabellid tube worm which has 
impacted California abalone rearing efforts can 
have major unforseen effects on a resource 
and/or its utilization. Such challenges always 
dare researchers to be innovative. Leighton 
(1998) describes experimental heat treatment 
of abalone which is a fairly efficacious means 
of damaging the polychaete without serious 
compromise to the snail. 
The stress of dealing with a detrimental 
introduced species is just one factor in the 
survival - or failure- of any population or 
species. In some cases a series of impacts all 
hammer the same population. This is 
2 
