February, 2000 
SCAMIT Newsletter 
Vol. 18, No.10 
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS 
With an eye to election of officers for the year 
2000-2001 we call for interested parties to 
submit names of potential candidates (either 
their own or those of others). I hope that any 
members who have not had the chance to (or 
been in a position to) serve as a SCAMIT 
officer in the past will consider serving now. In 
most elections the incumbent runs unopposed. 
This makes us look uncomfortably totalitarian! 
We would much prefer that there were a variety 
of names on the ballot vying for positions as 
officers. Where is the “throw the rascals out” 
mentality that seems embodied in many 
governmental elections? Perhaps the difference 
is that SCAMIT officers serve as volunteers in 
service to the membership, and not in salaried 
positions within the organization. In any case, 
competition can only benefit us all. Please 
submit nominations for the offices of President, 
Vice-President, Secretary, or Treasurer to any 
of the present officers. Nominees need to 
provide a brief (one paragraph) statement 
regarding who they are, and their 
qualifications, for inclusion with the ballots to 
be distributed in March. Nominations can also 
be accepted at meetings from those in 
attendance. 
NEW CONTROVERSY 
Well, actually, this is not a new controversy, 
rather an existing one strongly rekindled by a 
recent paper (Pleijel 1999) in which use of 
hierarchical structure is avoided, each taxon is 
treated as an individual entity, and Linnean 
binomens are dispensed with. This is an 
outgrowth of the de Queiroz call (issued a 
decade ago) for abandonment of the Linnean 
system in favor of a cladistic system reflecting 
only evolutionary relationships. While most 
previous papers dealing with this conceptual 
change in taxonomic method have addressed 
the theoretical underpinnings and the 
differences between the current system and the 
“ideal” cladistic system, Dr. Pleijel’s paper was 
a concrete example of the result, and dealt with 
a “species” level revision of the hesionids 
which have been assigned to the taxon 
Heteropodarke. The debate is raging on the 
Taxacom List server, and those who are 
interested in hearing the arguments both pro 
and con for this approach might want to log on 
and monitor or even join the fray. Things get a 
bit heated at times, and personalities are not 
always excluded when deeply held personal 
opinions are dismissed, denigrated or ridiculed. 
Interested parties can find this cauldron of 
steaming hot controversy by subscribing to 
TAXACOM (the archives cannot be browsed 
by non-subscribers). Indicate your interest in 
subscribing (no charge) by e-mailing them at 
LLSTSERV@USOBI.ORG and stating in the 
body of the message SUBSCRIBE 
TAXACOM. Go to the archives for February 
and January 2000 to see what has been said on 
the topic “Farewell to Species”. Thanks to Tom 
Parker (CSDLAC) for pointing out this 
interesting exchange. 
NEW BOOKS 
An announcement was noted on the Annelida 
Listserver on the availability of a new book of 
interest to SCAMIT members. The 
announcement was posted by one of the 
authors, Dr. Pat Hutchings, of the book - 
Polychaetes and Allies. She indicated that the 
book was now in the printing process and that 
prepublication purchase was possible. The 
book, volume 4a of the CSIRO Fauna of 
Australia Series, deals with polychaetes, 
sipunculans, echiuroids, pogonophores, and 
myzostomids. 
Publication is expected in March of this year. 
The prepublication discount price is U.S. $90. 
This rises to $120 after publication. CSIRO has 
a website where additional information is 
available and orders can be placed: 
http://www.publish.csiro.au/poly 
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