This book represents the edited papers and proceedings of the first of two workshops on Marine and Coastal Biodiversity in the Tropical Island Pacific Region held in November 1994 at the East-West Center. It includes taxonomic status reviews for groups of important plants and animals occupying nearshore and coastal tropical ecosystems in the insular Pacific--marine algae, seagrasses, mangroves, corals, sponges, polychaetes, mollusks, crustaceans, echinoderms, inshore Hawaiian fish fauna, Pacific reef and shore fishes, and marine ecosystem. Papers on various biodiversity database and information management systems potentially applicable to the tropical island Pacific include UNEP-IOC (UNESCO)-ASPEI-IUCN Global Task Team on the implications of climate change on coral reefs, the World Conservation Monitoring Centre on handling global biodiversity data, the United States Coral Reef Initiative, ReefBase, CoralBase, FishBase, the Hawaii Biological Survey, the Hawaii Natural Heritage Program natural diversity database, and marine biosystematic/biodiversity priorities. Also included is an outline for an action plan bridging species taxonomy/systematics and information management priorities for use in the conservation and sustainable use of nearshore marine and coastal resources in the region developed during the workshop.