on the biological activity of natural products is also reflected in Higa's contribution, which focusses on the phenolic character of organic secondary metabolites from a broad spectrum of marine biota. In a field which heavily depends on interaction with biology we tend to emphasize a phyletic orientation and are apt to overlook the unifying character which the functional group imparts to organic chemistry. Higa's chapter is a timely reminder that we should not lose sight of fundamental organic chemical principles. Polyethers, discussed in Chapter 1, illustrate yet another facet of bioorganic marine chemistry. Okadaic acid, first isolated from two genera of sponges with habitats in two oceans, was subsequently recognized as a metabolite of a marine microalga, the dinoflagellate Prorocentrum lima.