查看更多>>摘要：We describe 13 new, narrowly localized species of the aquatic gastropod genus Tryonia from springs in the Chihuahuan Desert (Chihuahua and Texas): T. allendae n. sp., T. angosturae n. sp., T. chuviscarae n. sp., T. contrerasi n. sp., T. julimesensis n. sp., T. metcalfi n. sp., T. minckleyi n. sp., T. molinae n. sp., T. oasiensis n. sp., T. ovata n. sp., T. peregrina n. sp., T. taylori n. sp. and T. zaragozae n. sp.. These novelties are distinguished by shell and other morphologic characters and are well differentiated genetically from each other and from other congeners (mtCOI sequence divergence >1.9%). We also provide two new records for T. seemani (Frauenfeld, 1863), which is distributed near the southern limit of the Chihuahuan Desert (Durango State) and previously had been thought to be possibly extinct. Bayesian analysis of a mtCOI dataset resolved two clades composed of novelties described herein: one (containing four species) is distributed in several drainages in Chihuahua, the other (containing three species) is a local species flock in the Rio Conchos basin (also in Chihuahua) that lives in the warmest waters yet recorded for Tryonia (41-^4°C). (The phylogenetic relationships of the other new species were not well supported.) Both of these clades contain sympatric species pairs; co-occurrence of Tryonia congeners previously had been reported only in Ash Meadows (southern Nevada). Some of the species described herein are from previously unsurveyed localities and may help delineate newareas of endemism within the Chihuahuan Desert. One of the new species (7! julimesensis) became extinct between 1991 and 2001 and another (T. oasiensis) disappeared from its single known locality shortly after it was first discovered in 2009 and also maybe extinct. The other species treated herein are at risk of extirpation owing to the declining extent and condition of their unprotected habitats.
查看更多>>摘要：All sea pens have been thought to anchor in soft sediment using a basal, sausage-shaped, muscular peduncle. Based on underwater images and examination of specimens, we report an adaptation of the proximal portion of the peduncle for attachment to solid surfaces. We document four species with this adaptation, three new, Anthoptilum lithophilum sp. nov. (California, 669-700 m), A. gowlettholmesae sp. nov. (Tasmania, 729-1803 m), and Calibelemnon francei sp. nov. (the Bahamas, 1969 m), and one known, A.decipiens Thomson & Henderson, 1906 (Sri Lanka, 925 m). The peduncle of a colony with this adaptation is greatly expanded by an outgrowth of the coenenchyme that forms a sucker-like structure, beneath which a conical mass of tough tissue surrounds the proximal end of the internal axis. We infer this structure affects suction, increasing or decreasing the strength of adhesion to the substratum, and discuss the systematics and functional morphology of this new ecological phenomenon—pennatulaceans fastened to hard substrata. We alter the definition of the genus Anthoptilum to accommodate this morphology, reporting on specimens of the type species, A. grandiflorum; compare the two sea pen families—Anthoptilidae and Scleroptilidae— and the two genera; and present a key to the known rock-inhabiting species.
查看更多>>摘要：Mites were collected from leaf litter and the fur of a wild rodent (Niviventer fulvescens ) in Guizhou Province of China, and described as Podocinum guizhouense sp. nov. (Podocinidae). This is the first report of Podocinidae from a wild rodent host, but this ecological association may be accidental. A key to the females of Podocinum from China is provided.
查看更多>>摘要：The taxonomy of the Asian snail-eating snakes (Pareatidae) is an ongoing controversy, partly because morphological characters do not yield consistent results across studies. We infer phylogenetic relationships within Pareatidae using ~ 2 kilo-bases ofDNA sequences including two mitochondrial (cyt b and ND4) and one nuclear gene (c-mos). Results reveal four major lineages: Aplopeltura, Asthenodipsas, a clade formed by Pareas carinatus and P. nuchalis, and a clade comprising all other species of Pareas sampled in this study. Our data do not have enough signal to either support or reject a mono-phyletic Pareas. However, large molecular divergence (16.5%) is observed between the two major clades of Pareas, a level that is comparable to that between Pareas and Aplopeltura. Scale characters also suggest that P. carinatus and P. nuchalis'are distinct from congeners, and future morphological and/or molecular studies might assess whether a distinct genus should be recognized. The molecular phylogeny further suggests a distant relationship between P. chinensis and P. formosensis and supports the validity of the former species.
查看更多>>摘要：A major landmark in the taxonomy of the shrimps of the subfamily Pontoniinae was the publication of the Siboga Expedition monograph by Holthuis (1952). In this report Holthuis referred four lots of specimens to Periclimenes aesopius (Bate). This species is now placed in the genus Ancylomenes Okuno & Bruce (2010) as Ancylomenes aesopius (Bate, 1863) and is known only from Australian waters (South Australia and Western Australia). Through the kindness of Dr Dirk Platvoet it has been possible to re-examine these Siboga specimens. Re-examination showed that none can now be referred to Bate's species which is distinguished from all other species of the genus by the presence of three or four post-orbital teeth on the anterior carapace (Bruce, 1977). Several species of Ancylomenes are represented in the Siboga material and Holthuis's description of the material does not appear based on any specimen in particular. One specimen is however, readily distinguishable from the others by the unusually slender ambulatory dactyli. It is also distinct from all presently known species of Ancylomenes, and is herein designated as a new species and its characters described and illustrated.
NSTL