Molecular phylogeography of the fruit bat genus Melonycteris in northern Melanesia

Aim To investigate patterns of genetic divergence between populations of the fruit bat genus Melonycteris Dobson 1877 in relation to the possible effects on dispersal of the geological history of water barriers within and between northern Melanesian archipelagos. Location The genus is found only in the Bismarck Archipelago and Solomon Islands of northern Melanesia. Methods Up to 935 aligned bases of cytochrome b and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I DNA sequences were determined for specimens of most species and subspecies of Melonycteris. Measures of genetic distance, analysis of molecular variation and phylogenetic investigations (using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian approaches) were conducted to assess the evolutionary relationships amongst populations. Results The deepest divergences within Melonycteris separate the genus into two reciprocally monophyletic clades from first, the Bismarck Archipelago, and secondly, the Solomon Islands. Within the Solomon Islands, five major clades received strong support. Listed in a generally north‐western to south‐eastern direction these were: (1) specimens from Choiseul and Santa Isabel; (2) specimens from New Georgia and Kolombangara; (3) specimens from Malaita; (4) specimens from Guadalcanal; and (5) specimens from Makira. Outgroup rooting suggested that the clade from Makira was the most basal within the Solomon Islands, being shown as the sister group to all other Melonycteris from this archipelago. Main conclusions Patterns of genetic variation within Melonycteris were generally consistent, given current knowledge of northern Melanesian geological history, with the hypothesis that the dispersal of these fruit bats is strongly inhibited by water barriers. Within the Solomon Islands the main genetic clades were each restricted to a single island or to a group of islands that are thought to have belonged to larger landmasses (Greater Gatumbangara and Greater Bukida) formed by land bridges during the Pleistocene. The high genetic distance between specimens from the Bismarck Archipelago and from the Solomon Islands reflects the persistently large geographic distance between these archipelagos. The unexpected phylogenetic position of the Makira specimens suggests either that this island was the first colonized by Melonycteris in the Solomon Islands or that this population is the relict of a clade that was previously more widely distributed.     

Systematics of the Pacific monkey‐faced bats (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae), with a new species of Pteralopex and a new Fijian genus

The fruit‐bat genus Pteralopex comprises the monkey‐faced bats, a group of six endangered species found only in old‐growth forests on certain islands in the south‐west Pacific (the Solomon Islands and Fiji). The taxonomy of the genus is reviewed in detail and updated accordingly. Two ‘cryptic’ biological species are shown to occur in sympatry on both Bougainville and Choiseul in the northern Solomon Islands (corresponding to Pteralopex anceps Andersen, 1909 and a previously undescribed species) and each is accordingly described and reviewed. A new genus (Mirimiri) is erected for the Fijian monkey‐faced bat (formerly Pteralopex acrodonta), which differs greatly both morphologically and genetically from species of Pteralopex in the Solomon Islands. Ecomorphological differences between sympatric Pteralopex species are briefly reviewed, including potential differences in functional morphology and feeding ecology. Geographic patterns of occurrence and future survey priorities for monkey‐faced bats are also discussed.     

PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS OF BRYDE'S WHALES IN THE WESTERN NORTH PACIFIC AND ADJACENT WATERS INFERRED FROM MITOCHONDRIAL DNA SEQUENCES1

To clarify phylogenetic relationships of Bryde's whales, we examined the nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial control region and cytochrome b gene in 33 animals: 12 from offshore waters of the western North Pacific, five from off the Solomon Islands, and 16 from the East China Sea and coastal waters of Kochi in southwestern Japan. For reference purposes, homologous sequences from four Balaenoptera species including four Bryde's whales collected in the eastern Indian Ocean were added. We found whales from the three sampling areas to be genetically distinct. The control region sequences suggested that the whales from the three areas separate at higher than the populational level from one another. The cytochrome b data indicated that genetic differences between whales off the Solomon Islands and animals in the other two areas are equivalent to values found among recognized Balaenoptera species, although such a relationship was not observed between the other two areas. We conclude that whales in the East China Sea and coastal waters of Kochi separate from Bryde's whales in offshore waters of the western North Pacific at higher than the populational level but lower than the specific level (i. e., at the subspecific level) and that whales off the Solomon Islands do not belong genetically to the Bryde's whale as previously recognized.     

Genetic diversity in two sibling species of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Anopheles punctulatus</Emphasis> group of mosquitoes on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands

Background  

The mosquito Anopheles irenicus, a member of the Anopheles punctulatus group, is geographically restricted to Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. It shows remarkable morphological similarities to one of its sibling species, An. farauti sensu stricto (An. farauti s.s.), but is dissimilar in host and habitat preferences. To infer the genetic variations between these two species, we have analyzed mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit II (COII) and nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) sequences from Guadalcanal and from one of its nearest neighbours, Malaita, in the Solomon Islands.     

Increases in crop pests caused by Wasmannia auropunctata in Solomon Islands subsistence gardens

The impacts of Wasmannia auropunctata (the little fire ant) on the native biota and subsistence agriculture in the Solomon Islands are poorly understood. This species was originally introduced as a biological control against nut‐fall bugs (Amblypelta sp.) around 30 years ago and in the intervening time has spread throughout the Solomon Islands, aided movement of produce and planting material. It is now itself a major pest of coconut, cocoa and subsistence agriculture. In this study, we show the negative effects of this invasive ant on subsistence agriculture in the Solomon Islands. We do this by (i) assessing the presence of insect pests that develop a mutual relationship with W. auropunctata on four common subsistence crops; and (ii) measuring the impact of a significant pest (Tarophagus sp.) and its natural predator the bug Cyrtohinus fulvus, in the presence and absence of W. auropunctata on taro crops. The existence of insect pests that form a mutual relationship with W. auropunctata was measured in a total of 36 gardens of the four subsistence crops. This was conducted through standardized visual searches, plus identification and collecting from randomly selected plants within the gardens. A number of additional insect pests causing major problems to subsistence crops have also developed mutual relationships with W. auropunctata. Infested taro gardens have more Tarophagus sp. compared with taro plants that are free of the little fire ant. The presence and abundance of Wasmannia therefore has the potential to inflict considerable crop loss in rural subsistence gardens in the Solomon Islands.     

Voter Integrity,Trust and the Promise of Digital Technologies: Biometric Voter Registration in Solomon Islands

Drawing on the anthropology of technology, this article examines the introduction of a digital biometric voter registration for Solomon Islands 2014 national election. Four perspectives on biometric voting are brought into dialogue: (1) the technological particularities, strengths and shortcomings of biometric voting registration (BVR), (2) a global and international embrace of the technology for its perceived ‘universal’ tendency to secure identities, (3) efforts by the Solomon Islands state to showcase its political stability by means of BVR and (4) the ways village-based voters come to understand, interpret and re-imagine BVR as political technology. We show how, within the ethnographic context of North Malaita, debates surrounding BVR reveal a continued distrust and uncertainty in North Malaitans’ relationship with the Solomon Islands state and its representatives. Within the context of this uncertainty BVR is re-imagined as technology that aids voter integrity within rather than beyond patronage networks.     

The endemic plant families and the palms of New Caledonia: a biogeographical analysis

This paper provides a panbiogeographical analysis of the endemic plant families and the palms of New Caledonia. There are three endemic plant families in New Caledonia and several genera that were previously recognized as endemic families. Of these taxa, some are sister to widespread Northern Hemisphere or global groups (Canacomyrica, Austrotaxus, Amborella). The others belong to trans‐Indian Ocean groups (Strasburgeria), trans‐tropical Pacific groups (Oncotheca) or Tasman Sea/Coral Sea groups (Phelline, Paracryphia) that are sister to widespread Northern Hemisphere or global groups. In palms, the four clades show allopatric regional connections in, respectively: (1) western Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand; (2) Vanuatu/Fiji and the southern Ryukyu Islands near Taiwan; (3) the western Tasman/Coral Sea (eastern Australia, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands); and (4) the eastern Tasman/Coral Sea (Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands, New Zealand, Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands). The four clades thus belong to different centres of endemism that overlap in New Caledonia. The patterns are attributed not to chance dispersal and adaptive radiation but to the different histories of the eight terranes that fused to produce modern New Caledonia. Trans‐tropical Pacific connections can be related to the Cretaceous igneous plateaus that formed in the central Pacific and were carried, with plate movement, west to the Solomon Islands and New Zealand, and east to Colombia and the Caribbean.     

Genetic and phylogenetic analyses of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I variants from Melanesians with an without spastic myelopathy

Molecular variants of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) have been isolated recently from lifelong residents of remote Melanesian populations, including a Solomon Islander with tropical spastic paraparesis/HTLV-I-associated myelopathy (TSP/HAM) or HTLV-I myeloneuropathy. To clarify the genetic heterogeneity and molecular epidemiology of disease-associated strains of HTLV-I, we enzymatically amplified, then directly sequenced representative regions of thegag, pol, env, andpX genes of HTLV-I strains from Melanesians with and without TSP/HAM, and aligned and compared these sequences with those of HTLV-I strains from patients with TSP/HAM or adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma and from asymptomatic carriers from widely separated and culturally disparate populations. Overall, the HTLV-I variant from the Solomon Islander with TSP/HAM, like HTLV-I strains from asymptomatically infected Melanesians, diverged by approx 7% from cosmopolitan HTLV-I strain. No disease-specific viral sequences were found. Gene phylogenies, as determined by the unweighted pair-goup method of assortment and by the maximum parsimony method, indicated that the Melanesian and cosmopolitan strains of HTLV-I have evolved along separate geographically dependent lineages, one comprised of HTLV-I strains from Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, and the other composed of virus strains from Japan, India, the Caribbean, Polynesia, the Americas, and Africa. The total absence of nonhuman primates in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands precludes any possibility that the Melanesian HTLV-I strains have evolved recently from the simian homolog of HTLV-I.     

A new species of White‐eye Zosterops and notes on other birds from Vanikoro,Solomon Islands

A new species of white‐eye, the Vanikoro White‐eye Zosterops gibbsi, is described from the island of Vanikoro (= Vanikolo) in the Santa Cruz Islands (= Temotu Province) within the Solomon Islands. It differs from the geographically closest white‐eye, the Santa Cruz White‐eye Zosterops sanctaecrucis, by a number of features including a much longer bill, and different leg‐ and eye‐ring colour. This is the second bird species endemic to Vanikoro; the neighbouring Nendo Island supports three endemic species. Although the conservation status of this species appears to be secure, the Santa Cruz Islands are very poorly known. Despite supporting several globally threatened species, the Islands at present are not protected by any conservation activity.     

Counting the Cost of Diabetes in the Solomon Islands and Nauru

Aim

To determine the costs associated with diabetes to governments, people with diabetes and their carers, and its impact on quality of life in two Pacific Island countries—the Solomon Islands and Nauru.

Materials and Methods

This cross-sectional cost of illness study was conducted on 330 people with type 2 diabetes (197 from the Solomon Islands and 133 from Nauru) using a structured cost of illness survey questionnaire adapted from the Australian DiabCo$t study. Quality of life was measured by the EQ-5D Visual Analogue Scale.

Results

There were 330 respondents (50% female; mean duration of diabetes 10.9 years; mean age 52.6 years). The estimated annual national cost of diabetes incurred by the Solomon Islands government was AUD12.8 million (AUD281 per person/year) and by Nauru government was AUD1.2 million (AUD747 per person/year). The major contribution to the government costs was inpatient services cost (71% in the Solomon Islands and 83% in Nauru). Annual expenditure for diabetes was approximately 20% of the governments’ annual health care expenditure. Considerable absenteeism and retirement from work due to diabetes was found.

Conclusions

This study found substantial public and personal costs associated with diabetes. The findings provide objective data on which health policy, funding and planning decisions about the prevention and control of diabetes in the Solomon Islands and Nauru can be reliably based and subsequently evaluated.     

Cancer in the Solomon Islands

IntroductionThe Solomon Islands, with a population of 550,000, has significant challenges in addressing non-communicable diseases, including cancer, in the face of significant economic, cultural, general awareness and health system challenges.ObjectivesTo summarise the existing knowledge regarding cancer in the Solomon Islands, to gather new data and make recommendations.MethodsA literature review was undertaken and cancer data from the National Referral Hospital, Honiara were analysed and are presented. Key stakeholders were interviewed for their perspectives including areas to target for ongoing, incremental improvements. Last, a health services audit for cancer using the WHO SARA tool was undertaken.ResultsBreast and cervical cancer remain the first and second most commonly identified cancers in the Solomon Islands. The Solomons cancer registry is hospital based and suffers from incomplete data collection due to its passive nature, lack of resources for data entry and processing resulting in weak data which is rarely used for decision-making. The health system audit revealed system and individual reasons for delayed diagnosis or lack of cancer treatment or palliation in the Solomon Islands. Reasons included lack of patient knowledge regarding symptoms, late referrals to the National Referral Hospital and inability of health care workers to detect cancers either due to lack of skills to do so, or lack of diagnostic capabilities, and an overall lack of access to any health care, due to geographical barriers and overall national economic fragility.ConclusionThe Solomon Islands is challenged in preventing, diagnosing, treating and palliating cancer. Stakeholders recommend establishing specialty expertise (in the form of a cancer unit), improved registry processes and increased collaboration between the sole tertiary hospital nationwide and other Solomon health services as important targets for incremental improvement.     

Sebdenia cerebriformis sp. nov. (Sebdeniaceae, Sebdeniales) from the south and western Pacific Ocean

A new species of red alga, Sebdenia cerebriformis N'Yeurt et Payri sp. nov. (Sebdeniaceae, Sebdeniales), is described from various localities in the south and western Pacific including Fiji, New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Indonesia (Java Sea). The new species is characterized by a ruffled thallus with multiple perennial stipitate holdfasts, large conspicuous inner cortical stellate cells, and a lax filamentous medulla.     

The Anopheles punctulatus group of mosquitoes in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu surveyed by allozyme electrophoresis

Abstract. Four species within the Anopheles punctulatus group of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) were identified by allozyme analysis of samples collected from thirty-three localities in Guadalcanal, Makira, Malaita, Temotu and Western Provinces in the Solomon Islands and six localities on Efate, Espiritu Santo, Maewo and Malekula Islands in Vanuatu. Three of these species are members of the An. farauti complex. A key is given to identify five species of the An. punctulatus group known to occur in the Solomon Islands using their isoenzyme characteristics.
An. farauti No. 1 was widespread in coastal areas of the Solomon Islands and was the only species detected in Vanuatu, including Efate Island (where Faureville is the type locality of An. farauti Laveran sensu stricto). An. farauti No. 2 and An. punctulatus were common in the Solomon Islands in more inland areas. An. farauti No. 7, reported here for the first time, was found as larvae in freshwater at six localities on north Guadalcanal. Three other members of the An. punctulatus group which have been reported previously from the Solomon Islands: An. koliensis, An. renellensis and an electrophoretic variant of An. farauti sensu lato, were not found in our samples.
Previously recognized vectors of malaria and bancroftian filariasis in the Solomon Islands are An. farauti No. 1 (i.e. An. farauti s.s. ), An. koliensis and An. punctulatus s. s. Adult females of An. farauti No. 2 and An. farauti No. 7 were not attracted to human bait in areas where their larvae occurred, indicating that these two species are not anthropophilic and therefore unlikely to transmit human pathogens.     

Historical biogeography of Rhododendron section Vireya and the Malesian Archipelago

Aim Vireya rhododendrons are distinctive and easily recognizable by their general form; however, they are virtually circumscribed geographically, predominantly distributed throughout the biogeographically intriguing Malesian Archipelago. Hypotheses of the evolutionary relationships of the group have been proposed but the biogeography of vireyas has not been analysed based on molecular phylogeny. Recently, the first detailed molecular phylogenetic investigation of section Vireya was completed based on cp‐ and nrDNA sequence data, therefore making this cladistic biogeographic study of vireya rhododendrons possible. Location Malesia, Australia, Solomon Islands, Taiwan, Himalayas, north Vietnam and south China. Methods Based on distribution maps, areas of endemism were determined for the biogeographic region of Malesia. Area relationships were analysed based on a recent molecular phylogeny of species in section Vireya. The method of paralogy‐free subtree analysis was applied. Results Individual distribution maps were produced for 74 species of Rhododendron section Vireya. Species clades with bootstrap support proved to be biogeographically informative. Major clades correspond to three regions: eastern Malesia, western/middle Malesia and Taiwan/north Vietnam/south China. Within eastern Malesia, Australia, New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago and Solomon Islands are related. In western Malesia, northern Philippines, Borneo, southern Moluccas and north and west Sulawesi are related. These areas are more distantly related to Sumatra, the Malay peninsula, Java, Bali, Palawan, Lesser Sunda islands and the southern Philippines. The position of the Himalayas is equivocal and part of a basal polytomy in the summary area cladogram. Main conclusions Two alternative hypotheses are proposed for the evolution of vireya rhododendrons based on the pattern of area relationships. The first hypothesis is that the vireyas are an old group, with ancestors present on Gondwana, rifting north in the Cretaceous. The second alternative hypothesis is that vireyas are a young group that has dispersed eastwards from India to Australia and the Solomon Islands since the current Malesian islands formed.     

A new genus of frogmouth (Podargidae) from the Solomon Islands – results from a taxonomic review of Podargus ocellatus inexpectatus Hartert 1901

The frogmouth taxon occurring on the Solomon Islands has been known as Podargus ocellatus inexpectatus , a subspecies endemic to four islands in the Solomon Islands of a species that also inhabits New Guinea and Australia. Our morphological, osteological and molecular studies support recognition of inexpectatus at the species level, and further reveal that it merits placement in its own genus, which we describe here. Compared with the two other extant podargid genera, inexpectatus does not seem to be more closely related either to Batrachostomus (confined to the Indo-Malayan faunal region) or to Podargus of the Papuan–Australian faunal region. We also review the specimen history of the Solomon Islands Frogmouth, and discuss what little is known about its ecology, natural history and distribution.     

Mnioloma fuscum (Marchantiopsida: Calypogeiaceae), an unexpected addition to the indigenous flora of New Zealand

Abstract

Mnioloma fuscum, a liverwort species known to date primarily from tropical-montane regions, is reported for New Zealand for the first time. Its occurrence in New Zealand is unexpected as the next nearest known site is believed to be the Solomon Islands, some 3500 km distant. The occurrence of Mnioloma fuscum in New Zealand highlights the contribution tropical regions have made to the composition of New Zealand's hepatic flora.     

Phylogenetic relationships inCrossostylis (Rhizophoraceae) inferred from restriction site variation of chloroplast DNA

Phylogenetic relationships among the nine species ofCrossostylis (Rhizophoraceae) were elucidated using cladistic analysis of restriction site variations of chloroplast DNA. As a result, this genus was found to comprise two pronounced monophyletic groups as follows:C. biflora, C. grandiflora, C. multiflora andC. sebertii; andC. cominsii, C. pachyantha, C. parksii, C. richii andC. seemannii. Moreover, the monophyly ofC. biflora, C. grandiflora andC. sebertii in the former group and the monophyly ofC. pachyantha, C. parksii, C. richii andC. seemannii in the latter group were also suggested. The molecular tree corresponded well with that inferred from morphological data and no discrepancy was recognized. Many of the floral morphological characters reflected lineage, but all seed coat characters were homoplasious. Evolutionary trends in some morphological characters were optimized on the cpDNA tree obtained. Species from New Caledonia and Polynesia were monophyletic, as were those from the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and the Fiji Islands. All species endemic to the Fiji Islands made a cluster, and this suggests that speciation occurred from a single ancestral species on the Islands.     

Stylochus (Imogene) matatasi n. sp. (Platyhelminthes,Polycladida): pest of cultured giant clams and pearl oysters from Solomon Islands

A large polyclad flatworm has been consistently found associated with mortalities of the cultured giant clam,Tridacna gigas (L.) and the fouling pearl oysterPinctada maculata (Gould) in Solomon Islands.Stylochus (Imogene) matatasi n. sp. is described and a brief account of its biology is given.ICLARM Contribution # 856.ICLARM Contribution # 856.     

Microfungi on the Pandanaceae:Polytretophora macrospora sp. nov.

Polytretophora macrospora is introduced based on specimens from two species ofPandanus in Seychelles. The new species is compared with currently accepted species. A key and a comparative synopsis toPolytetophora species are provided. Numerous specimens ofP. calcarata, collected on members of the Pandanaceae from Australia, Fiji, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Caledonia, Palau, Philippines, Seychelles and Solomon Islands are also reported, along withP. dendroidea onPandanus sp. from Malaysia.     

Genotypic relationships between Prochloron samples from different localities and hosts as determined by DNA-DNA reassociations

Genotypic relationships between seven Prochloron samples isolated from different didemnid ascidian hosts collected at the Palau archipelago and Munda (Solomon Islands) and one cyanobacterial (Synechocystis) strain were determined by DNA-DNA reassociations. Thermal stability values of DNA-DNA hybrids indicate that all Prochloron samples involved are mutually very closely related and only slightly related with the Synechocystis strain. It is concluded that the Prochloron samples tested are representatives of one and the same species.