Revision der Familie HippocardiidaePojeta & Runnegar, 1976 (Mollusca; Rostroconchia)

Following the revision and integration of the family PseudobigaleaidaeHoare, Mapes &; Yancey into the existing systematic concept of the rostroconch order Conocardiida the original family of hood-carrying rostroconchs, the HippocardiidaePojeta &; Runnegar, is revised and subdivided in this contribution. Here, we present the members of the subfamily HippocardiinaePojeta &; Runnegar [n. subfam.]. Its erection appeared necessary first, as the family Hippocardiidae had been used for decades as a conglomeration taxon where most varied morphotypes were assigned to the type genusHippocardia, whose character combinations only just now can be distinguished, and secondly because the number of hood-carrying hippocardiid rostroconch taxa increased markedly during our studies. Ten taxa at the species level are assigned to the generaHippocardia Brown, 1843,Bieberiana n. gen.,Cartericardia n. gen.,Fraipontia n. gen.,Hoareicardia n. gen. andPojetorum n. gen. All the taxa are precisely diagnosed and described at the subfamily, genus and species level by a uniform, revised and completed terminology of morphologic characters. This allows comparability of the taxa and aids in the reconstruction of phylogenetic relationships in the Hippocardiinae [n. subfam.], whose members occur from the Late Silurian until the Mississippian.     

Ein Beitrag zur Nomenklatur sphinctozoider Schwämme (Porifera)

The sphinctozoid sponge generaFania Senowbari-Daryan 1990 andSpica Termier &Termier 1977 are preoccupied.Fania is replaced byFanthalamia nom. nov. andSpica by the younger synonymFistulispongia Termier &Termier 1977. The invalid subfamily name FaniinaeSenowbari-Daryan 1990 is replaced by Fanthalamiinae n. subfam. The invalid family and subfamily names SpicidaeTermier &Termier 1977 and SpicinaeSenowbari-Daryan 1990 respectively are replaced by FistulispongiidaeTermier atTermier 1977 and FistulispongiinaeSenowbari-Daryan 1990. The generaWaagenium de Laubenfels 1957 andCatubria Merla 1931 were previously overlooked.Waagenium DeLaubenfels 1957 is a younger synonym ofColospongia Laube 1865. The position ofCatubria Merla 1931 is uncertain. Most probablyCatubria is an alga.     

Reclassifications and new names for some European Phanerogams

On the basis of taxonomic and nomenclatural revisions of various plant groups 37 new nomenclatural combinations are proposed mostly for European phanerogamous taxa (21 for species, 14 for subspecies, 2 for hybrids.)Medicula Medicus,Pseudofumaria Medicus andThlasidia Rafin. are accepted as taxonomically justified genera and correct generic names.Dactylorhiza longebracteata (F. W. Schmidt)Holub is proposed instead ofD. fuchsii (Druce) Soó, andHylotelephium triphyllum (Haworth) Holub isstead ofH. purpureum (L.)Holub.     

Taxonomie und Systematik der HippocardioideaPojeta & Runnegar, 1976 [n. superfam.] (Mollusca; Rostroconchia)

The revisions of the families PseudobigaleaidaeHoare, Mapes &; Yancey, 2002 and HippocardiidaePojeta &; Runnegar, 1976 led to the introduction of a new taxon at the superfamily rank in order to unite the two families and distinguish them from the members of the Conocardiidae and Bransoniidae within the order Conocardiida. The autapomorphy of this new superfamily HippocardioideaPojeta &; Runnegar, 1976 [n. superfam.] — the more or less uniform development of at least one hood — is considered taxonomically as so important that we exclude a common ancestry of the almost contemporaneously occurring taxa of the Hippocardiidae, Pseudobigaleaidae on the one hand and the Bransoniidae sensuPojeta &; Runnegar on the other. The family Hippocardiidae is divided into six taxa on subfamily rank, the HippocardiinaePojeta &; Runnegar, Babinicardiinae n. subfam., Barrandeicardiinae n. subfam., Bohemicardiinae n. subfam., Goticardiinae n. subfam. and Hassiacardiinae n. subfam. At the species level, 13 taxa are assigned to the generaBabinicardia n. gen.,Barrandeicardia n. gen.,Bohemicardia n. gen.,Filicardia n. gen,.Globocardia n. gen.,Goticardia n. gen.,Pohlia n. gen. andHassiacardia n. gen. Additionally, the speciesGoticardia kauffmannii n. gen. n. sp. is introduced, whereas the primary homonymy of ?Conocardium“reticulatum Babin, 1966 is retained, because this taxon remained inassignable to any of the existing genera, but is considered as a member of the Hippocardiidae. The revised family Hippocardiidae occurred stratigraphically from the Middle Silurian (Wenlockian) until Mississippian time; members of the new superfamily Hippocardioidea are known from the Ordovician until the Pennsylvanian.     

New cultivated species of the genusCryptocoryne (Araceae)

Three new species ofCryptocoryne are described, based on material received from unspecified localities in tropical Asia.Crytocoryne hejnýi Rataj andC. zukalii Rataj differ fromC. cor data Griff. by the non-infundibuliform gorge of the upper tube and by the colour of the limb of spathe.C. evae Rataj is one of the largest species of the genus and is related toC. siemensis Gagn, andC. zonata De Wit. It differs fromC. siemensis andC. blasii by the limb of spathe which is twice as broad and long, and by the coloured inner part of the kettle, fromC. zonata by the shape of the leaf-blades.     

LignicolousHyphomycetes from Czechoslovakia 5.Septonema,Hormiactella andLylea

Three genera of lignicolousHyphomycetes Septonema Corda,Hormiactella Saac. andLylea Morgan-Jones are discussed. Illustrations and determination keys are provided. Five species ofSeptonema—S. fasciculare (Corda) Hughes,S. leptaleum (Ellis & Harkn.) Hughes,S. pinicola Hol.-Jech.,S. secedens Corda andS. laricium Hol.-Jech.—and two species ofHormiactella—H. fusca (Preuss) Sacc. andH. asetosa Hol.-Jech.—have been found in Czechoslovakia. A new speciesS. pseudobinum Hol.-Jech. is described from Romania.Septonema tetracoilum (Corda Hughes is accommodated in the genusLylea Morgan-Jones.     

Isolation of the protoplasts fromAsteraceae by means of xylonase

The enzyme xylonase was used to isolate the protoplasts from the leaves ofCalendula officinalis L.,Gazania splendens Moore,Tithonia rotundifolia Blake,Zinnia elegans Jacq- and from the petals ofDahlia variabilis (Willd.) Desf. The recovery of spherical undamaged protoplasts differed. The same method did not lead to the isolation of the protoplasts from callus cultures derived fromCalendula, Gazania andTithonia leaves respectively.     

The arthropodBundenbachiellus giganteus from the Lower Devonian Hunsrück Slate, Germany

The large Hunsrück Slate arthropodBundenbachiellus giganteus (Broili, 1929) has been interpreted as a myriapod, a possible arthropleurid, and most recently as a distorted specimen of the arachnomorph arthropodCheloniellon. The Single specimen lacks the head region and is characterised by a narrow trunk bearing a series of biramous appendages with a segmented endopod and filamentous exopod. A reinvestigation demonstrates that it is not referable toCheloniellon but represents a distinct taxon of whichEschenbachiellus wuttkensis Briggs &;Bartels, 2001, also based on a Single Hunsrück Slate specimen, is a junior synonym. Minor features ofStürmer &;Bergström’s (1978) reconstruction ofCheloniellon, which were based on the holotype ofBundenbachiellus giganteus, are revised.     

Notes on some African hepatic genera 6–9

The present study deals with African species ofSyzygiella Spruce,Allisoniella Hodgs. andGymnomitriaceae Klinggr. Three species ofSyzygiella Spruce,S. geminifolia (Mitt.) Steph.,S. concreta (Gott.) Spruce and one indeterminable species with orbicular leaves (known only in sterile condition) occur in Africa.Allisoniella nigra (Rodw.) Schust. represents a genus hitherto unreported for the African flora. The present knowledge ofGymnomitriaceae Klinggr. in subsaharan Africa is summarised; five species ofMarsupella Dum., one ofGymnomitrion Corda and five ofHerzogobryum Grolle are reported. Finally, some additions to the generaIsotachis Mitt.,Anastrophyllum (Spruce) Steph. andLophozia (Dum.) Dum. are presented.     

A revision ofTaraxacum sect.Piesis (Compositae)

On the basis of allozyme and cultivation data, and of additional herbarium material, a taxonomic and nomenclatural revision ofTaraxacum sect.Piesis A.J. Richards exKirschner et?těpánek is provided. The section is made up of halophilous, sexually reproducing taxa. InT. stenocephalum Boiss. etKotschy,T. pindicum Kirschner et?těpánek, sp. nov., andT. perenne Kirschner et?těpánek, sp. nov., a tetraploid chromosome number has been recorded, representing the only known case of sexuality at the tetraploid level in the genus. The complex ofT. stenocephalum, includes some geographically and morphologically extreme populations treated as subspecies: subsp.gumusanicum (Soest)Kirschner et?těpánek, comb. nov., subsp.magnum Kirschner et?těpánek, subsp. nov., and subsp.daralagesicum (Schischk.)Kirschner et?těpánek, comb. nov. In addition toT. bessarabicum (Hornem.)Hand.-Mazz., a widely distributed Eurasian species,T. stenocephalum, a complex centred in Transcaucasia and Anatolia, andT. pachypodum H. Lindb., a North African endemic, four new species are described:T. salsum Kirschner et?těpánek, sp. nov., a diploid endemic confined to E Crimea,T. perenne Kirschner et?těpánek, sp. nov., a tetraploid sexual species known only from SW Crimea,T. pindicum Kirschner et?těpánek, sp. nov., a remarkable tetraploid endemic to the Pindos Mts., Greece, andT. salsitatis Kirschner, ?těpänek etYirdirimli, sp. nov., an Anatolian diploid species. Furthermore, a hybrid betweenT. salsum andT. bessarabicum from Crimea (documented on the basis of allozyme data elsewhere) is given a binomial,T. xmesohalobium Kirschner et?těpánek, nothosp. nov.     

Observations on the floral morphology of someDioscorea species (Dioscoreaceae) in Nigeria

Observations on floral morphology of eight species ofDioscorea L., namely,D. bulbifera L.,D. dumetorum (Kunth) Pax,D. hirtiflora Benth.,D. minutiflora Engl.,D. preussii Pax,D. odoratissima Pax,D. rotundata Poir. andD. Smilacifolia De Wild. are presented. The most remarkable distinctive features of the taxa studied are: the presence of large fruits and raceme inflorescences inD. preussii, the absence of pendulous inflorescences inD. dumetorum, and the absence of stalks in female flowers ofD. bulbifera.     

The trilobiteProtostygina and the composition of the Styginidae, with two new genera

The Styginidae is regarded as an exclusively Ordovician family of trilobites, separate from the Scutelluidae. The hitherto poorly known genusProtostygina Prantl &P?ibyl, 1949 is revised. It is recorded with certainty only from the Llanvirn of the Czech Republic, and the type species is a senior synonym of“Raymondaspis” rubensi rubensi P?ibyl &VANěK, 1968 and“R.” rubensi lybar ?najdr, 1976. Two new styginid genera are proposed:Cyrtocybe, with type species“Raymondaspis” turgida Whittington, 1965, is known from the upper Arenig and lower Llanvirn of Newfoundland, Maine and Norway; andPromargo, with type speciesP.forteyi n. sp., occurs in the Arenig of Newfoundland and Spitsbergen.Turgicephalus Fortey, 1980 is regarded as a junior synonym ofRaymondaspis P?ibyl inPrantl &P?ibyl, 1949. Three genera are excluded from the Styginidae:Kirkdomina Tripp, 1962,Pseudostygina Zhou inZhou et al., 1982 andStyginella P?ibyl &Vaněk, 1971.     

New chromosome numbers inTaraxacum with reference to SAT-chromosomes

Chromosome numbers of eight agamospermousTaraxacum microspecies are reported for the first time:T hypanicum Tzvel. [sect.Dioszegia (Heuff.) Heuff.,T. neosivaschicum Tzvel. [sect.Palustria (Lindb, fil.)Dahlst.],T. pseudohoppeanum Kirschner et?těpánek (sect.Erythrocarpa Dahlst.),T. schroeterianum H.-M. (sect.Rhodocarpa Van Soest),T. marmottae C.E. Sonck,T. lambinonii Van Soest [sect.Erythrosperma (Lindb. fil.)Dahlst.],T. zermattense Dahlst, andT. magnoobliquum Van Soest (taxa of uncertain classification). All these polyploid microspecies have satellite chromosomes in their karyotypes. Advanced karyological characters were found in sect.Dioszegia, hitherto regarded as a primitive section ofTaraxacum: triploidy in agamospermousT. hypanicum Tzvel. and satellite chromosomes as in this taxon, as in two diploid sexualsT. serotinum (W. et K.)Poiret andT. haussknechtii Uechtr. The results presented are compared to the literature data.