Five new Platocoelotes species (Araneae,Agelenidae) from caves in southern China

Five new Platocoelotes species are described based on both sexes collected from caves in southern China. They are: Platocoelotes luoi sp. n. from Jiangxi, Platocoelotes qinglinensis sp. n. from Yunnan, Platocoelotes shuiensis sp. n. from Guizhou, Platocoelotes tianyangensis sp. n. from Sichuan and Platocoelotes xianwuensis sp. n. from Hubei.     

Population Growth Patterns of Four Species of Aphelenchoides on Fungi

Qualitative and quantitative differences in population growth patterns of Aphelenchoides rutgersi from Florida, A. sacchari from Jamaica, A. dactylocercus from Great Britain, and A. cibolensis from New Mexico were assessed on 28 species of fungi. The patterns of population growth of A. rutgersi and A. sacchari were statistically similar although not identical, and they differed considerably from those of A. dactylocercus and A. cibolensis. It is suggested that A. rutgersi and A. sacchari, from Florida and Jamaica respectively, may be more closely related to each other than to either A. dactylocercus or A. cibolensis.     

Two new species of spotted Hypancistrus from the Rio Negro drainage (Loricariidae,Hypostominae)

Two new species, Hypancistrus phantasma and Hypancistrus margaritatus, are described based on material from the Rio Negro drainage. Both species are distinguished from congeners by unique color patterns. Hypancistrus phantasma is described from the Rio Uaupes and differs from congeners by having a tan body with small dark spots (vs. dark with light spots or with saddles or stripes). Hypancistrus margaritatus is described from the Takutu River and differs from congeners by having densely-packed light spots on a dark brown background, with spots about the size of the nasal aperture (vs. sparse light spots either smaller or larger than the nasal aperture, or brown to black spots, saddles, or stripes).     

A new marine cyclopoid copepod of the genus Neocyclops (Cyclopidae,Halicyclopinae) from Korea

A new cyclopoid species of the genus Neocyclops Gurney, 1927 is described. Type specimens were collected from a beach on south-western coast of the Korean Peninsula by rinsing intertidal coarse sandy sediments. Neocyclops hoonsooi sp. n. is most characteristic in showing the conspicuous chitinized transverse ridges originating from the medial margins of the coxae of all swimming legs. The new species is most similar to Neocyclops vicinus, described from the Brazilian coast, and Neocyclops petkovskii, from Australia. All three species share a large body size (more than 750 µm long), the presence of an exopodal seta on the antenna, two setae on the mandibular palp, the same seta/spine armature on the third endopodal segment of leg 3 (3 setae + 3 spines), and the fairly long inner distal spine on the third endopodal segment of the female leg 4. However, Neocyclops hoonsooi sp. n. differs from both species by the much shorter caudal rami (less than 1.7 times as long as wide) and the shorter dorsal caudal seta VII. Furthermore, Neocyclops hoonsooi is clearly distinguished from Neocyclops vicinus by the 10-segmented antennule (vs 12 segments in Neocyclops vicinus), and from Neocyclops petkovskii by the elongate inner distal spine on leg 5 exopod and the 3-segmented leg 5 in male (vs 4-segmented in Neocyclops petkovskii). A tabular comparison of characters separating Neocyclops hoonsooi from its closest allies and a key to Neocyclops species from the Indo-Pacific Ocean are provided. This is the first record of the genus Neocyclops from the northern Pacific.     

Hemiuridae (Digenea) from marine fishes of the southern Indian Ocean: Genus Lecithochirium Lühe, 1901 (Lecithochiriinae)

The genus Lecithochirium is briefly discussed and a provisional key to species groups is presented. The following species are described, figured and/or recorded from regions of the southern Indian Ocean: Lecithochirium genypteri from Xiphiurus capensis, Cape Province; L. magnus from Gymnothorax woodwardi and G. javanicus, Western Australia; L. parafusiforme n. sp. from G. flavimarginatus, Natal (type-host and locality) and G. woodwardi, Western Australia; L. macrorchis from G. woodwardi; Leithochirium sp. (ghanense-group?) from Platycephalus bassensis, South Australia; L. kawakawa from Euthynnus affinis and Chrysoblephus anglicus, Natal; Lecithochirium sp. (synodi-group?) from Saurida undosquamis, Natal; L. gymnapisti n. sp. from Gymnapistes marmoratus, Western Australia; L. jaffense from Trachichthodes gerrardi, South Australia and Blennioclinus brachycephalus, Cape Province; Lecithochirium sp. (group unknown) from Alectis ciliaris, Natal.     

Revision of Sternaspis Otto, 1821 (Polychaeta,?Sternaspidae)

To the memory of William Ronald Sendall Sternaspid polychaetes are common and often abundant in soft bottoms in the world oceans. Some authors suggest that only one species should be recognized, whereas others regard a few species as widely distributed in many seas and variable depths from the low intertidal to about 4400 m. There are some problems with species delineation and the distinctive ventro-caudal shield has been disregarded or barely used for identifying species. In order to clarify these issues, the ventral shield is evaluated in specimens from the same locality and its diagnostic potential is confirmed. On this basis, a revision of Sternaspis Otto, 1821 (Polychaeta: Sternaspidae) is presented based upon type materials, or material collected from type localities. The sternaspid body, introvert hooks and shield show three distinct patterns, two genera have seven abdominal segments and tapered introvert hooks, and one genus has eight abdominal segments and spatulate introvert hooks. The ventro-caudal shield has three different patterns: stiff with ribs, and sometimes concentric lines, stiff with feebly-defined ribs but no concentric lines, and soft with firmly adhered sediment particles. Sternaspis is restricted to include species with seven abdominal segments, falcate introvert hooks, and stiff shields, often exhibiting radial ribs, concentric lines or both. Sternaspis includes, besides the type species, Sternaspis thalassemoides Otto, 1821 from the Mediterranean Sea, Sternaspis affinis Stimpson, 1864 from the Northeastern Pacific, Sternaspis africana Augener, 1918, stat. n. from Western Africa, Sternaspis andamanensis sp. n. from the Andaman Sea, Sternaspis costata von Marenzeller, 1879 from Japan, Sternaspis fossor Stimpson, 1853 from the Northwestern Atlantic, Sternaspis islandica Malmgren, 1867 from Iceland, Sternaspis maior Chamberlin, 1919 from the Gulf of California, Sternaspis princeps Selenka, 1885 from New Zealand, Sternaspis rietschi Caullery, 1944 from abyssal depths around Indonesia, Sternaspis scutata (Ranzani, 1817) from the Mediterranean Sea, Sternaspis spinosa Sluiter, 1882 from Indonesia, and Sternaspis thorsoni sp. n. from the Iranian Gulf. Two genera are newly proposed to incorporate the remaining species: Caulleryaspis and Petersenaspis. Caulleryaspis gen. n. is defined by the presence of falcate introvert hooks, seven abdominal segments, and soft shields with sediment particles firmly adhered on them; it includes two species: Caulleryaspis gudmundssoni sp. n. from Iceland and Caulleryaspis laevis (Caullery, 1944) comb. n. from Indonesia. Petersenaspis gen. n. is defined by the presence of spatulate introvert hooks, eight abdominal segments, and stiff shields with poorly defined ribs but no concentric line; it includes Petersenaspis capillata (Nonato, 1966) from Brazil and Petersenaspis palpallatoci sp. n. from the Philippines. Neotypes are proposed for eight species: Sternaspis thalassemoides, Sternaspis affinis, Sternaspis africana, Sternaspis costata, Sternaspis fossor, Sternaspis maior, Sternaspis scutata and Sternaspis spinosa, to stabilize these species-group names, and a lectotype is designated for Sternaspis laevis which is transferred to Caulleryaspis gen. n. The geographic range of most species appears to be much smaller than previously indicated, and for some species additional material in good condition is needed to clarify their distributions. Keys to genera and to all species are also included.     

Genetic relationships between wild progenitor pear (Pyrus L.) species and local cultivars native to Georgia,South Caucasus

The genetic diversity of 108 individuals of wild pear species (Pyrus communis subsp. caucasica, P. balansae, P. salicifolia, P. syriaca, P. demetrii, P. bulgarica, P. ketzkhovelii, P. sachokiana) and 35 samples of local and introduced cultivated pears from the country of Georgia were compared to 73 individuals of wild P. communis subsp. caucasica and P. communis subsp. pyraster in the collection of USDA-ARS National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS). Pyrus communis subsp. caucasica from both Georgia and the NPGS, P. communis subsp. pyraster from the NPGS, and P. salicifolia from Georgia were differentiated, based on analysis of eleven microsatellite markers. In addition, accessions of P. communis subsp. caucasica from Georgia were genetically distinct from accessions of the same subspecies in the NPGS collection that originated from other European and Middle Eastern Asian countries. Local pear cultivars in Georgia were genetically similar to P. communis subsp. caucasica and P. balansae growing wild in Georgia suggesting that they may have originated from native pear trees that could serve as unique genetic resources for pear breeding programmes.     

Major trends of evolution in palms

From the diversity found among palms the following evolutionary trends are suggested:habit: from sympodial to monopodial;size: from moderate toward large and also toward small;stem: from unbranched to dichotomously branched, from little to much sclerenchyma, from short to elongate internodes;leaf: from an undivided eophyll to a palmate, costapalmate, pinnately ribbed or pinnate blade; from undivided and plicate to divided along the adaxial rib (“induplicate”) or along the abaxial rib (“reduplicate”); from pinnate to bipinnate or to pinnae onceor twicedivided longitudinally; from sheath split opposite the petiole to sheath tubular; from marcescent to deciduous; from central vascular bundles of the petiole with a single phloem strand to two phloem strands;inflorescence units: from moderately branched to spicate or less frequently to more diffusely branched, from one unit per leaf axil to more than one per axil, from among the leaves to below them or to above them in a compound terminal inflorescence, from pleonanthic to hapaxanthic;prophyll: from completely to incompletely encircling the peduncle, from incompletely to completely sheathing in bud;bracts: from conspicuous to small or absent at maturity, first peduncular bract from tubular and open at the apex to completely enclosing the inflorescence in bud, and then from ungrooved to deeply plicate;flower arrangement: from solitary, pedicellate, bracteolate flowers to a sympodial cincinnus of 2 or 3 or more, or to a short monopodial axis of 2–4 or more;bracteoles: from sheathing and prophyllate to completely closed or to incompletely developed or absent;flowers: from bisexual to unisexual, then associated with polygamy or monoecism to dioecism;perianth: from trimery to dimery or tetramery to decamery or to reduced and monochlamydeous;sepals: from distinct and imbricate to connate or separated;petals: from distinct and imbricate to valvate, or strongly imbricate, or connate; from small and ovate to large and variously shaped, or to small;stamens: from 6 to 3 or to more than 6 (to 950+);filaments: from relatively slender and distinct to broad and thick, and often connate or adnate to the perianth or both;staminodes: from stamenlike with abortive anthers only, to short teeth, or to a cupule at the base of the ovary, or to absent;pollen: from monosulcate to trichotomosulcate to dicolpate to monocolpate, diporate, or triporate;gynoecium: from apocarpous to syncarpous, from thin walls to thick, variously specialized walls;carpels or locules: from 3 to 2-1 or to 4–10;ovules: from moderate to small or to large, from anatropous to hemianatropous to campylotropous to orthotropous;pistillode: from only slightly modified from the gynoecium to vestigial or lacking or rarely to prominent;fruit: from fleshy to dry and fibrous;endocarp: from little differentiated or thin, to thick and hard, and sometimes with a pore or operculum over the embryo;seed: from moderate to small or to very large, from entire to dissected, bilobed, or perforate;endosperm: from homogeneous to invaginated or ruminate;germination: from remotetubular or -ligular to adjacent-ligular;chromosome complement: fromn = 18 ton = 17, 16, 15, 14, 13.     

Two new species of Asellota (Crustacea,Isopoda) from coral reefs on Iriomote Island,Okinawa, Japan

Pleurocope iriomotensis sp. n. and Prethura tuberculata sp. n. are described from Iriomote Island, Ryukyu Archipelago, southern Japan. These are the first records of Pleurocope from the Pacific and of Prethura from the Asian Pacific coast. Pleurocope iriomotensis differs from its congeners in having lateral spine-like processes on pereonite 4 and coxal plates of pereonite 7. Prethura tuberculata can be distinguished from its single congener in having a lateral short projection of protopod of pleopod 2.     

Genetic characterization of Zostera asiatica on the Pacific Coast of North America

We gathered sequence information from the nuclear 5.8S rDNA gene and associated internal transcribed spacers, ITS-1 and ITS-2 (5.8S rDNA/ITS), and the chloroplast maturase K (matK) gene, from Zostera samples collected from subtidal habitats in Monterey and Santa Barbara (Isla Vista) bays, California, to test the hypothesis that these plants are conspecific with Z. asiatica Miki of Asia. Sequences from approximately 520 base pairs of the nuclear 5.8S rDNA/ITS obtained from the subtidal Monterey and Isla Vista Zostera samples were identical to homologous sequences obtained from Z. marina collected from intertidal habitats in Japan, Alaska, Oregon and California. Similarly, sequences from the matK gene from the subtidal Zostera samples were identical to matK sequences obtained from Z. marina collected from intertidal habitats in Japan, Alaska, Oregon and California, but differed from Z. asiatica sequences accessioned into GenBank. This suggests the subtidal plants are conspecific with Z. marina, not Z. asiatica. However, we found that herbarium samples accessioned into the Kyoto University Herbarium, determined to be Z. asiatica, yielded 5.8S rDNA/ITS sequences consistent with either Z. japonica, in two cases, or Z. marina, in one case. Similar results were observed for the chloroplast matK gene; we found haplotypes that were inconsistent with published matK sequences from Z. asiatica collected from Japan. These results underscore the need for closer examination of the relationship between Z. marina along the Pacific Coast of North America, and Z. asiatica of Asia, for the retention and verification of specimens examined in scientific studies, and for assessment of the usefulness of morphological characters in the determination of taxonomic relationships within Zosteraceae.     

Morphometric and molecular characterization of the species of Uncinaria Frölich, 1789 (Nematoda) parasitic in the Australian fur seal Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus (Schreber), with notes on hookworms in three other pinniped hosts

This study presents morphological and molecular data on hookworms from the Australian fur seal Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus (Schreber) currently identified in Australian waters as Uncinaria hamiltoni Baylis, 1933. Additional specimens from the Australian sea lion Neophoca cinerea (Péron) and the New Zealand fur seal Arctocephalus forsteri (Lesson) from Australia, and the Southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina (Linnaeus) from Antarctica, were included. Using the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), hookworms from A. p. doriferus, N. cinerea and A. forsteri were found to be genetically similar but distinct from Uncinaria spp. found in M. leonina from Antarctica, as well as from Zalophus californianus (Lesson) and Callorhinus ursinus (Linnaeus) from California. Few morphological differences were detected between these taxa.     

New species of the genus Psylliodes Latr. (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) from the Palaearctic Region

Six new species of the genus Psylliodes Latr. are described from the Palaearctic Region. P. concolor sp. n. from Georgia and P. diversicolor sp. n. from Turkey belong to the luteolus species-group. P. amurensis sp. n. and P. laxus sp. n. from the Russian Far East are included in the punctifrons species-group. P. submontanus sp. n. from the North Caucasus is provisionally included in the napi species-group, but it is similar to P. ozisiki Leon. et Arnold from the cupreus species-group. P. insularis sp. n. from the Canaries belongs to the chrysocephalus species-group.     

The gum exudates from some closely related Acacia species of the subseries Uninerves racemosae (section phyllodineae)

Australian gum specimens from Acacia aestivalis, A. chrysella, A. jennerae and A. microbotrya (five specimens differing slightly in some morphological characters) have been studied. These species, placed within Bentham's Series 1, subseries 6F (Uninerves racemosae) are closely related, forming part of the recognized A. microbotrya group. The five specimens from A. microbotrya show minor variations, similar in extent to those established previously for gums from other species. The gums from A. chrysella and A. jennerae are similar to those from A. microbotrya in chemical composition. The gum from A. aestivalis differs from those from A. microbotrya, A. chrysella and A. jennerae in two main respects: it is more acidic and has a much higher methoxyl content. Thus significant differences in gum composition can be shown by some species that differ only slightly in morphological characters. Data for the amino acid compositions of the proteinaceous components of the gums from A. aestivalis, A. jennerae and A. microbotrya, differ considerably from those for the gums from other species belonging to the Uninerves racemosae, e.g. A. saliciformis and A. xanthina, which are much more viscous and have higher proteinaceous contents containing much higher proportions of the amino acids commonly involved in linkages with sugars. Of the closely related species studied, A. aestivalis is closer to A. microbotrya than A.jennerae in terms of the amino acid compositions of their gums, a reversal in the relative affinities shown by their polysaccharide parameters. Thus amino acid compositions are of interest chemotaxonomically and also in terms of the tertiary structures of Acacia gum exudates.     

Afrochoerodon nov. gen. kisumuensis (MacInnes) (Proboscidea,Mammalia) from Cheparawa,Middle Miocene,Kenya

A proboscidean skull from Cheparawa, (Muruyur Formation, Kenya), differs markedly from those of Eurasian Choerolophodon (C. pentelici, C. dhokpathanensis). It is morphologically and metrically close to the holotype of Choerolophodon kisumuensis (MacInnes) a partial skull from Maboko, much of which has been reconstructed in plaster of Paris. The more complete remains of this species now available indicate that it should be placed in a genus separate from Choerolophodon. The new genus Afrochoerodon is erected for it. Choerolophodon ngorora from Ngorora and Fort Ternan (Kenya), Choerolophodon zaltaniensis from Gebel Zelten (Libya) and Choerolophodon chioticus from Chios, Greece, should be transferred to the genus Afrochoerodon. Late Miocene specimens from Nakali, Kenya are probably referrable to the genus Choerolophodon. Fossils from Burji-Soyama (Ethiopia) hitherto assigned to Choerolophodon sp. are excluded from the subfamily Choerolophodontinae.     

An illustrated key to the genera of Thripinae (Thysanoptera,Thripidae) from Iran

An illustrated key is provided for the identification of 35 genera of Thripinae (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) from Iran with comments for each genus. Chirothrips maximi Ananthakrishnan and Limothrips cerealium Haliday are recorded from Iran for the first time. A checklist is provided of Thripinae recorded from this country.