Redescription and molecular characterisation of Allogastrocotyle bivaginalis Nasir & Fuentes Zambrano, 1983 (Monogenea: Gastrocotylidae) from Trachurus picturatus (Bowdich) (Perciformes: Carangidae) off the Algerian coast,Mediterranean Sea

Systematic Parasitology - Allogastrocotyle bivaginalis Nasir & Fuentes Zambrano, 1983, the sole species of Allogastrocotyle Nasir & Fuentes Zambrano, 1983, was described from...     

Taxonomie Review of the family Platygastridae (Hymenoptera: Platygastroidea) from the Korean Peninsula

A total of 41 species were investigated, including only one species in the check list of Korean insects, which contains five platygastrids. Eleven species of the family Platygastridae are described as new to science from Korea, viz. Allostemma bicolor Buhl & Choi, Amblyaspis koreana Choi & Buhl, Leptacis koreana Buhl & Choi, L. ocellaris Choi & Buhl, Platygaster ciliata Buhl & Choi, P. flavifemorata Buhl & Choi, P. kui Choi & Buhl, P. tripotini Buhl & Choi, Synopeas collinus Choi & Buhl, S. kimi Choi & Buhl, and S. pumilus Buhl & Choi. Further nineteen species are recorded from The Korean Peninsula for the first time, and some new records are added for eleven species, already known from the Peninsula. Keys are given to the genera and species of Platygastridae hitherto recorded from The Korean Peninsula. As a result, platygastrid fauna of The Korean Peninsula is composed of 68 species up to now.     

Biological control of the Eucalyptus bronze bug Thaumastocoris peregrinus (Hemiptera: Thaumastocoridae) in Argentina: release and recovery of the introduced egg parasitoid Cleruchoides noackae (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae)

BioControl - In Argentina, a classical biological control program for the Eucalyptus bronze bug, Thaumastocoris peregrinus (Carpintero & Dellapé), with the egg parasitoid Cleruchoides...     

A new acroeimerian (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) in spotted house gecko,Gekko monarchus (Schlegel) (Sauria: Gekkonidae) from Peninsular Malaysia

Systematic Parasitology - A new species of Acroeimeria Paperna & Landsberg, 1989 is described from the spotted house gecko, Gekko monarchus (Schlegel) from Peninsular Malaysia. Oöcysts...     

Scorpionfishes of New Zealand (Pisces: Scorpaenidae)

Abstract

Recent collecting has increased the number of scorpionfish species known from New Zealand, particularly the Kermadec Islands. The following species are now represented in collections at the National Museum of New Zealand: Scorpaena papillosus (Bloch & Schneider); S. cardinalis Richardson; S. cooki Günther; Trachyscorpia capensis (Gilchrist & von Bonde); Phenacoscorpius megalops Fowler; Maxillicosta raoulensis Eschmeyer & Poss; Ectreposebastes niger (Fovrmanoir); Pterois volitans (Linnaeus); P. antennata (Bloch & Schneider); Ocosia apia Poss & Eschmeyer; Plectrogenium nanum Gilbert; and Scorpaenodes guamensis (Quoy & Gaimard). Helicolenus, represented by a complex of species, is not discussed here. All other species are figured and at least briefly described, and a key to their identification is provided.     

Redescription of Flexophora ophidii Prost & Euzet, 1962 (Monogenea: Diclidophoridae) from Ophidion barbatum (Ophidiidae) off the Algerian coast,Mediterranean Sea

Systematic Parasitology - The diclidophorid Flexophora ophidii Prost & Euzet, 1962, the type- and only species of the genus Flexophora Prost & Euzet, 1962, has never been...     

Taxonomy of Gundlachia (Compositae: Astereae)

Gundlachia, a genus of shrubs occurring in the Caribbean islands, is treated as comprising two species, one of which has six varieties. Five new combinations are made: Gundlachia corymbosa var. apiculata (Britton & S. F. Blake) M. A. Lane, G. corymbosa var. compacta (Urb. & Ekman) M. A. Lane, G. corymbosa var. cubana (Britton & S. F. Blake) M. A. Lane, G. corymbosa var. foliosa (Britton & S. F. Blake) M. A. Lane, and G. corymbosa var. ocoana (Urb. & Ekman) M. A. Lane. Gundlachia is probably most closely related to Gymnosperma.     

Description of a new species of Dermoergasilus Ho & Do, 1982 (Copepoda: Ergasilidae) from the redbelly tilapia Coptodon zillii (Gervais) (Perciformes: Cichlidae) in Basrah,southern Iraq

Systematic Parasitology - A new species of Dermoergasilus Ho & Do, 1982 (Copepoda: Ergasilidae) parasitic on the gills of the redbelly tilapia Coptodon zillii (Gervais) from Basrah,...     

A new species of Lernanthropus De Blainville, 1822 (Copepoda: Lernanthropidae) parasitic on Menticirrhus ophicephalus (Jenyns) (Teleostei: Sciaenidae) from the Peruvian coast

Lernanthropus huamani n. sp. (Copepoda: Lernanthropidae), a parasite of the Peruvian sciaenid fish Menticirrhus ophicephalus (Jenyns), is described and illustrated. The new species differs from all other species of Lernanthropus by a combination of characters, including the dorsal plate, legs and other appendages. L. guacoldae Villalba & Fernández, 1984 is considered a synonym of L. pacificus Oliva & Duran, 1982.     

Macrourimegatrema gadoma n. sp. (Digenea: Opecoelidae) from the doublethread grenadier Gadomus arcuatus (Goode & Bean) (Macrouridae) in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea

Macrourimegatrema gadoma n. sp. (Digenea: Opecoelidae: Plagioporinae) is described from the pyloric caeca and intestine of the doublethread grenadier Gadomus arcuatus (Goode & Bean) (Macrouridae) collected from the northeastern Gulf of Mexico and off Venezuela. The new species differs from Macrourimegatrema brayi Blend, Dronen & Armstrong, 2004, the type and only species in the genus, in the distribution of the vitelline follicles and gonads, a larger body size, and the presence of highly-folded caeca with numerous outpocketings or pouches. It is suggested that species of Macrourimegatrema Blend, Dronen & Armstrong, 2004 probably infect their piscine hosts through the ingestion of a benthopelagic crustacean.     

Epizoanthidae (Hexacorallia: Zoantharia) associated with Granulifusus gastropods (Neogastropoda: Fasciolariidae) from the Indo-West Pacific

Organisms Diversity & Evolution - There have been few detailed studies on the associations between cnidarians and gastropod mollusks. Several hypotheses have been suggested to explain the...     

Diplectanids infesting the gills of the barramundi Lates calcarifer (Bloch) (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with the proposal of Laticola n. g. (Monogenoidea: Diplectanidae)

Four species of the Monogenoidea, Laticola lingaoensis n. sp., L. latesi (Tripathi, 1957) n. comb. [previously Pseudorhabdosynochus latesi (Tripathi, 1957) Kritsky & Beverley-Burton, 1986], L. paralatesi (Nagibina, 1976) n. comb. [previously Diplectanum paralatesi Nagibina, 1976] and Diplectanum penangi Liang & Leong, 1991, are reported from the gills of Lates calcarifer (Centropomidae) from the South China Sea (new geographical records for L. latesi and D. penangi). Collections from off Bathurst Island, Northern Territory, Australia, represent a new geographic record for L. paralatesi; Chilka Lake, Orissa, India, is established as the type-locality for L. latesi. Laticola n. g. (Diplectanidae) is proposed for species with a spoon-shaped copulatory organ with two to four concentric incomplete ridges in the base. Laticola lingaoensis, the type-species of Laticola, is described, and L. latesi and L. paralatesi are redescribed based on specimens from the South China Sea. Pseudorhabdosynochus monosquamodiscusi Balasuriya & Leong, 1995 and Pseudorhabdosynochus yangjiangenesis Wu & Li, 2005 are considered junior subjective synonyms of L. latesi and L. paralatesi, respectively.     

Life Cycle of the Trematode Maritrema misenense (Trematoda: Microphallidae) in the Black Sea

Biology Bulletin - The life cycle of the trematode Maritrema misenense (Palombi, 1940) Prévot, Bartoli & Deblock, 1976). The sporocysts M. misenense containing cercariae were found in...     

Revision of the genus Haemonchus Cobb, 1898 (Nematoda: Trichostrongylidae)

Summary Only nine species of the genus Haemonchus are considered valid, namely, H. contortus (Rudolphi, 1803) Cobb, 1898 (type), H. bedfordi Le Roux, 1929, H. dinniki Sach, Gibbons & Lweno, 1973, H. krugeri Ortlepp, 1964, H. lawrencei Sandground, 1933, H. longistipes Railliet & Henry, 1909, H. mitchelli Le Roux, 1929, H. similis Travassos, 1914 and H. vegliai Le Roux, 1929. These are redescribed. H. bispinosus Molin, 1860, H. placei Place, 1893, H. cervinus Baylis & Daubney, 1922, H. okapiae van den Berghe, 1937 (in part), H. tartaricus Evranova, 1940, H. contortus contortus Das & Whitlock, 1960, H. contortus cayugensis Das & Whitlock, 1960, H. contortus bangalorensis Rao & Rahman, 1967, H. contortus hispanicus Martínez Gómez, 1968, H. contortus kentuckiensis Sukhapesna, 1974 and H. contortus var. uktalensis Das & Whitlock, 1960 are considered synonyms of H. contortus (Rudolphi, 1803) Cobb, 1898.The synonymy of H. lunatus Travassos, 1914, H. atectus Lebedev, 1929, H. pseudocontortus Lebedev, 1929 and H. fuhrmanni Kamensky, 1929 with H. contortus is confirmed. H. okapiae van den Berghe, 1937 (in part) is considered a synonym of H. mitchelli Le Roux, 1929 and H. bubalis Chauhan & Pande, 1968 is considered a synonym of H. similis Travassos, 1914. H. bovis Bonelli, 1941 and H. contortus var. kashmirensis Fotedar & Bambroo, 1965 are considered species inquirendae. An illustrated key to the species of the genus is provided.Part of a thesis approved by the University of London for the award of the Ph.D. degree.Part of a thesis approved by the University of London for the award of the Ph.D. degree.     

The Roles of Multiple UNC-40 (DCC) Receptor-Mediated Signals in Determining Neuronal Asymmetry Induced by the UNC-6 (Netrin) Ligand

The polarization of post-mitotic neurons is poorly understood. Preexisting spatially asymmetric cues, distributed within the neuron or as extracellular gradients, could be required for neurons to polarize. Alternatively, neurons might have the intrinsic ability to polarize without any preestablished asymmetric cues. In Caenorhabditis elegans, the UNC-40 (DCC) receptor mediates responses to the extracellular UNC-6 (netrin) guidance cue. For the HSN neuron, an UNC-6 ventral-dorsal gradient asymmetrically localizes UNC-40 to the ventral HSN surface. There an axon forms, which is ventrally directed by UNC-6. In the absence of UNC-6, UNC-40 is equally distributed and the HSN axon travels anteriorly in response to other cues. However, we find that a single amino acid change in the UNC-40 ectodomain causes randomly oriented asymmetric UNC-40 localization and a wandering axon phenotype. With UNC-6, there is normal UNC-40 localization and axon migration. A single UNC-6 amino acid substitution enhances the mutant phenotypes, whereas UNC-6 second-site amino acid substitutions suppress the phenotypes. We propose that UNC-40 mediates multiple signals to polarize and orient asymmetry. One signal triggers the intrinsic ability of HSN to polarize and causes randomly oriented asymmetry. Concurrently, another signal biases the orientation of the asymmetry relative to the UNC-6 gradient. The UNC-40 ectodomain mutation activates the polarization signal, whereas different forms of the UNC-6 ligand produce UNC-40 conformational changes that allow or prohibit the orientation signal.A major challenge for developmental neuroscience has been to understand how axons are able to detect and follow molecular gradients of different extracellular guidance cues. Attractive guidance cues are proposed to stimulate cytoplasmic signaling pathways that promote actin polymerization (Huber et al. 2003). Thus the direction of axon outgrowth is directly linked to the extracellular gradient of the guidance cue; i.e., there is greater extension on the side of the neuron that is closest to the source of the cue. Netrins are bifunctional guidance cues that are attractive to some axons but repulsive to others. Studies have shown that the axon response to netrin is determined by the composition of netrin receptors on the cell surface and the internal state of the growth cone (Round and Stein 2007). The UNC-6 (netrin) guidance cue in Caenorhabditis elegans interacts with the UNC-40 (DCC) receptor to mediate attraction (Hedgecock et al. 1990; Ishii et al. 1992; Chan et al. 1996). The AVM and HSN neurons are useful for studying UNC-40-mediated responses to UNC-6. The cell bodies of these neurons are situated on the lateral body wall and send a single axon ventrally during larval development.In AVM and HSN, a signaling module comprising UNC-6, UNC-40, phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), Rac, and MIG-10 (lamellipodin) is thought to transmit the directional information provided by the graded distribution of extracellular guidance cues to the internal cellular machinery that promotes directed outgrowth (Adler et al. 2006; Chang et al. 2006; Quinn et al. 2006, 2008). MIG-10 appears to provide an important link because this family of proteins can interact with proteins that promote actin polymerization, and it is associated with asymmetric concentrations of f-actin and microtubules in turning growth cones (Krause et al. 2004; Quinn et al. 2008). MIG-10 is observed as asymmetrically localized to the ventral site of axon outgrowth in developing HSN neurons. This MIG-10 localization is sensitive to the source of UNC-6. Normally, the source of UNC-6 is ventral; in the absence of UNC-6, there is an equal distribution of MIG-10 along the cell surface, whereas ectopic UNC-6 expression from dorsal muscles causes dorsal MIG-10 localization (Adler et al. 2006). The UNC-40 receptor is also asymmetrically localized in HSN, and this localization is also dependent on UNC-6 (Adler et al. 2006). UNC-40 signaling activates Rac GTPase, and MIG-10 interacts specifically with the activated Rac (Quinn et al. 2008). Therefore, the asymmetric activation of Rac through UNC-40 recruits asymmetric MIG-10 localization.By activating or directing components to the surface nearest the UNC-6 source, the asymmetric distribution of UNC-6 could polarize the neuron. However, an alternative idea is suggested from studies of chemotaxing cells. This model predicts that chemoattractant signaling involves two different elements: one that activates the intrinsic ability of cells to generate asymmetry and another that biases the orientation of the asymmetry (Wedlich-Soldner and Li 2003). The polarization signal does not depend on the spatial information provided by the chemoattractant gradient, whereas the orientation signal does. The asymmetric localization of the UNC-40 and MIG-10 signaling complex is suggestive of the segregation of signaling components into separate “front” and “rear” regions during chemotactic cell migration (Weiner 2002; Mortimer et al. 2008). It is hypothesized that this segregation is accomplished through short-range positive feedback mechanisms that promote the local production or recruitment of signaling molecules. In addition, a long-range inhibition mechanism globally increases the degradation of these molecules. Together such mechanisms could strongly amplify the asymmetric distribution of molecules needed for directed movement. This model has been put forth to explain why chemotactic cells polarize and move in a random direction when encountering a uniform chemoattractant concentration. Although the chemoattractant receptors may be uniformly stimulated across the surface of the cells, randomly oriented asymmetry can be established through these mechanisms.If the AVM and HSN neurons behave similarly to chemotactic cells, then uniformly stimulating UNC-40 receptors might similarly cause nonspecific asymmetric UNC-40 localization and axon migrations in varying directions. However, this is difficult to test in vivo. Unlike exposing chemotactic cells to a uniform concentration of a chemotractant in vitro, there is no reliable way to ensure that a neuron in vivo is exposed to a uniform concentration of UNC-6. The pseudocoelomic cavity of C. elegans is fluid filled, and UNC-6 expression patterns are spatially and temporally complex (Wadsworth et al. 1996). How the distribution of UNC-6 is affected by interactions with the extracellular matrix and cell surfaces is unknown.Using a genetic approach, we have found an UNC-40 mutation that triggers randomly oriented neuronal asymmetry. On the basis of the models proposed for chemotactic cells, we suggest that there is an UNC-6/UNC-40-mediated signal that specifically induces the neuron''s intrinsic ability to polarize. The UNC-40 mutation activates this signal; however, a second signal, which normally would concurrently orient asymmetry relative to the UNC-6 gradient, is not activated. Single amino acid changes within the UNC-6 ligand can enhance or suppress the randomly oriented asymmetry phenotype caused by the UNC-40 mutation. This suggests that specific UNC-40 conformations uncouple the activation of the different signals.     

Complete genome sequence of Coriobacterium glomerans type strain (PW2T) from the midgut of Pyrrhocoris apterus L. (red soldier bug)

Coriobacterium glomerans Haas and König 1988, is the only species of the genus Coriobacterium, family Coriobacteriaceae, order Coriobacteriales, phylum Actinobacteria. The bacterium thrives as an endosymbiont of pyrrhocorid bugs, i.e. the red fire bug Pyrrhocoris apterus L. The rationale for sequencing the genome of strain PW2^T is its endosymbiotic life style which is rare among members of Actinobacteria. Here we describe the features of this symbiont, together with the complete genome sequence and its annotation. This is the first complete genome sequence of a member of the genus Coriobacterium and the sixth member of the order Coriobacteriales for which complete genome sequences are now available. The 2,115,681 bp long single replicon genome with its 1,804 protein-coding and 54 RNA genes is part of the Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea project.     

Two philometrids (Nematoda: Philometridae) infecting the tigertooth croaker Otolithes ruber (Bloch & Schneider) (Teleostei: Sciaenidae) off Iran, including erection of a new genus

Two philometrid nematodes (Philometridae) are described from the marine perciform fish (tigertooth croaker) Otolithes ruber (Bloch & Schneider) (Sciaenidae) from off Iran: Clavinemoides annulatus n. g., n. sp. based on female specimens from the caudal fin of fish from the Persian Gulf and Philometra otolithi Moravec & Manoharan, 2013 from subgravid and nongravid females collected from the ovary of fishes in the Sea of Oman and the Persian Gulf. The monotypic genus Clavinemoides n. g. is mainly characterised by a triangular oral aperture, a markedly large anterior oesophageal bulb, a distinctly annulated body and numerous fine elevated transverse cuticular bands. The finding of P. otolithi in Iranian waters represents a new geographical record of this parasite species. An updated key to the genera of the Philometrinae Baylis & Daubney, 1926 is provided.     

Species level taxonomy of the Neotropical hairstreak genus Porthecla (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae: Theclinae: Eumaeini)

The species level taxonomy of Porthecla is revised. Six previously described species are recognized: P. ravus (Druce 1907); P. barba (Druce 1907); P. dinus (Hewitson 1867); P. porthura (Druce 1907); P. minyia (Hewitson 1867); P. gemma (Druce 1907), and another six new species are proposed: P. forasteira Faynel & Moser n. sp.; P. annette Faynel & Robbins n. sp.; P. johanna Faynel & Robbins n. sp.; P. peruensis Faynel & Moser n. sp.; P. prietoi Faynel & Busby n. sp. and P. willmotti Busby, Faynel & Moser n. sp. For each Porthecla species we present diagnostic characters, images of male and female adults, drawings of male and female genitalia, distribution maps, and notes on habitat and other biological traits. An identification key for males is provided. To stabilize names; lectotypes are designated for Thecla minyia Hewitson 1867, and Thecla gemma Druce 1907. Wing pattern resemblances between Porthecla and other genera are discussed.