Prevalence and intensity of pentastomid infection in two species of snakes from northeastern Brazil.

This study aimed to evaluate the infection rates of snakes by pentastomids in the semi-arid region of Brazil. Fifteen snakes (four Micrurus ibiboboca (Merrem, 1820) and eleven Philodryas nattereri Steindachner, 1870) were collected between January and April of 2005, in the municipality of Crato (07 degrees 14' S and 39 degrees 24' W), State of Ceará, Brazil. Laboratorial analysis of the respiratory tracts of the sampled snakes indicated differences in host infection rates: four individuals of P. nattereri (36.4%) were infected by Cephalobaena tetrapoda Heymons, 1922 (mean infection intensity 1.5 +/- 0.28, 1-2) and three specimens (27.3%) by Raillietiella furcocerca (Diesing, 1863) (2.3 +/- 1.32, 1-5). Only one individual of M. ibiboboca (25%) was infected by a non-identified species of Raillietiella sp. These are the first data on pentastomid infection in snakes in Northeastern Brazil and both snake species comprise new host records for the pentastomids. The results also indicate that the generalist parasites C. tetrapoda and R. furcocerca share their definitive hosts.     

A reassessment of the pentastomid genusLeiperia Sambon, 1922, with a description of a new species from both the Indopacific crocodileCrocodylus porosus and Johnston's crocodileC. johnsoni in Australia

The two pentastomid species currently included in the genusLeiperia Sambon, 1922 (family Sebekidae Fain, 1961) are re-assessed. Measurements of chitinous structures, notably the hooks, fulcra and oral cadre of three adult females of the otherwise well-characterised speciesL. cincinnalis Sambon, 1922, from the bronchi of the Nile crocodileCrocodylus niloticus, exhibit a degree of variation that is usual in pentastomid morphometrics. Similar measurements of six nymphs from the aorta and heart of two other crocodiles, although equally variable, do not differentiate these from infective nymphs removed from cysts within the body cavity of a South African fish (Pelamatachromis robustus) intermediate host. Adult females of another species,L. australiensis n. sp., from the bronchi of the Indopacific crocodileCrocodylus porosus from Northern Australia are described. Females (N=3) are smaller and more slender than their African counterparts, and their chitinous structures, although equally variable, are correspondingly smaller. A mature male, from the lung of Johnston's crocodileC. johnsoni, is also allocated to this species because the ranges and diet of the two crocodilian hosts overlap. Also, this zone of syntopy is sufficient to maintain populations of two other species belonging to the family Sebekidae (Sebekia spp.) in both hosts. This male is the first of the genusLeiperia to be fully described, and its copulatory spicules are quite distinctive. Three other immature specimens ofL. australiensis from the lung, or near to the lung, of the definitive host are also described. In the light of these findings the literature is re-appraised, and it is evident that at least two moreLeiperia spp. exist in South America, and that presently these are known only as nymphs. The existing South American species,L. gracilis Heymons & Vitzthum, 1935 (=Pentastoma gracile Diesing, 1835) was established only on the basis of immature or nymphal forms, almost certainly encompassing several genera. Despite claims to the contrary in the literature, this ‘species’ should be regarded as aspecies inquirenda. Aspects of the life-cycle ofLeiperia spp., from the infective stage in fish and the subsequent instars, are also discussed.     

Index nominum familiarum plantarum vascularium

A list of 2510 vascular plant family names is provided, valid and not validly published as well as legitimate and not legitimate. Each entry has a full bibliographic reference, nomenclatural status, generic type (when based on a generic name), means of validation, original place of publication for pre-1789 works, isonyms, invalid names proposed prior to a name’s validation, first use of correct orthography (if not given in the original publication), first uses of other orthographic variations, divisional placements of typified names, indication of acceptance in the botanical literature after 1960, and a four-letter abbreviation for the legitimate family name. In addition, nomenclaturally correct, typified names are listed for the ranks of order, superorder, subclass, class, subdivision, division/phylum, and subkingdom (for a total of 753 names), with full bibliographic citations. A similar list of 1569 currently available extant vascular plant family names is also given, of which 960 are considered to be in “current use.” A starting date for all names is assumed to be 4 August 1789 (Jussieu,Generaplantarum). Current difficulties with family nomenclature, and potential changes to bibliographic citations as a result of recently proposed changes to theInternational Code of Botanical Nomenclature, are noted.     

A new species of pentastomida infecting Tropidurus hispidus (Squamata: Tropiduridae) from Caatinga in Northeastern Brazil.

This article describes a new species of Brazilian Raillietiella Sambon, 1910 from lungs of Tropidurus hispidus (Spix, 1825). Between July and October 2005 eighteen specimens of T. hispidus were actively captured with elastic rubber slings in granite outcrops (lajeiros) (06 degrees 59' S and 39 degrees 31' W) from caatinga formations in the municipality of Farias Brito, State of Ceará, Northeastern Brazil. One female and one male of T. hispidus had lungs infected by Raillietiella mottae sp. nov. (prevalence 11.1% and mean intensity of infection 6.0 +/- 1.4, range 5-7). The parasite's main diagnostic characteristics include the dimensions of sharp hooks and strongly curved or "C-shaped" male copulatory spicules with knob-like posterior projection from the base towards the inner curvature of the spicule.     

中国外来入侵植物的学名考证 (3)

基于中国外来入侵植物的相关报道与文献,发现一些入侵植物的学名使用比较混乱：不同时期、不同地区、不同作者在报道同一外来物种时使用不同的学名,或因中文名相近,而将其他植物作为外来入侵植物报道。依据最新资料,对国内报道的16种外来入侵植物学名进行了考证,包括中文名、英文名、异名、原产地及其在国内外的分布情况。     

Levisunguis subaequalis n. g., n. sp., a tongue worm (Pentastomida: Porocephalida: Sebekidae) infecting softshell turtles, Apalone spp. (Testudines: Trionychidae) in the southeastern United States

A new tongue worm (Pentastomida) belonging to the Sebekidae Sambon, 1922 (Porocephaloidea Sambon, 1922) is described based on exemplars collected from softshell terrapins Apalone spinifera aspera (Agassiz) and Apalone ferox (Schneider) in the southeastern United States; a new genus is erected to accommodate the new species. The new species belongs in the Sebekidae because adults possess four simple hooks arranged in a trapezoid pattern on the ventral surface of the cephalothorax, a mouth opening between the anterior and posterior pairs of hooks, a terminal anus, an elongated uterus with preanal uterine pore, and a Y-shaped seminal vesicle. Nymphs possess geminate hooks, and the new species has an aquatic life-cycle in which nymphs become encapsulated in the body cavity of a freshwater fish and mature in the lungs of a terrapin. The new genus is distinct from other genera in the Sebekidae primarily by differences in hook morphology and the fact that representatives use a terrapin as a definitive host. Nymphs infecting fish and presumed to be the new species matured as postlarval juveniles conspecific with the new species when they were fed to the eastern mud turtle, Kinosternon subrubrum (Lacépède). Nymphs of the new species are anatomically similar to but larger than nymphs of Sebekia mississippiensis Overstreet, Self & Vliet, 1985 found in the mesentery of fishes captured in Florida, U.S.A. Adults of the new species differ from those of S. mississippiensis based on hook features, chloride cell pore pattern on annuli, body size, and use of a turtle rather than crocodilian definitive host. The new species is the third North American member of the Sebekidae.     

中国外来入侵植物的学名考证

基于中国外来入侵植物的相关报道和文献,发现一些入侵植物的学名使用比较混乱,一个物种存在两个或两个以上的名称。依据最新植物志资料,对国内30种外来人侵植物学名进行了考证,包括中名、基名（若存在）、异名、原产地以及在中国的分布等。     

Life-cycle,delimitation and redescription of Catatropis verrucosa (Frölich, 1789) Odhner, 1905 (Trematoda: Notocotylidae)

The life-cycle of Catatropis verrucosa (Frölich, 1789) Odhner, 1905 has been completed experimentally starting from infected snails collected along the River Danube in Europe. Each stage of the life-cycle is redescribed. Taxonomic problems are discussed and the main features of the species are listed. Synonyms for C. verrucosa are Fasciola verrucosa Frölich, 1789, F. anseris Gmelin, 1790, Monostoma verrucosa (Frölich, 1789) Zeder, 1800, and Catatropis charadrii Skrjabin, 1915. Other names, such as Notocotylus triserialis Diesing, 1839, Notocotyle triseriale (Diesing, 1839) Diesing, 1850, Monostoma verrugueux Dujardin, 1845, “Monostoma sp. du canard” of Blanchard (1847), Notocotyle verrucosum (Frölich, 1789) Monticelli, 1892, N. verruqueux Railliet, 1895, and Distoma verrucosum (Frölich, 1789) Wolffhugel, 1900, were found to represent adults and/or larvae of C. verrucosa. Conversely, but less often, adults and larvae of other species were found described and illustrated as C. verrucosa. One of these, C. verrucosa of Joyeux (1922), was renamed Pseudocatatropis joyeuxi Kanev & Vassilev, 1986. Occasionally, authors actually working with C. verrucosa ascribed their results to different species. Based on experimental life-cycle studies, the following facts were demonstrated. (1) The first intermediate hosts are the prosobranch freshwater snails Bithynia tentaculata (Linnaeus, 1758) and B. leachi (Leach, 1818). (2) The same snails are also first intermediate hosts for Notocotylus imbricatus (Looss, 1893) Szidat, 1935, N. parviovatus Yamaguti, 1934, and N. ponticus Tschiaberaschvili, 1966. In all these species, the species characteristics are expressed by the adult morphology only, and the larvae cannot be identified by morphological criteria. It is proposed that tri-oculate monostome cercariae found in naturally infected B. tentaculata and B. leachi be referred to as “Cercaria imbricata group”. These cercariae include Cercaria imbricata Looss, 1893, C. helvetica I Dubois, 1928, C. triophthalmia Faust, 1930, C. fennica I Wikgren, 1956; C. ephemera of Lutta (1934); C. monostomi of Mathias (1925), Lutta (1934) and Zdun (1961), Cercaria Notocotylus attenuatus of Francalanci & Manfredini (1969), and Monostome cercaria I Emmel, 1943. (3) There is no second intermediate snail host in the life-cycle of C. verrucosa. (4) The final hosts are birds. (5) The adult worms possess, on the ventral body surface, a median ridge and two lateral rows of 12 (range 11–14) papillae per row.     

Raillietiella trachea n. sp., a pentastomid from the trachea of an oriental white-backed vulture Gyps bengalensis taken in Pakistan,with speculation about its life-cycle

A cephalobaenid pentastomid, Raillietiella trachea n. sp., from the trachea of a fledgling oriental white-backed vulture Gyps bengalensis taken in Punjab Province, Pakistan, is described. This is the first record of a pentastomid from a fully terrestrial bird. Overall, gross morphology was typical of Raillietiella Sambon, 1910 in most respects. However, the hooks of R. trachea were of equal size, whereas in other members of the genus anterior hooks are smaller than the posterior hooks. The diagnosis of R. trachea was made on the basis of four near-patent females, all of which contained relatively few eggs (c.570), all at the same stage of maturity. Comparison with the only other genus known to infect birds (two species of Reighardia Ward, 1899 from the air-sacs of marine birds) revealed striking parallels in this aspect of the functional anatomy of the female reproductive tract. As far as we know, this mode of egg-production is not found in other raillietiellids. Extrapolating primarily from the experimental life-cycle studies of Reighardia sternae (Diesing, 1864) Ward, 1899, we surmise that the life-cycle of R. trachea has to be direct and that parasite behaviour is an integral part of parasite transmission. The evidence suggests that transmission is from vulture-to-vulture, per os.     

New synonym of Drosophila yakuba Burla, 1954 (Diptera: Drosophilidae)

New biological and bibliographic information confirms that the widely accepted name Drosophila yakuba Burla, 1954 and the unused name Drosophila opisthomelaina are synonymous. The latter was coined by Nolte & Stoch in a 1950 work containing a disclaimer and is unavailable by strict application of Article 8b of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (3rd edn, 1985). In a previously overlooked publication, Nolte (1958) cites D.opisthomelaina as a senior synonym; the work also contains diagnostic information. Synonymy is not disputed but before 1958 the name was unavailable. Thus D. opisthomelaina Nolte, 1958 is treated as a junior rather than a senior synonym of D.yakuba. These nomenclatural corrections remove confusion concerning records of this species in southern Africa and will probably be met with general approval. The distribution in southern Africa and Madagascar of D.yakuba and closely related species: D.melanogaster Meigen, 1830, D.simulans Sturtevant, 1919 and D.teissieri Tsacas, 1971, are summarized.     

Chelodesmid studies. XIII. A synopsis of the Brasilian tribe Strongylomorphini

The new diplopod tribe Strongylomorphini (fam. Chelodesmidae) is proposed for the two Brasilian genera Strongylomorpha and Brasilodesmus, characterized by the distal torsion of the solenomerite and form of the apical end of the prefemoral process, of the male gonopod. Strongylomorpha has been of uncertain status since 1897, but study of its type species shows the name to be a senior synonym of Erythrodesmus Silvestri, 1902, Neocamptomorpha Schubart, 1954, and Camptomorphoides Schubart 1962. Drawings of the gonopods are given for several old species, made from Iectotype specimens, and a list of the names considered referable to Strongylomorpha. The new species Brasilodesmus austrocrucis is described from Santa Catarina, Brasil.     

The Genus Spiniferites Mantell, 1850 (Dinophyceae)

Following the recent official rejection of proposals for conservation of the generic name Hystrichosphaera, the diagnosis of its senior synonym Spiniferites is expanded in order to incorporate additional information gained since 1850 and all species according with the expanded diagnosis are listed (24 species are transferred to Spiniferites). The cyst-family name “Hystrichosphaeraceae” is replaced by the new name “Spiniferitaceae”.     

云南的珍珠茅属植物

对产于云南省的珍珠茅属植物进行了分类学修订。作者确认了产于云南的珍珠茅属植物12种,修正了5个种错误的学名,另有1个种被并入其它种为异名。在12种有2种为产于云南的新记录。文中包括云南珍珠茅属的分种检索表、各种的分类学处理及地理分布。     

Nomenclatural status of the fish names created by J. C. van Hasselt (1823) and of some cobitoid genera

The nomenclatural status of the 16 genera and 42 species of fishes described by van Hasselt is reviewed. One genus is preoccupied and 4 genera and 26 species are nomina nuda. The status of some cobitoid generic names is reviewed with greater details:Noemacheilus van Hasselt is a nomen nudum;Acantophthalmus van Hasselt is a junior synonym ofCobitis Linnaeus andAcanthophthalmus Bleeker is an incorrect spelling; the fishes usually calledAcanthophthalmus arePangio Blyth;Acanthopsis Bleeker is an incorrect spelling ofAcantopsis van Hasselt;Acanthopsis Agassiz is valid and its type species isA. angustus Agassiz.     

On two species of Diptera described by I. A. Portschinsky in 1876

In 1876 I.A. Portschinsky described two species of Diptera: Urellia muscipora Portschinsky (Tephritidae) and Phlebotomus grimmi Portschinsky (Psychodidae–Phlebotominae). The former name is a senior synonym of Goniurellia tridens (Hendel, 1910), but it was not used as a valid name since 1876 and should be rejected according to Articles 23.9.1.1 and 23.9.1.2 of the ICZN. The name Phlebotomus grimmi was in use in 1926–1984 as a valid name and as a senior synonym of Ph. sergenti Parrot, 1917 or Ph. caucasicus Marzinovsky, 1917. It is necessary to appeal to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature to establish the status of Phlebotomus grimmi Portschinsky, 1876.