Paroster extraordinarius sp. nov., a new groundwater diving beetle from the Flinders Ranges, with notes on other diving beetles from gravels in South Australia (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae)

The first groundwater (stygobitic) diving beetle is reported from South Australia. Paroster extraordinarius sp. nov. (Dytiscidae: Hydroporini) is described and figured. Its morphology and mitochondrial DNA sequences place it in the hydroporine genus Paroster Sharp. Phylogenetic analysis shows that the new species is imbedded in a clade of stygobitic species from the Yilgarn area of Western Australia. The evolution of this species is discussed and compared with observations on the behaviour and distribution of other dytiscid beetles found in subterranean habitats in South Australia.     

Evolutionary history of a secondary terrestrial Australian diving beetle (Coleoptera,Dytiscidae) reveals a lineage of high morphological and ecological plasticity

The evolution of a secondary terrestrial lifestyle in diving beetles (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae) has never been analysed in a phylogenetic framework before. Here we study Terradessus caecus Watts, a terrestrial species of the subfamily Hydroporinae endemic to Australia. We infer its phylogenetic placement using Bayesian inference and maximum‐likelihood methods based on a multilocus molecular dataset. We also investigate the divergence time estimates of this lineage using a Bayesian relaxed clock approach. Finally, we infer ancestral ecological preferences using a likelihood approach. We recover T. caecus nested in the genus Paroster Sharp with strong support. Therefore, we establish a synonymy for both species of Terradessus with Paroster: Paroster caecus (Watts) n.comb . and Paroster anophthalmus (Brancucci & Monteith) n.comb . Paroster is an endemic Australian genus that has a remarkable number of subterranean species in underground aquifers with highly derived morphologies. Our results highlight one of the most remarkable radiations of aquatic beetles with independent ecological pathways likely linked to palaeoclimatic disruptions in the Neogene. Paroster caecus (Watts) n.comb . originated from a mid‐Miocene split following the onset of an aridification episode that has been ongoing to the present day. The deep changes in ecological communities in association with the drying‐out of palaeodrainage systems might have pushed this lineage to colonize a new niche in terrestrial habitats.     

Refining trophic dynamics through multi‐factor Bayesian mixing models: A case study of subterranean beetles

Food web dynamics are vital in shaping the functional ecology of ecosystems. However, trophic ecology is still in its infancy in groundwater ecosystems due to the cryptic nature of these environments. To unravel trophic interactions between subterranean biota, we applied an interdisciplinary Bayesian mixing model design (multi‐factor BMM) based on the integration of faunal C and N bulk tissue stable isotope data (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) with radiocarbon data (Δ¹⁴C), and prior information from metagenomic analyses. We further compared outcomes from multi‐factor BMM with a conventional isotope double proxy mixing model (SIA BMM), triple proxy (δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N, and Δ¹⁴C, multi‐proxy BMM), and double proxy combined with DNA prior information (SIA + DNA BMM) designs. Three species of subterranean beetles (Paroster macrosturtensis, Paroster mesosturtensis, and Paroster microsturtensis) and their main prey items Chiltoniidae amphipods (AM1: Scutachiltonia axfordi and AM2: Yilgarniella sturtensis), cyclopoids and harpacticoids from a calcrete in Western Australia were targeted. Diet estimations from stable isotope only models (SIA BMM) indicated homogeneous patterns with modest preferences for amphipods as prey items. Multi‐proxy BMM suggested increased—and species‐specific—predatory pressures on amphipods coupled with high rates of scavenging/predation on sister species. SIA + DNA BMM showed marked preferences for amphipods AM1 and AM2, and reduced interspecific scavenging/predation on Paroster species. Multi‐factorial BMM revealed the most precise estimations (lower overall SD and very marginal beetles' interspecific interactions), indicating consistent preferences for amphipods AM1 in all the beetles' diets. Incorporation of genetic priors allowed crucial refining of the feeding preferences, while integration of more expensive radiocarbon data as a third proxy (when combined with genetic data) produced more precise outcomes but close dietary reconstruction to that from SIA + DNA BMM. Further multidisciplinary modeling from other groundwater environments will help elucidate the potential behind these designs and bring light to the feeding ecology of one the most vital ecosystems worldwide.     

Fine-scale comparative phylogeography of a sympatric sister species triplet of subterranean diving beetles from a single calcrete aquifer in Western Australia

Calcrete aquifers in the arid Yilgarn region of central Western Australia are a biodiversity hotspot for stygofauna. A distinct pattern of interspecific size class variation among subterranean dytiscid beetle species has been observed in 29 of these aquifers where either two or three small, medium and/or large sympatric species are found that are in some cases sister species. We used a 3.5 km² grid of bores to sample dytiscids on a fine-scale and employed a comparative phylogeographical and population genetic approach to investigate the origins of a sympatric sister species triplet of diving beetles from a single aquifer. Mitochondrial DNA sequence data from the Cytochrome oxidase c subunit I gene revealed that all three species have high levels of haplotype diversity with ancient (∼1 million years ago) intra-specific coalescence of haplotypes, but low levels of nucleotide diversity. Population analyses provide evidence for multiple expansion events within each species. There was spatial heterogeneity in the distribution of genetic variation and abundance both within and among the three taxa. Population analyses revealed significant fine-scale differentiation with isolation by distance for Paroster macrosturtensis and P. mesosturtensis , but not the smallest species P. microsturtensis . Haplotype network analyses provided limited or no evidence for past population fragmentation within the large and small species, but substantial historical divergence was observed in P. mesosturtensis that was not spatially structured. A patchy population structure with contemporaneous and historical isolation by distance in the three species is likely to have been a significant isolating and diversifying force, preventing us from ruling out a potential role for allopatric divergence during speciation of this beetle sister triplet.     

Revision of genus Melamphaes (Melamphaidae): Part 4. Multi-raker species: M. ebelingi, M. occlusus sp. nova, and M. nikolayi sp. nova

In the fourth part of the revision of the genus Melamphaes (Melamphaidae) multi-raker species (20 and more rakers at the first gill arch, rarely 19??in M. ebelingi) with eight soft rays in the ventral fin are considered. In this species, temporal spine is absent, there are 15 rays in the pectoral fin, and there are 11 to 12 abdominal vertebrae. M. ebelingi inhabits tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean. A new catch of this rare species in the northeastern part of the ocean is reported. The new species M. occlusus is described from one specimen from the subtropical part of the southwestern part of the Indian Ocean. Still another new species, M. nikolayi, is described from one specimen from the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean (subtropical waters). A table for identification of 15 multi-raker species of the genus Melamphaes is provided.     

Choniomyzon inflatus n. sp. (Crustacea: Copepoda: Nicothoidae) associated with Ibacus novemdentatus (Crustacea: Decapoda: Scyllaridae) from Japanese waters

A new species of parasitic copepod, Choniomyzon inflatus n. sp., is described based on specimens collected from the external egg masses of the smooth fan lobster Ibacus novemdentatus Gibbes captured in the North Pacific Ocean off Ainan, Ehime Prefecture, western Japan. The new species differs from its congeners in having a globular to ovoid prosome, in bearing asymmetrically arranged denticles at a rounded apex of both the terminal segment of the antenna and the maxilliped, and in lacking serrate lobes on the basis of legs 1 and 2. The species is similar in size and shape to the host’s eggs, which may be interpreted as egg mimicry. The new species is the first member of Choniomyzon Pillai, 1962 from subtropical regions.     

Enteromius pinnimaculatus sp. nov. (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) from southern Gabon

We present and describe a new species of Enteromius, adding to the 16 species of Enteromius currently recorded from Gabon, West Africa. This new species is distinguished from all other Gabonese Enteromius by the presence of several distinct spots on the dorsal fin in combination with three or four round spots on the flanks. In Africa, it is superficially similar to Enteromius walkeri and with which it shares an unusual allometry in that the proportional length of the barbels decreases as the fish grows. Nevertheless, one can distinguish these species by vertebral number, maximum standard length, the length of the anterior barbels, the length of the caudal peduncle and in most specimens, the number of lateral-line and circumpeduncular scales. These two species also inhabit widely separated drainages, with E. walkeri occurring in coastal drainages of Ghana including the Pra and Ankobra Rivers and the new species occurring in tributaries of the Louetsi and Bibaka Rivers of Gabon, which are part of the Ogowe and Nyanga drainages, respectively. Despite extensive collections in those drainages the new species is known from only two localities, suggesting the importance of conservation of its known habitat.     

安徽喜沼螨科一新属新种（蜱螨亚纲：皱喙螨总科）

记述了安徽黄山的喜沼螨科Limnocharidae, 喜沼螨亚科Limnocharinae的一新属侧喜沼螨属、一新种黄山侧喜沼螨Laterolimnochares huangshanensis gen. Nov.,sp. Nov.,该科及亚科的中国区系过去仅由Uchida于1941年简录过东北之一种。文中给出了喜沼螨亚科的属检索表;详述了新种腺毛分布体位。     

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.     

Munnogonium affinissp. n.: A New Species of Isopod (Asellota: Paramunnidae) from the Coast of Korea,Sea of Japan

The new species Munnogonium affinisfrom the coast of Korea (the Sea of Japan) is described. This is the first record of the genus Munnogoniumfrom the western Pacific. The new species differs considerably from the four eastern Pacific American species of this genus and is most similar to M. maltiniifrom the Mediterranean Sea.     

Eocyzicus spinifer sp. nov. (Conchostraca: Cyzicidae) from Iraq

A new Conchostracan species, Eocyzicus spinifer from Iraq is described. A table is given to distinguish the known species of the genus Eocyzicus.     

Morphological and molecular description of Haematoloechus meridionalis n. sp. (Digenea: Plagiorchioidea: Haematoloechidae) from Rana vaillanti brocchi of Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

An undescribed species of Haematoloechus inhabits the lungs of Rana vaillanti in northwestern Costa Rica. The new species is most similar morphologically to H. medioplexus, having a very small, but well-developed, ventral sucker and lacking extracecal uterine loops, and apparently was mis-identified previously as H. medioplexus in Rana palmipes from Colombia. It differs from H. medioplexus, notably by (1) the shape of the oral sucker, which is elliptical in H. meridionalis and spherical in H. medioplexus; (2) the posterior extent of the vitelline fields, which terminate at the same level in H. medioplexus, but always at different levels in H. meridionalis; (3) the position of the testes, which are immediately posterior to the seminal receptacle and are close together in the new species and far from the seminal receptacle and separated from each other in H. medioplexus; and (4) the location of the genital pore, which is ventral to the cecal bifurcation in the new species and ventral to the pharynx in H. medioplexus. In addition, the new species is unique among members of Haematoloechus by having flaps of tissue on the interior margins of the ventral sucker. The new species shows almost 5% sequence divergence from H. medioplexus in the variable D1 region of the 28s rDNA, complementing the morphological differences.     

The Chromodorididae (Opisthobranchia: Mollusca) of the Indo-West Pacific: Chromodoris epicuria, C. aureopurpurea, C. annulata, C. coi and Risbecia tryoni colour groups

Twenty-five species of chromodorid nudibranchs from the Indo-West Pacific are described including nine which are new to science. There are six new species of Chromodoris , two of Nounea and a new species which forms the type of a new monotypic genus. Of the other species discussed in this paper, ten are species of Chromodoris , five Risbecia and one Digidentis. Species with the following colour patterns are discussed: white with orange or yellow spots; white with yellow (or orange) and purple spots; white with purple spots or patches and mantle border; white with a sinuous submarginal brown band. A full review of the relevant literature is included as is a discussion on Indian Ocean and West Pacific species pairs.     

New Podonominae from Japan,Boreochlus longicoxalsetosus sp. n. (Diptera: Chironomidae) with a Key to Species of the Genus

During the survey of chiromonid midges from Kyushu, the authors found a new species of Podonominae (Chironomidae), Boreochlus longicoxalsetosus. The male imago of this new species is described and illustrated. This constitutes the third record of the subfamily Podonominae, and the second species of the genus from Japan. The new species has very long notable setae lying on the dorsomedial surface distal to the volsella, which are never seen in the other Boreochlus species. A key to species of the genus in the world is given.     

Description of Muscotabanus gen. nov. and Muscotabanus rafaeli sp. nov. (Diptera: Tabanidae: Diachlorini) from Amazon Basin,Brazil

A new genus of Tabanidae mimetic of flies is described: Muscotabanus new genus, Muscotabanus rafaeli new species, based on 12 females collected in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. It is presented a discussion for separating the new genus from Diachlorini species which resemblance with sarcophagids flies. It is characterised by striped thorax, banded abdomen, long slender palpus subequal antenna length, labella predominantly membranous, except for a narrow sclerotised plate, basicosta bare, wing hyaline and stigma brown.     

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.     

Narcinecotyle longifilamentus n. gen., n. sp. (Monogenea: Hexabothriidae), gill parasite of the numbfish Narcine entemedor (Torpediniformes: Narcinidae) from the Mexican Pacific coast

A new genus and species of Hexabothriidae Price, 1942 is described from specimens infecting the gill of the numbfish Narcine entemedor Jordan and Starks from the Pacific coast of Mexico. In addition to the new taxon described here, species of 8 genera also display symmetrical haptors and have eggs with two polar filaments. However, they differ in the combination of the following features: distal portion of the male copulatory organ tubular, unarmed and proximally dilated confining an internal coiled duct, as well as dorsal origin of haptoral appendix. Based on molecular data derived from 3 loci, the mitochondrial Cytochrome C oxidase subunit 1 as well as the nuclear ribosomal 18S and 28S, the new species was found nested within Hexabothriidae together with the other 4 genera with representatives in GenBank. This is the first species of Hexabothriidae reported from a species of Narcinidae.     

TETREUTREPTIA POMQUETENSIS GEN. ET SP. NOV. (EUGLENOPHYCEAE): A QUADRIFLAGELLATE,PHOTOTROPHIC MARINE EUGLENOID1

A new euglenoid genus and species, Tetreutreptia pomquetensis, is described from winter waters of Maritime Canada. This phototrophic species is characterized by four emergent heterodynamic flagella, two about the length of the cell and two less than one-half this length. Tetreutreptia pomquetensis has features in common with species of Eutreptiella while it differs in several respects from any of the described species of that genus. It could be assigned to the order Eutreptiales or Euglenamorphales sensu Leedale or the order Euglenales sensu Farmer. This new alga has a narrow range of temperature tolerance; it grows best from 0° to 7° C and dies at temperatures above 10° C. The optimum salinity for growth was near full-strength seawater. Growth conditions for the alga define the conditions whence this species was isolated.     

A new pelagic predatory pike cichlid (Teleostei: Cichlidae: Crenicichla) from the C. mandelburgeri species complex with parallel and reticulate evolution

The Crenicichla mandelburgeri species complex from the Middle Paraná shows parallel evolution of ecomorphs to the unrelated C. missioneira species complex from the Uruguay River. In this article, we describe a new species from the C. mandelburgeri species complex that has evolved a parallel morphology and ecology to an unrelated species from the C. missioneira species complex (C. celidochilus). The new species is a pelagic predator that feeds predominantly on fishes and together with C. celidochilus is the only known pelagic species in the large riverine genus Crenicichla. The new species is endemic solely to a small tributary (the Urugua-í) of the Middle Paraná River where it is sympatric and partly syntopic with two other closely related endemic species that, however, differ strongly in their ecomorphologies (one is a generalistic invertivore and the other a specialized molluscivore). Mitochondrial DNA phylogeny finds the new species nested within the widespread C. mandelburgeri. Reduced genome-representation ddRAD analyses, however, demonstrate that this new species is of a hybrid origin and shares ancestry with C. ypo, one of the two studied sympatric species.

     

Paksimmondsius Pakistanensis gen. & sp. nov. [Hym.: Encyrtidae] from Pakistan

A new genus ofEncyrtidae is erected for one new species described from females and males taken in Pakistan.