On Edouard Claparède and Johannes Lachmann (Clap & Lach) and their “Etudes sur les Infusoires et les Rhizopodes”

Accounts are given of the lives and careers of Edouard Claparède (1832–1871) and Johannes Lachmann (1832–1860), the authors of the landmark work of 19th century protistology “Etudes sur les Infusoires et les Rhizopodes”, published in 3 parts in 1859, 1860 and 1861. Accounts are also given on the origin of the monograph, the relationship of Claparède and Lachmann with Ernst Haeckel, and Claparède's role as a promoter of Darwin's theories. Suggestions as to how to properly cite the monograph of Claparède and Lachmann are provided, as well as a supplementary file listing the protist species currently accepted as having been first described in their monograph.     

Le paléoplancton des Grès de Landévennec (Gedinnien de la rade de Brest — Finistère) étude biostratigraphique

In the Gedinnian Landévennec Sandstones Formation(Rade de Brest, Finistère, Massif Armoricain), rich and well-preserved assemblages of organic-walled microplancton were observed. In the Lanvéoc section, worked out bed after bed, fifty-five species of this organic-walled microphytoplancton of uncertain algal affinity and Prasinophyceae are described. Four genera and fifteen species are new in this total. The assemblage shows many relationship to others gedinnian microplancton from Europa. Africa and United States of America.     

New remains of Dorcatherium crassum (Artiodactyla: Tragulidae) from the Early Miocene (MN4) of Els Casots (Subirats,Vallès-Penedès Basin)

New tragulid dental remains from the late Early Miocene (16.5–16.3 Ma, MN4) locality of Els Casots (Vallès-Penedès Basin, Catalonia, Spain) are described. This sample fits well, both in size and occlusal morphology, with the material of Dorcatherium crassum from the type locality (Sansan, France; MN6). We therefore attribute the tragulid from Els Casots to this species, also in agreement with its known chronostratigraphic range throughout Europe (MN4–MN6) and the previous records of this species from other MN4 localities of the Vallès-Penedès Basin. The described remains – which include the postcanine lower deciduous and permanent dentition, as well as several upper cheek teeth – constitute the most complete sample of D. crassum from the Iberian Peninsula. The presence of this species at Els Casots is consistent with the lacustrine depositional environment inferred from sedimentological evidence and associated fauna, and further confirms the nearby presence of densely forested environments with a humid climate with low seasonality.     

New Pseudaelurus and Styriofelis remains (Carnivora: Felidae) from the Middle Miocene of Abocador de Can Mata (Vallès-Penedès Basin)

New remains of felid jaws and teeth are described from several localities of the local stratigraphic series of Abocador de Can Mata (ca. 11.9 to 11.6 Ma, Middle Miocene; Vallès-Penedès Basin, Catalonia, Spain). Three different taxa are identified: Styriofelis turnauensis, Pseudaelurus romieviensis and Pseudaelurus quadridentatus. The described remains of P. romieviensis enable extending considerably the chronological range of this species in the Iberian Peninsula, in agreement with its record in the rest of Europe. Moreover, it is shown for the first time that P. romieviensis may possess a p2. The presence of this tooth therefore does not constitue a valid diagnostic feature to distinguish P. romieviensis from P. quadridentatus.     

Les larves chétosphères de polychètes: position systematique et description de nouveaux types

A series of plankton net samples (200 μm mesh width) was collected in the New Caledonian lagoon. From observations by scanning electron microscopy, six larval forms of chaetosphaera are described for the first time. In spite of criticism concerning the use of morphology of setae, the features of transitional larval setae are the main criterion for distinguishing these forms. Nine criteria are used: (1) arrangement of fascicles with regard to the body—pen as a fan and transverse or tightened and parallel to the body; (2) arrangement of fascicles with regard to the dorsal side—entirely or partly sheltered; (3) number of morphological types of setae; (4) number of setae in the fascicles; (5) general morphology—capillary and straight or curved and spiny or as blade-shaped sword; (6) cross section of the setae; (7) arrangement of spines; (8) morphology of distal end; (9) colour. It appears likely that chaetosphaera larvae belong to species of the genera Scolelepis, Dispio or Australospio as defined by Blake & Kudenov and not to Laonice cirrata, as previously thought. In order to display this difference, the larvae of Laonice sp. are also illustrated. Diagnosis of chaetosphaera may be provisionally based on the following features: prostomium pointed; larvae curled to the ventral side; dorsal side without chromatophores; notopodial setal bundles open as a fan on each side and sheltering, at least in part, the dorsal side. Une série de prélèvements au filet à plancton (200 μm de vide de maille) est réalisée dans le lagon de Nouméa, Nouvelle Calédonie. Six formes de larves chetospheres d'Annélides Polychètes sont décrites par observation au microscope électronique à balayage. Les caractères diffèrentiels reposent principalernent sur la morphologie des soies provisoires. Neuf criteres sont utilisés: (1) disposition des faisceaux par rapport au corps—en éventail et transversale ou fermée et parallele au corps; (2) disposition des faisceaux sur la face dorsale—cette dernière peut être entièrement ou partiellement protégée; (3) nombre de types morphologiques de soies; (4) nombre de soies dans un faisceau; (5) morphologie générale—capillaire, droite, avec ou sans épines ou bien courbée et épineuse ou bien aplatie en forme de lame de sabre; (6) section transversale de la soie; (7) disposition des épines; (8) morphologie de la partie distale; (9) coloration. II resort de cette étude qu'il est maintenant nécessaire de rapporter les larves du type chéAtosphère—au moins certaines d'entre elles—à des espèces appartenant aux genres Scolelepis, Dispio ou Australospio tels qu'ils sont définis par Blake & Kudenov. Correlativement la correspondance entre les chétosphères et les larves de Laonice cirrata ne semble pas confirmée. La reconnaissance des larves chétosphères peut être provisoirement basée sur les caractères suivants: prostomium pointu, corps enroulé autour de la face ventrale, tégument dorsal sans chromatophores, faisceaux de soies notopodiales ouverts en éventail et protégeant au moins en partie la face dorsale.     

Microphallidae (Digenea) d'Afrique du Sud,Parasites de Charadrii (Aves). Seconde Note

Les auteurs apportent de nouvelles informations géographiques et diagnostiques concernant plusieurs microphallidés (Trematoda: Digenea) récoltés chez des Charadrii (Aves) des c^otes de Namibie (Afrique du Sud): Maritrema eroliae Yamaguti, 1939 de Charadrius marginatus Vieillot; Odhneria odhneri Travassos, 1921 de Arenaria interpres L.; Microphallus bilobatus Cable, Connor &; Balling, 1960 de C. marginatus; et Levinseniella propinqua Jägerskiöld, 1907 de C. marginatus et A. interpres. Ces espèces représentent une localisation géographique nouvelle et de nouveaux h^otes. Le phallus (organe copulateur m^ale) de M. bilobatus de Namibie et celui du type des Caraïbes sont comparés et illustrés. Les atriums génitaux de L. propinqua récoltés en Namibie ainsi qu'à Marcus Island (southwest Cape Province, Afrique du Sud) sont illustrés et discutés; l'espèce parait cosmopolite. Abstract The authors present new geographical and diagnostic information for microphallids (Trematoda: Digenea) from the coast of Namibia (southern Africa): Maritrema eroliae Yamaguti, 1939 from Charadrius marginatus Vieillot; Odhneria odhneri Travassos, 1921 from Arenaria interpres L.; Microphallus bilobatus Cable, Connor &; Balling, 1960 from C. marginatus; and Levinseniella propinqua Jägerskiöld, 1907 from C. marginatus and A. interpres. These are new geographical and host records. The position and variability of the phallus (male copulatory organ) in M. bilobatus from Namibia and in the type-species from the Caribbean Sea are compared and illustrated. The genital atria of L. propinqua from Namibia and from Marcus Island (southwest Cape Province, Southern Africa) are illustrated and compared. This species appears to be cosmopolitan.     

Deux oxyures parasites de larves deLucanidae a Madagascar

Résumé Deux nouvelles espèces de Nématodes,Thelastoma toxi etThelastoma figuli, associées à l'intestin des larves de Lucanides, sont décrites et figurées.

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Summary Two new species of Nematodes associated with larvae of Lucanid beetles are described and figured (Thelastoma toxi andThelastoma figuli).

     

Redescription ofApogon (Ostorhinchus) fleurieu (Lacepède, 1802) with notes on its synonymy

The speciesOstorhinchus fleurieu Lacepède, 1802 is recognized as a senior synonym ofApogon aureus (Lacepède, 1802) on the basis of diagnostic colour features of Lacepède’s illustration of the species (after Commerson). The species is redescribed and a neotype designated. The synonymy of the species is discussed in the light of the history of Commerson’s and Lacepède’s work.Nectamia is replaced byOstorhinchus as a subgenus ofApogon.     

Ultrastructure de la spermiogenèse et du spermatozoïde de Loimosina wikoni et affinités phylétiques des Loimoidae (Plathelminthes, Monogenea, Monopisthocotylea)

In Loimosina, during spermiogenesis, the zone of differentiation of the spermatid contains two centrioles continued as two 9 +‘1’axonemes. One of the axonemes lengthens and will become the principal axoneme of the spermatozoon. The other axoneme is as long as the first one at the beginning of spermiogenesis, but is shorter in the mature sperm cell. The spermatozoon consists of several regions: (a) at the anterior end, the centriolar derivative of the principal axoneme; (b) a short region which shows cortical microtubules coinciding with external ornamentations; (c) a long uniflagellate region, with mitochondrion; (d) a biflagellate region containing the anterior slender part of the nucleus; (e) the posterior part of the nucleus, with no accompanying cytoplasmic organelles. Spermiogenesis and sperm structure in Loimosina differ from what is known in all other described monogeneans, excepting the monocotylid Heterocofyle to which they show close resemblances. However, the alteration of the second axoneme is more complete in Heterocofyle than in Loimosina. Comparative study of spermiogenesis and sperm ultrastructure thus shows an interesting coincidence with classical phylogenies of the monogeneans, in which the families Loimoidae and Monocotylidae are closely related. Chez Loimosina, pendant la spermiogenèse, la zone de différenciation de la spermatide contient deux centrioles prolongés par deux axonemes de type 9 +‘1′. L'un des axonemes s'allonge et deviendra l'axonème principal du spermatozoïde mûr. Le deuxième axontme est aussi long que le premier au début de la spermiogenèse, mais il est plus court dans le spermatozoïde mûr. Le spermatozoïde comprend: (a) à l'avant, le dérivé centriolaire de l'axonème principal; (b) une courte région contenant quelques microtubules corticaw longitudinaux coincidant avec des omementations extramembranaires; (c) une longue région miflagellée avec mitochondrie; (d) une région biflagellée contenant La partie antérieure effilée du noyau; (e) la région postérieure du noyau, sans organites cytoplasmiques accompagnateurs. La spermiogenèse et la structure du spermatozoïde de Loimosina sont différentes de ce qui est connu chez tous les autres Monogènes décrits, excepté le Monocotylidae Heterocofyle auquel elles ressemblent beaucoup. Toutefois, l'altération du deuxième axonème est moins complète chez Loimosina que chez Heterocotyle. L'étude comparée des spermatozoïdes et des spermiogenèses montre une bonne coincidence avec les phylogenèses classiques, dans lesquelles les familles Loimoidae et Monocotylidae sont proches.     

New record of Discradisca (Brachiopoda: Discinidae) from the Early Miocene of the Aquitaine Basin,south-western France

The linguliform inarticulate brachiopod genus Discradisca Stenzel, 1964 has been identified for the first time from the Early Burdigalian (Early Miocene) sandy deposits of the Aquitaine Basin, south-western France. The species studied here, D. multiradiata (de Morgan, 1915), originally described from the Middle Miocene of the Loire Basin, north-western France, is characterized by a small size, ornamentation of numerous (up to 100), fine but distinct and beaded tuberculate ribs, and an apex situated subposteriorly to subcentrally. The ecological and taphonomic aspects of this species are also presented. The attribution of some previously described Discinisca Dall, 1871 species from the Tertiary to the genus Discradisca is discussed.     

Middle Miocene tragulid remains from Abocador de Can Mata: The earliest record of Dorcatherium naui from Western Europe

In the past, the tragulid species Dorcatherium crassum has been considered a synonym of Dorcatherium naui, although they are currently considered distinct species. The former has an exclusively Aragonian (MN4 to MN6) stratigraphic range, whereas D. naui is considered a typically Vallesian species (MN9 and MN10) that survives until the Turolian (MN11). There are only a few previous citations of Dorcatherium from the European latest Aragonian (MN7+8), and only that of Przeworno (Poland) can be securely attributed to D. naui. Here we describe dentognathic and postcranial remains of Dorcatherium from several localities from the stratigraphic series of the Abocador de Can Mata (ACM), in els Hostalets de Pierola (Vallès-Penedès Basin, Catalonia, Spain). These Dorcatherium remains, from both the lower (ca. 11.9-12.5 Ma, MN7) and upper (ca. 11.6 Ma, MN8) portions of the ACM series, constitute the earliest record of D. naui from the Iberian Peninsula and Western Europe. They most closely resemble D. naui from the Vallesian, but still share several features with D. crassum. On the basis of the unique combination of features displayed by the ACM material, a new subspecies, D. naui meini is erected. Its distinct status from the nominotypical subspecies, D. naui naui, is reinforced by the chronological differences between the two taxa. The morphological similarities between Dorcatherium and the extant water chevrotain (Hyemoschus aquaticus) tentatively suggest the presence of forested and humid paleoenvironments in this area of the Vallès-Penedès Basin during the latest Aragonian. Nevertheless, Dorcatherium is very rare in ACM and displays a very patchy chronological distribution. Together with the similarly spotty distribution of both primates and castorids along the ACM series, this suggests that very humid conditions might have been only intermittently present in this area throughout the latest Aragonian.     

A new species of glypheid lobster,Glyphea pisuergae (Crustacea,Glypheoidea), from the Early Jurassic of Palencia,Basque-Cantabrian Basin,Spain

A new glypheid lobster (Crustacea, Glypheidae), Glyphea pisuergae sp. nov. is described from the Early Jurassic (late Pliensbachian–early Toarcian) of Salinas de Pisuerga, Palencia, Spain. This species represents the second record for the genus in the Early Jurassic.     

Présence de pollen d'araliacées dans le paléogène anglais et français

Comparison of pollen from the Paleogene in south England, the Paris Basin and Alès Basin (Gard) with the present-day Araliaceae pollen allow us to establish the presence of the following genera: Acanthopanax, Aralia, Brassaiopsis, Scheffleropsis and Panax. Five new species which show a close affinity with present-day Asiatic species are described.     

Respiration in air and water of four mediterranean trochids

Data on the morphology and behavior of five species of spionid polychaete from muddy sand habitats in both the United Kingdom and the northwest coast of North America are presented. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that browsing predation by visual predators is important now and has been important in the evolutionary past. As predicted by such a hypothesis, regenerating individuals are common in all the populations examined. Individuals belonging to species that expose their anterior ends while feeding and/or defecating have cryptic anteriors (Pygospio elegans Claparède, Rhynchospio glutaeus (Ehlers), Malacoceros fuliginosus (Claparède), and Spiophanes bombyx (Claparède)). Individuals belonging to species that do not expose their anteriors while feeding and/or defecating do not have cryptic anteriors (Pseudopolydora kempi (Southern)). Given these data it is still unclear as to how many of the geographic patterns of coloration that have been reported for infauna are associated with the presence of visual predation. Further investigations are suggested.     

Action de quelques fongicides sur la croissance mycélienne de trois espèces d'Entomophthorales

Résumé L'action,in vitro, de 34 fongicides sur la croissance mycélienne de 3 espèces d'Entomophthorales:Basidiobolus ranarum (Eidam),Conidiobolus osmodes (Drechsler) etEntomophthora virulenta (Hall & Dunn) [désignéEntomophthora nr.thaxteriana (Petch) parSoper & Bryan, 1974] a été examinée. Dans l'ordre croissant de leur sensibilité aux fongicides, les souches étudiées se classent comme suit:B. ranarum, E. virulenta etC. osmodes. Il existe une grande disparité dans l'activité des différents fongicides sur la croissance mycélienne des 3 espèces d'Entomophthorales. Certains fongicides sont peu ou pas actifs (chlorothalonil, éthirimol, oxychlorure de cuivre, soufre, etc.), d'autres agissent moyennement (captafol, dichlofluanide, mancozèbe, thirame, etc.); d'autres encore se révèlent très toxiques (bénodanil, chinométhionate, chloronèbe, triarimol). Mais il n'est pas simple de classer les fongicides en fonction de leur activité; un bon nombre d'entre eux possède un comportement hétérogène devant les 3 souches (carbendazime, oxycarboxine, 26019 RP, etc.). Dans l'ensemble, les fongicides systémiques se montrent plus efficaces sur la croissance mycélienne que les non systémiques.

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Summary The effect of 34 fungicides on the mycelial growth of 3 Entomophthorales species:Basidiobolus ranarum (Eidam),Conidiobolus osmodes (Drechsler) andEntomophthora virulenta (Hall & Dunn) was investigatedin vitro. The examination of growth was conducted in test tubes and five fungicidal concentrations were tested. The amount of growth of the various fungi in all treatments was expressed as a percentage of the growth of the control in order to evaluate the concentrations which reduce the growth speed by half. In the increasing order of their sensitivity to fungicides the strains under study could be classified in the following manner:B. ranarum, E. virulenta andC. osmodes. There is a great disparity between the action of the different fungicides upon the mycelial growth of the 3 Entomophthorales species. Some fungicides have little or no action (chlorothalonil, ethirimol, copper oxychloride, sulphur, etc.); others are more or less active (captafol, dichlofluanid, mancozeb, thiram, etc.); others again showthemselves to be highly toxic (benodanil, quinomethionate, chloroneb, triarimol). However it is not simple to classify the fungicides as a function of their activity; many of them react differently on the 3 species (carbendazim, oxycarboxin, 26019 RP, etc.). Overall, systemic fungicides are more effective on mycelial growth than non-systemic fungicides.

     

The parrots (Aves: Psittaciformes) from the Middle Miocene of Sansan (Gers,Southern France)

The occurrence of Archaeopsittacus sp. (Psittaciformes) in the fossil deposits of Sansan (France) is reported, testifying to a survival of this genus in the Middle Miocene, as Archaeopsittacus verreauxi was described from the Early Miocene of Saint-Gérand-le-Puy (France) and was recorded only from its type locality. The data discussed here indicate the presence of two parrot species from Sansan, as it is the type locality of another parrot species, Pararallus dispar, only known from this locality. The differences between the humeri of these two taxa are described in detail, together with the differences from the other European fossil parrot species. The presence of more than one species of parrot in the same locality is not rare, but in Europe it is recorded in Sansan for the second time. Evidence for parrots also confirms the paleoenvironmental reconstruction of Sansan, as parrots are primarily arboreal species. Archaeopsittacus also represents one of the few common elements between the Early and Middle Miocene European bird assemblages.