Aeolid opisthobranch molluscs (Glaucidae) from the Indian Ocean and the south-west Pacific

Eight aeolid opisthobranch molluscs of the subfamilies Facelininae, Favorininae, and Herviellinae are reported from Tanzanian waters, and two species from Northwestern India. New records from Queensland, Australia greatly extend the range of two species reported from Tanzania. Phidiana militaris (Alder & Hancock) and P. indica (Bergh) are shown to be distinct and a species from New Zealand, originally identified as P. militaris , is shown to be new. P. bourailli (Risbec), previously reported only from New Caledonia, is described from Tanzania, as is a new species of Phidiana. Favorinus japonicus Baba is reported from Tanzania, the first published record outside Japan, a new species of Godiva is described from Tanzania and Queensland, and three new species of Sakuraeolis are described, one from India and two from Tanzania. A new species of Herviella is described from Tanzania.     

Key to the New Zealand species of Psyllaephagus Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) with descriptions of three new species and a new record of the psyllid hyperparasitoid Coccidoctonus psyllae Riek (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae)

Abstract  This paper records seven species of wasps in the genus Psyllaephagus (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) from New Zealand. All of these species are primary parasitoids of psylloids (Hemiptera: Psylloidea). Two are species previously described from New Zealand: P. acaciae Noyes and P. pilosus Noyes. Two are described Australian species which have established recently: P. bliteus Riek and P. gemitus Riek. Three new species are described here, from New Zealand: P. breviramus sp. nov., P. cornwallensis sp. nov. and P. richardhenryi sp. nov. All species are probably Australian in origin. A key to all seven Psyllaephagus species known from New Zealand is provided. An earlier first record of the Australian psyllid hyperparasitoid Coccidoctonus psyllae Riek (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), previously first recorded from New Zealand in 2006, is noted.     

Pselaphotumulus,a new genus of pselaphine endemic to New Zealand (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae: Pselaphitae)

ABSTRACT

Pselaphotumulus Owens and Carlton, gen. nov., is described as the sixth genus in the tribe Pselaphini known from New Zealand. Three new species are described: Pselaphotumulus aorerei, sp. nov., Pselaphotumulus dubius, sp. nov. and Pselaphotumulus unus, sp. nov.. Three species, Pselaphus cavelli (Broun 1893), Pselaphus oviceps (Broun 1917) and Pselaphus urquharti (Broun 1917) are transferred to Pselaphotumulus, nov. combs. Lectotypes from type series in the New Zealand Broun Collection (Natural History Museum, London) are designated for these three species. Habitus photographs, distributional maps and line drawings of diagnostic characters are provided for each species. A key to species is provided. Searches of museum collections have not yielded representatives outside of New Zealand, suggesting that this is the first endemic genus in the tribe Pselaphini described from the New Zealand’s main islands, specifically, the South Island. Pselaphotumulus species exhibit restricted distribution patterns that approximately coincide with the Pacific/Indo Australian Plate boundary.     

Aeolid nudibranchs (Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia) of the families Flabellinidae and Eubranchidae from New Zealand waters

Four aeolid species, all newly recorded for New Zealand waters, are described. Three are known species; they are Tularia bractea (Burn) and Eubranchus rubeolus Burn from Australia and Eubranchus agrius Marcus from Chile; the New Zealand specimens show slight variation. The fourth species, Coryphella albomarginata sp. nov. , is distinguished from close relatives by the opaque white band along the margin of the foot, two centrally placed (in relation to the main reproductive ducts) bursae copulatrices and several small, blunt denticles on the outer edge of the lateral teeth of the radula. The families to which these species belong, the Flabellinidae (Coryphella albomarginata, Tularia bractea) and Eubranchidae (Eubranchus agrius, E. rubeolus), are recognized and defined and the constituent genera examined and reduced in number. A new genus, Paracoryphella , and family, the Paracoryphellidae, are created for Coryphella islandica Odhner. The classification of the aeolids is reviewed:Odhner's order Aeolidacea is considered a very satisfactory major category, but his grouping of the families into tribes is discarded on the grounds that the diagnostic character, the position of the anus in relation to the cerata, is too variable within individual families.     

Two spiders in subfamily Mynogleninae (Araneae: Linyphiidae) from the Falkland Islands, South Atlantic

Two new taxa, Falklandoglenes spinosa gen. nov. and sp. nov. and Beauchenia striata gen. nov. and sp. nov. , are described from Beauchêne Island, the most remote island in the Falkland Islands archipelago. Both species are in subfamily Mynogleninae, previously thought to be confined to Central Africa and to New Zealand and its neighbouring subantarctic islands. Both species show intermediate characters between the Mynogleninae and the remainder of the Linyphiidae, and hence they throw some light on the phylogeny of this large, complex, world–wide family of spiders.     

The Geonemertes problem (Nemertea)

A new genus of monostiliferous hoplonemerteans, Pantinonemertes gen. nov., provides evidence for the separate evolution of terrestrial nemerteans. The genus is established for two new species found in Australia, P. enalios sp. nov., an intertidal form, and P. winsori sp. nov., which lives in fallen timber in the supralittoral brackish water regions of mangrove swamps. One only of the known species of land nemerteans, Geonemertes agricola from Bermuda, closely resembles these two species morphologically and is transferred to the new genus as Pantinonemertes agricola .
A re-examination of all the known species of Geonemertes has shown that two major groups can be distinguished on the basis of morphological characters. In one group the rhynchocoel musculature is in two distinct layers, a frontal organ is present, the mid-dorsal blood vessel has a single vascular plug, and the flame cells are binucleate and reinforced with cuticular support bars. It comprises the genus Pantinonemertes gen, nov, and the Pelaensis or Indopacific group of terrestrial nemerteans, for which the generic name Geonemertes is retained. In the second major group the rhynchocoel musculature is composed of interwoven longitudinal and circular fibres, there is no frontal organ, the mid-dorsal blood vessel bears two vascular plugs, and the flame cells are mononucleate and lack support bars. Five genera, three of which are new, are distinguished in this group. Australian species are united in the genus Argonemertes gen. nov., and New Zealand forms comprise the genus Antiponemertes gen. nov., while Acteonemertes bathamae from New Zealand and the Auckland and Ocean Islands remains in a separate genus. Geonemertes nightingaleensis is transferred to a new genus, Katechonemertes gen. nov., and for Geonemertes chalicophora a previously used generic name, Leptonemertes , is adopted.
A key to the terrestrial, brackish-water and marine nemertean species described in the present paper is provided.     

A revision of the Haplocheira group of genera (Amphipoda: Aoridae)

The Southern hemisphere aorid amphipod genera Haplocheira Haswell and Kuphocheira Barnard are revised and Anonychocheirus gen. nov. is described from Antarctica. A key is provided to distinguish the three genera and six species currently known. Material attributed to H. barbimana (Thomson, 1879) from Antarctica, South Georgia, Australia, lies de Kerguelen, New Zealand and Auckland Is. has been re-examined. The Antarctic material proves to be separate on the basis of antennal peduncle proportions, shape of lateral cephalic angle and shape and setation of peraeopod bases. Stebbing's species plumosa is re-established for this entity. Haplocheira robusta Barnard is synonymized with H. barbimana and three subspecies are described, viz. H.b. barbimana (Thomson) from New Zealand and Auckland Is., H.b. typica Haswell from Australia and lies de Kerguelen (shallow water) and H.b. robusta Barnard from Magellanic South America and the Falkland islands. Haplocheira balssi Schellenberg remains a separate species. Kuphocheira setimanus Barnard is re-assessed and K. emancipata sp. nov. described from Antarctica. The new genus Anonychocheirus is presently known only from the type species A. richardsoni sp. nov. described herein.     

New foliicolous lichens from New Zealand 2

Two new species of foliicolous lichens from New Zealand are described and illustrated. The most characteristic trait ofDimerella flava sp. nov. (Gyalectaceae) is its pale yellow tubular pycnidia, which clothe the algal-containing thallus on the upper surface of leaves and sometimes also on thin twigs.Porinula setifera sp. nov. (incertae sedis) is closely related to the type species ofPorinula, P. tanzanica, but differs in having hyaline setae on its perithecia and mostly simple paraphysoids.     

Systematics of the bryozoan genus Macropora (Cheilostomata)

Macropora is a distinctive genus of anascan cheilostomes. All species have large zooids with an extensive cryptocystal frontal shield perforated by numerous pores through which parietal muscle strands pass. Also characteristic of Macropora are the calcified opercula closing the d -shaped orifice, avicularia resembling autozooids but having slightly enlarged, typically crenulated opercula/mandibles, and large ovicells that are often costate. This mostly Australasian genus has a documented fossil record stretching back to the Eocene. Here we revise the generic diagnosis of Macropora and describe eight new species from New Zealand (three Recent: M. nodulosa sp. nov. , M. filifera sp. nov. and M. carlosi sp. nov. ; five fossil: M. septispinosa sp. nov. , M. similis sp. nov. , M. pittensis sp. nov. , M. leeae sp. nov. and M. bullata sp. nov. ) and one new species from Japan ( M. mawatariorum sp. nov. ), the only species known with certainty to occur in the northern hemisphere. New observations are given for some previously described species, several of which are illustrated using SEM for the first time. The northern hemisphere Upper Cretaceous species Monoporella exsculpta (Marsson), showing features allowing it to be placed tentatively in the stem-group of Macropora , is redescribed. Attempts to resolve the phylogenetic relationships of species within Macropora were hampered by the relatively few morphological characters compared with the number of species, and it proved impossible to obtain a phylogeny robust to slight changes in taxon and/or character inclusion. The favoured cladogram has poor bootstrap and Bremer support, and its stratigraphical and biogeographical congruences are low.  © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2008, 153 , 115–146.     

Microfungi on the Pandanaceae: Linocarpon lammiae sp. nov., L. siamensis sp. nov. and L. suthepensis sp. nov. are described with a key to Linocarpon species from the Pandanaceae

Linocarpon species are reported from Pandanaceae in Australia, Brunei, Hong Kong, Nepal, New Zealand, Philippines, Seychelles, Thailand and Vanuatu. Linocarpon lammiae sp. nov. were collected on decaying leaves of Pandanus tectorius in Hong Kong. Linocarpon siamensis sp. nov. and L. suthepensis sp. nov. were collected from decaying leaves of P. penetrans in Thailand. These taxa are described, illustrated and compared with Linocarpon species with similar ascospore morphology and dimensions. Included are a synoptic table, which compares the new species to similar known species, and a dichotomous key to species of Linocarpon known from members of the Pandanaceae.     

Elsinoe takoropuku sp. nov. infects twigs of Pittosporum tenuifolium in New Zealand

Elsinoe takoropuku sp. nov. is described from Pittosporum tenuifolium Sol. ex Gaertn. (Pittosporaceae). This species causes swelling to develop on the twigs of the host species. The species initially was thought to be a recent introduction to New Zealand but, based on the host association and the geographic range of the fungus in New Zealand, it is considered to be a newly described native species.     

The species of Hemigrapha (lichenicolous Ascomycetes, Dothideales) on Peltigerales

The species of Hemigrapha (lichenicolous Ascomycetes, Dothideales) growing on Peltigerales are revised. H. atlantica sp. nov., on the cyanobacterial morph of Sticta canariensis from the Azores and the British Isles, H. nephromatis sp. nov., on Nephroma australe from Tasmania and New Zealand, and H. pseudocyphellariae sp. nov., on Pseudocyphellaria from Papua New Guinea are described and compared with the type species, H. asteriscus , which grows on species of Peltigera in the southern hemisphere and in Europe. Hemigrapha is shown to belong to the Microthyriaceae (Dothideales). Pycnothyrial anamorphs, morphologically identical to the thyriothecia, with hyaline, non-septate microconidia andor macroconidia, and conidiogenous cells arising from the upper conidiomatal wall, are known in H. asteriscus, H. atlantica and H. pseudocyphellariae. A key is given for the species of Hemigrapha on Peltigerales.     

湘西晚寒武世多节类三叶虫新种及Erixanium属首次发现

文中描记 3个多节类三叶虫新种 :Hardyoidesdamaensissp .nov .,Meringaspisdamaensissp .nov .,andRhyssometopus (Rostrifinis)nitidussp .nov .,均产自湘西凤凰花桥组中部。同时描记首次在江南斜坡带中发现的Erixanium一属的保留命名种Erixaniumcf.E .sentum。Erixanium是全球性分布的多节类三叶虫 。     

New high latitude Capnuchosphaera species (Triassic Radiolaria) from Waipapa Terrane,New Zealand

Two new species and one new subspecies of genus Capnuchosphaera, (Capnuchosphaera tumida nov. sp., C. waihekeensis nov. sp. and C. texensis australis nov. ssp.) are described herein from phosphatic nodules included in mudstone and sandstone beds of the Waipapa Terrane, Waiheke Island, New Zealand. The phosphatic nodules yielded a rich Late Triassic (Carnian-Norian) radiolarian fauna, with a high abundance of spumellarian taxa including numerous species of the genera Capnuchosphaera, Vinassaspongus, Kahlerosphaera, Sarla and Dumitricasphaera. Waiheke Island Capnuchosphaera are characterized by a large cortical shell and a distinctively low ratio of spine length to cortical shell diameter. These features differ significantly from those of Capnuchosphaera in the Tethyan Realm and are considered to be the result of adaptation to an Austral-New Zealand peripheral ocean of Gondwanaland in the Mesozoic Southern Hemisphere.     

A review of the genus Fallaciella (Bryopsida: Lembophyllaceae), including a new species from South Island,New Zealand

Abstract

An overview of the genus Fallaciella is provided, including reasons for its placement in the Lembophyllaceae. A new species, Fallaciella robusta sp. nov., is described from South Island, New Zealand. The differences between the two known species of Fallaciella are outlined and the main points summarized in a key. Illustrations are provided for both species, and a distribution map is provided for F. robusta.     

Fossil Ericaceae from New Zealand: Deconstructing the use of fossil evidence in historical biogeography

The Australasian Ericaceae epitomize many problems in understanding the biogeography of the southern hemisphere, especially the relative contributions of Gondwanan vicariance and dispersal. Late Cretaceous fossil pollen of the family suggests extreme antiquity of the group in Australasia, but recent phylogenetic evidence suggests much younger histories for most of the groups in that region. This paper documents two new species of latest Oligocene-Early Miocene macrofossils of Ericaceae from New Zealand. Cyathodophyllum novae-zelandiae G.J.Jord. & Bannister gen. and sp. nov. is the oldest record of the tribe Styphelieae, but is of a clade now extinct in New Zealand, possibly related to the Tasmanian genus Cyathodes. Richeaphyllum waimumuensis G.J.Jord. & Bannister sp. nov. is a member of Richeeae, but it is ambiguous as to whether it is a member of the impressive modern New Zealand radiation in Dracophyllum. These fossils emphasize the fact that at least some of the fossil pollen of Ericaceae may have been derived from extinct lineages and therefore should not be used as evidence for the antiquity of any modern New Zealand clade of Ericaceae. New fossils and/or detailed analysis of fossil and extant pollen may help resolve such uncertainty.     

Systematic revision of the genus Phycodrys (Delesseriaceae,Rhodophyta) from New Zealand,with the descriptions of three new species,P. novae-zelandiae sp. nov., P. franiae sp. nov. and P. adamsiae sp. nov.

Two species of Phycodrys, Phycodrys quercifolia (Bory) Skottsberg and Phycodrys profunda E.Y.Dawson were previously recorded from New Zealand. However, an examination of Phycodrys collections from the New Zealand region showed that all were morphologically different from P. quercifolia (Type locality: the Falkland Islands) and P. profunda (Type locality: CA, USA). RbcL sequence analyses established that the New Zealand Phycodrys species formed a natural assemblage within the genus, consisting of three new species: P. novae-zelandiae sp. nov., P. franiae sp. nov. and P. adamsiae sp. nov. Phycodrys novae-zelandiae is the largest of the three, up to 20 cm in height, with a distinct midrib and multicellular, opposite to subopposite lateral macroscopic veins. It has entirely monostromatic blades except near the midrib and veins, and its procarp contains a three-celled sterile group one (st1) and a one-celled sterile group two (st2). Phycodrys franiae was previously treated as a cryptic species among herbarium collections of P. ‘quercifolia’. It is smaller (4–11 cm high) with weakly developed midribs and veins, the blade is tristromatic throughout, except at the growing margins, and the procarp consists of a four-celled st1 and a two–three-celled st2. Phycodrys adamsiae, previously reported as P. profunda, is a small decumbent or prostrate plant, 1–8 cm long, with a midrib and inconspicuous lateral veins. The blades are tristromatic with serrated margins, two–four-celled surface spines and multicellular marginal holdfasts that differ from those of Californian specimens. The tetrasporangia are borne on marginal bladelets. Phylogenetic analyses place the New Zealand species in a separate group that is distantly removed from most other Phycodrys species.     

Revision of the larvae of Leptus Latreille (Acarina: Erythraeidae) of Europe and North America, with descriptions of post-larval instars

The larvae of Leptus Latreille, 1796 (Acarina: Erythraeidae) of Europe and North America are comprehensively revised. Of those described since 1900 a total of 34 species is considered recognizable and capable of being keyed; no species described before 1900 is considered recognizable. The nominal type of the genus, Acarus phalangii de Geer, 1778 is rejected as an illegitimate name. Eighteen European and 17 North American species are described and keyed, of which 17 are new to science. One new subspecies from North America, of a species previously known from Europe, is described and keyed. Standard metric data are given for each species or subspecies from available specimens (except two North American species, L. ariel Southcott and L. clarki Southcott, recently described elsewhere; for these last-named two additional metric data are given). Larvae have been recorded from April to September, with the greatest number found being for July and August.
Protonymphs are described for two North American species ( L. ghiradellae sp. nov. and L. welbourni sp. nov. ), and deutonymphs for two North American species ( L. calix sp. nov. and L. ghiradellae ). Keys are given to separate the reared protonymphs, and three described deutonymphs (the two preceding and the European L. galerucae Feider). Data on the duration of the protonymphal instar suggest that in North America and Europe there are two modes: one lasting 3–4 weeks, the other 5–7 months. Developmental abnormalities are recorded systematically.     

The first recent species of the unusual brachiopod Kakanuiella (Thecideidae) from New Zealand deep waters

A new thecideid brachiopod species Kakanuiella chathamensis sp. nov. is described from deep waters on the Chatham Rise, east of South Island, New Zealand. The new species bears an unusual character combination in the shell morphology of its dorsal valve, displaying a mixture of diagnostic characters of both Recent thecideid subfamilies Thecidellininae and Lacazellinae. The resultant consequences for the systematic position of the genus Kakanuiella are discussed.