Acanthocephala in amphibians (Anura) and reptiles (Squamata) from Brazil and Paraguay with description of a new species

In a survey of 1,732 amphibians and reptiles collected across S?o Paulo Province, Brazil, and 7 provinces in Paraguay, 26 species were found infected with acanthocephalans. Of 1,510 anurans, 14 anurans, representing 11 species, were infected with cystacanths of Centrorhynchus spp. and 1 anuran with cystacanths of Oligacanthorhynchus sp. Of 107 lizards, 1 lizard was infected with cystacanths of Centrorhynchus sp. and 1 lizard with cystacanths of Oligacanthorhynchus sp. Acanthocephalus caspanensis was found in 3 anurans (3 species) and Acanthocephalus lutzi in 3 anurans (2 species) and 2 snakes (2 species). The systematic position of A. lutzi cannot be resolved using presently available morphological data. Acanthocephalus saopaulensis n. sp. was found in a single individual of Bufo ictericus. The new species can be differentiated from all its congeners except A. caspanensis in having a sigmoid-shaped male posterior end and from A. caspanensis in having a proboscis armature of 16 rows of 5-7 hooks rather than 18-19 rows of 6-7 hooks and larger eggs. The status of Acanthocephalus and Pseudoacanthocephalus continues to be problematic.     

Exogoninae (Polychaeta: Syllidae) from the Mexican Caribbean region with a key for the Gran Caribbean species]

This paper identifies the Exogoninae (Syllidae) from the Mexican Caribbean coasts and includes a key to identify all the species recorded from the Grand Caribbean Sea. The classification of the family and the composition of Exogoninae are briefly examined; the correct names of the subfamilies are Syllinae Grube, 1850, Eusyllinae Malaquin, 1893, Autolytinae Malaquin, 1893 and Exogoninae Langerhans, 1879. Exogoninae includes Anguillosyllis Day, 1963, Brania de Quatrefages, 1866, Braniella Hartman, 1963, Exogone ?rsted, 1845, Exogonella Hartman, 1961, Exogonoides Day, 1963, Parapionosyllis Fauvel, 1923, Psammosyllis Westheide, 1990, Spermosyllis Claparède, 1864, and Sphaerosyllis Claparède, 1863. Pseudexogone Augener, 1922, formerly included in the group, is not a syllid; it belongs to Pilargidae. We collected 814 specimens belonging to 3 genera, 3 subgenera and 13 species as Brania (4), Exogone (4) and Sphaerosyllis (5); five new species are described: Brania russelli n. sp, Brania uebelackerae n. sp, Brania westheidei n. sp., Exogone (Exogone) bondi n. sp. and Exogone (Parexogone) sanmartini n. sp. For each species, selected references, diagnostic features, observations on morphological variability, distribution and illustrations are provided; new species also have an english diagnosis. Most abundant species were B. uebelackerae n. sp. (295), S. taylori Perkins (169), E. (E.) dispar Webster (76), and E. (E.) bondi n sp. (72).     

New Genera and Species of ‘Giant’ Ostracods (Crustacea: Cyprididae) from Australia

Two new genera of giant ostracods Lacrimicypris n. gen. and Repandocypris n. gen. from Australia are described and eight new species:L. kumbar n. sp., R. austinensis n. sp., R. gleneagles n. sp., Mytilocypris coolcalalaya n. sp., Australocypris bennetti n. sp., A. beaumonti n. sp., A. mongerensis n. sp. and Caboncypris kondininensis n. sp. The number of known Australian genera and species of giant ostracods are now 6 and 21, respectively. Keys to genera and species are provided: all species can be distinguished using the hemipenis and male first leg. The usefulness of the bursa copulatrix as a species-level taxonomic character is highlighted. Most of the species described in this paper occur in salt lakes and existing ecological information on Western Australian species, as well as the distributions of all species, are summarized. Western Australia has a particularly rich halobiont fauna but current explanations relating richness of the halobiont fauna to the widespread occurrence of salt lakes appear incomplete. Australocypris bennetti is unusual in that it is frequently found at pH < 4. Its morphology differs slightly in acidic and alkaline waters.     

A New Family, Genus, and Seven New Species of Entodiniomorphida (Protozoa) from the Gut of African Rhinoceros

ABSTRACT. This report deals with a group of ciliated protozoa with short ciliary bands found mainly in the cecum of black rhinoceros, Diceros bicornis (Linnaeus, 1758), and white rhinoceros, Ceratotherium simum (Burchell, 1817) from southern Africa. A new genus, Rhinozeta , based on the sum total of the characteristics of seven new related species is described. The species described are R. rhinozeta n. sp., R. triciliata n. sp., R. caecalis n. sp., R. addoensis n. sp., R. cristata n. sp., R. multiplatus n. sp., and R. unilaminatus n. sp. The specific features of the new genus make it incompatible with any of the known families of the Order Entodiniomorphida containing the ciliates present in the digestive tract of herbivorous mammals. This merits the creation of a new family, the Rhinozetidae.     

A new family, genus, and seven new species of Entodiniomorphida (Protozoa) from the gut of African rhinoceros

This report deals with a group of ciliated protozoa with short ciliary bands found mainly in the cecum of black rhinoceros, Diceros bicornis (linnaeus, 1758), and white rhinoceros, Ceratotherium simum (Burchell, 1817) from southern Africa. A new genus, Rhinozeta, based on the sum total of the characteristics of seven new related species is described. The species described are R. rhinozeta n. sp., R. triciliata n. sp., R. caecalis n. sp., R. addoensis n. sp., R. cristata n. sp., R. multiplatus n. sp., and R. unilaminatus n. sp. The specific features of the new genus make it incompatible with any of the known families of the Order Entodiniomorphida containing the ciliates present in the digestive tract of herbivorous mammals. This merits the creation of a new family, the Rhinozetidae.     

New moth flies (Diptera: Psychodidae: Psychodinae) from Turkey

Specimens of moth flies (Diptera: Psychodidae: Psychodinae) were sampled in southwest Anatolia and the European part of Turkey between 2003 and 2009. Samples contained nine species new to science: Ulomyia asiaminorica sp. n., Pneumia pellucida sp. n., Berdeniella turcica sp. n., B. aktashi sp. n., Clytocerus thracicus sp. n., Jungiella afyonica sp. n., J. geniculatoides sp. n., J. barlasi sp. n., and Telmatoscopus remotus sp.n. The new species are described and illustrated. Distributional data for a total of 45 species are provided. 63 species of Psychodinae are now known to occur in Turkey.     

Pipunculidae (Diptera) of the 1934 Swedish Expedition to Burma

Hardy, D. E. (Department of Entomology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hi., USA.) Pipunculidae (Diptera) of the 1934 Swedish expedition to Burma. Zool. Scripta 1(3–4): 121–138, 1972.–The collection of Pipunculidae made in Burma by Rene Malaise contained approximately forty species in five genera and four subgenera and is probably a thorough sampling of the species which occur in the Kambaiti area of N.E. Burma. Eleven new species are being described: Dorylomorpha latifrons sp.n., D. stenozona sp.n., Pipunculus (Cephalops) dolosus sp.n., P. (Cephalops) fimbriatus sp.n., P. (Cephalops) validus sp.n., P. (Cephalosphaera) reduncus sp.n., P. (Cephalosphaera) tingens sp.n., P. (Eudorylas) burmanicus sp.n., P. (Eudorylas) colossus sp.n., P. (Eudorylas) giganteus sp.n., and P. (Eudorylas) malaisei sp.n. Several other species, probably new ones, are indicated but not being described until further specimens can be studied. The majority of the species are new records for Burma.     

The Nematode Fauna in the Sulphide-Rich Brine Seep and Adjacent Bottoms of the East Flower Garden, NW Gulf of Mexico. I Chromadorida

Sixteen nematode species of the order Chromadorida are described from the East Flower Garden at 72 m depth in the north-western Gulf of Mexico. The material is from sandy bottom samples influenced or beyond the influence of a sulphide-rich brine seep. Fifteen species are new to science: Acantholaimus quadridentatus sp.n., Prochromadorella papillata sp.n., Austranema mexicanum sp.n., Rhips anoxybiotica sp.n., Filitonchoides thiobioticus gen. et sp.n., Paracyatholaimus spinulaosus sp.n., Marylynnia punctata sp.n., Marylynnia johanseni sp.n., Acanthopharyngoides bidentatus sp.n., Desmodora (Croconema)punctata sp.n., Desmodora (Desmodora) curvispiculum sp.n., Desmodora (Pseudochromadora) bulbosa sp.n., Chromaspirinia longisetosa sp.n., Prochaetosoma brighti sp.n. and Ixonema powelli sp.n. A specimen of Bathyepsilonema is also described and is probably new to science, but the available material only includes a female.     

New and previously described species of Urocleidoides (Monogenoidea: Dactylogyridae) infecting the gills and nasal cavities of Hoplias malabaricus (Characiformes: Erythrinidae) from Brazil

During an investigation of the biodiversity and structure of parasite communities among native populations of the erythrinid fish Hoplias malabaricus (Characiformes) from 7 rivers in Brazil, the following monogenoidean (Dactylogyridae) species were found: Urocleidoides malabaricusi n. sp., Urocleidoides naris n. sp., Urocleidoides cuiabai n. sp., Urocleidoides brasiliensis n. sp., and Urocleidoides eremitus Kritsky, Thatcher, and Boeger, 1986. Specimens considered as a new genus of Dactylogyridae were also found. The new species are mainly distinguished from the other 14 species of Urocleidoides in the general morphology of their copulatory and anchors/bar complexes. These new species and the new dactylogyrid genus are described, as well as supplemental observations and new illustrations of U. eremitus are provided. The present findings expand the known geographical distribution of species of Urocleidoides to southeastern and midwestern Brazil. A high speciation of this genus in the tropics is hypothesized, and it is briefly discussed.     

Five New Species of Lagenophrys (Ciliophora,Peritricha, Lagenophryidae) from the United States with Observations on Their Developmental Stages1

Five species of the loricate genus Lagenophrys were found on freshwater hosts and are described for the first time. Lagenophrys dennisi n. sp., L. incompta n. sp., and L. oregonensis n. sp. are ectosymbionts of astacid crayfish. Lagenophrys foxi n. sp and L. missouriensis n. sp. are ectosymbionts of gammarid amphipods. All five species appear to occur only m North America. Protargol preparations of the five species reveal that the peristomial myoneme is much broader and more extensive in telotrochs and metamorphosing individuals than in adults. Darkly staining bands appearing to be somatic myonemes were also seen underneath the surface of the body and in the center of the body of telotrochs and metamorphosing individuals. The telotroch of Lagenophrys is so different from the adult that it constitutes a true larval form rather than a simple dispersal stage. Structural parallels between the telotroch of Lagenophrys and mobiline peritrichs suggest the hypothesis that mobilines evolved from the telotroch of a sessiline pentrich which had first evolved into a true larval form.     

Revision of the Nearctic species of the genus Stiropius Cameron (=Bucculatriplex Auct.) with the description of a new related genus (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

Abstract. The New World rogadine genus Stiropius Cameron is revised for the Nearctic region and a new related genus from the Americas, Viridipyge , is decribed. Bucculatriplex Viereck is found to be a junior subjective synonym of Stiropius Cameron. Three Nearctic species are recognized: S.bucculatricis (Ashmead) comb.n., S.californicus sp.n. and S.wagneri sp.n. A single Nearctic specis of Viridipyge is described as new: V.prunicola , and a Neotropical species, V.letifer (Mann) comb.n., is found to be congeneric. The biology and systematic relationships of both genera are discussed; the two genera appear to represent a relatively basal branch of the Rogadini lineage.     

The nematode fauna in the sulphide–rich brine seep and adjacent bottoms of the East Flower Garden, NW Gulf of Mexico. II. Monhysterida

Eight nematode species of the order Monhysterida are described from the East Flower Garden at 72 m depth in the north–western Gulf of Mexico. The material is from sandy and rocky bottom samples influenced or beyond the influence o f a sulphide–rich brine seep. Seven species are new to science: Monhystera anoxybiotica sp.n., Gonionchus intermedius sp.n., Theristus (Theristus) coplatus sp.n., Theristus (Theristus) rezaki sp.n., Xyala oxybiotica spa., Desmolaimoides thiobioticus gen. et sp.n. and Linhomoeus gittingsi sp.n. Specimens of a Linhomoeus species are also described. The species is probably new to science, but the available material only includes females and juveniles.     

Sarcocystis lindsayi n. sp. (Protozoa: Sarcocystidae) from the South American opossum, Didelphis albiventris from Brazil

A new species, Sarcocystis lindsayi n. sp., is proposed for a parasite resembling Sarcocystis falcatula. It was obtained from the lungs and muscles of budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) fed sporocysts from a naturally-infected South American opossum, Didelphis albiventris, from Jaboticabal, Brazil. Sarcocysts of S. lindsayi n. sp. in budgerigars are microscopic, up to 600 microm long and up to 50 microm wide. The cyst wall is up to 2 microm thick. Ultrastructurally, the sarcocyst wall consists of numerous slender villar protrusions (up to 2.0 microm long and up to 0.3 microm wide), each with a stylet at its tip. Schizonts in cell culture divide by endopolygeny leaving a residual body. Sporocysts are approximately 12 x 7 microm. The parasite is genetically distinct from other organisms that also cycle between opossums and avian species and resemble S. falcatula. Diagnostic genetic variation has been observed in the nuclear large subunit ribosomal RNA gene, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS-1), and each of two other genetic loci. Although the structure of the sarcocyst wall may not provide sufficient grounds for differential diagnosis, several other attributes including schizont morphology and genetic variation at each of these genetic loci permit identification of S. lindsayi n. sp.. Natural intermediate hosts for S. lindsayi n. sp. are not known, and fuller characterization of these and other Sarcocystis species would benefit from experimental avian hosts that are more permissive to the maturation of sarcocysts.     

Pipunculidae (Diptera) from Papua New Guinea: the genera Cephalosphaera, Cephalops and Beckerias

Seven new pipunculid species are described from Papua New Guinea: Cephalosphaera gymne sp.n., C. immodica sp.n. C. wauensis sp.n., Cephalops bifidus sp.n., C. multidenticulatus sp.n., C. papuaensis sp.n., and C. parmatus sp.n. Cephalops argutus (Hardy) is considered as a true Beckerias sp. and thus placed in a new combination: Beckerias argutus. The phylogenetic relationship of the new species is shortly discussed.     

Reductive evolutionary trends in two new cavernicolous species of a new Australian cixiid genus (Homoptera: Fulgroidea)

Abstract A new genus, Undarana gen.n., is established to accomodate six new closely related cixiid species from Queensland, Australia: U.tamborina sp. n.(type species), U.gloriosa sp.n., U.towomba sp.n., U. daybora sp. n., U. rosella sp.n. and U.collina sp.n. Two of the species live in lava tubes in northern Queensland and show different degrees of troglomorphy (reduction of eyes and bodily pigmentation) U.rosella is regarded as being troglophilic (facultative cavernicole), adn U.collina as being troglobitic (facultative cavernicole), and U.collina as being troglobitic (obligatory cavernicole), and it is considered likely that they represent a single invasion into the cave environment. Reductive evolutionary trends displayed by cave-dwelling Undarana species are described, and notes on their ecology and distribution are given. Hypotheses on the factors that might have led to cave-adaption in Undarana species are discussed.     

Four new monorchiids from marine teleost fishes of Moreton Bay and the Great Barrier Reef,Australia, including the proposal of a new genus

We report four new species of monorchiids infecting teleost fishes from Australian waters. Two new species of Paralasiotocus Wee, Cutmore, Pérez-del-Olmo & Cribb, 2020, Pa. abstrusus n. sp. and Pa. tectus n. sp., are described from haemulids of the Great Barrier Reef. The two species are morphologically cryptic and occur in sympatry but differ significantly in cox1 mtDNA and ITS2 rDNA sequence data. Paralasiotocus tectus n. sp. is found only in Plectorhinchus albovittatus (Rüppell) whereas Pa. abstrusus n. sp. infects Pl. albovittatus, Plectorhinchus flavomaculatus (Cuvier) and Plectorhinchus lineatus (Linnaeus). The two species differ from all known species of Paralasiotocus in the possession of a clear gap in the spines of the terminal organ. A new species is described from a mullid, Parupeneus spilurus (Bleeker), from off Heron Island and Moreton Bay. The new species is morphologically broadly consistent with the concept of Paralasiotocus in the possession of an unspined genital atrium, bipartite terminal organ, and lobed ovary. However, it possesses a highly lobed cirrus and is phylogenetically widely separated from the two species of Paralasiotocus characterized here, and thus we propose Lobucirruatus infloresco n. g., n. sp. Proctotrema prominens n. sp., is described from Pl. albovittatus. It is differentiated from all other species of Proctotrema in the combination of a prominent metraterm, slightly fusiform body, slightly funnel-shaped oral sucker, elongate cirrus-sac, unlobed ovary, and caeca that terminate in the post-testicular region.