A remarkable new species of Stephensia Stainton (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Elachistidae) from Belize rainforest (Central America)

Stephensia armata sp. n., a remarkable species is described from Belize (Central America). The external features and genitalia of the male are figured and described in detail. A distribution map for all six Elachistidae species, currently recorded from tropical America, is given: Perittia smaragdophanes (Meyrick), P. punatensis Kaila, Elachista albisquamella Zeller, E. saccharella (Busck), E. vasrana Kaila and Stephensia armata Sruoga, sp. n.     

The Naucoridae (Heteroptera: Nepomorpha) of Belize

ABSTRACT

Few regional faunistic treatments of aquatic Heteroptera exist for Mesoamerica. Records given here are the result of three extensive, coincident projects, each generating many specimens of Naucoridae. Thus, presented here is an annotated list of Naucoridae occurring in Belize, with an illustrated taxonomic key and notes on habitat. Three species are new country records, and ten species in four genera are now known from Belize.     

Description of Tischeria gouaniae sp. n. from the tropical forest of Belize - an exotic new addition to the American fauna of Tischeria (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Tischeriidae)

We describe Tischeria gouaniae sp. n. from the tropical forests of Belize. The new species is a leaf-miner of Gouania polygama (Rhamnaceae). Together with the related T. bifurcata Braun, it is among the most striking representatives of Tischeria. Both species possess a pseudognathos and very broad aedeagus fused with extremely long lateral processes of the juxta. The new species differs from T. bifurcata in the broadly rounded vinculum, spiny juxta, and slender apical processes of the aedeagus, and in its host plant. The external features and male genitalia of Tischeria gouaniae sp. n. are figured and described. A checklist and distribution map for all nine currently known Tischeria species from North and South America are given. Most American species are known from USA, but others are now known from tropical forest habitats of Central America, the Caribbean, and Guyana. Host-plants are known for five of the nine species reviewed here, belonging to four genera and two plant families (Fagaceae and Rhamnaceae).     

Habitat preferences and species associations of shallow-water marine Tubificidae (Oligochaeta) from the barrier reef ecosystems off Belize,Central America

The marine tubificid oligochaete fauna of Belize is the most diverse that has been described for the Caribbean Sea, with records for over 50% of all known Caribbean species. Tubificids were sampled at 77 stations around the outer barrier of the coral reefs off the Belize mainland. A total of 1,529 individuals representing 52 species were collected. Species distribution patterns were controlled mainly by sediment type and the presence or absence of mangroves. Six species (Phallodrilus molestus, Tubificoides bermudae, Inanidrilus leukodermatus, Heterodrilus flexuosus, Bathydrilus formosus, Smithsonidrilus hummelincki) with diverse life history characteristics were common and had broad habitat preferences being found in various types of heterogeneous sandy sediments. Heterodrilus flexuosus was the only common species in these samples known only in Belize. The other five common species range from Belize to Florida or Bermuda. Most other species have narrower habitat preferences and are limited to specific habitats. For example, one group of gutless species was restricted to organically enriched fine to medium sands, a group of Limnodriloidinae occurred only in mud around mangrove cays, and a group of meiofaunal species were restricted to saline groundwater.     

A new species of Late Cretaceous crab (Brachyura: Carcineretidae) from Albion Island, Belize)

A new species of carcineretid crab, Carcineretes planetarius, is described from the Upper Cretaceous (lower Maastrichtian) Barton Creek Dolomite at Albion Island, Belize. The age is based on the stratigraphic range of associated nerineid gastropods and correlation with nannoplankton, benthic foraminifera, and the other known congeneric species of crab found in Jamaica. Confirmation of this age aids in constraining the timing of ejecta deposits of the Chicxulub impact found at the top of Barton Creek Dolomite exposed on Albion Island. Paleoenvironmental and paleoecological analyses suggest that these crabs were swimmers in lagoonal settings, capable of burrowing a few centimeters into the mud for protection.     

Three new species of Sphaerosyllis (Polychaeta, Syllidae) from mangrove habitats in Belize

Three new species of Sphaerosyllis Claparède, 1863, S. belizensis, S. longilamina , and S. parvoculata, are described from mangrove and adjacent shallow-water habitats of Twin Cays, Belize.     

Copepods of the genus Halicyclops (Cyclopidae) from Belize

Halicyclops tetracanthus sp.n. and H. venezuelaensis Lindberg were found in the Sittee River Estuary, Belize. The new species is distinguished from all its congeners by having a distal spine and two spiniform heterogeneously ornamented setae on the inner margin of the terminal endopodal segment of legs 2 and 3. Halicyclops venezuelaensis, previously known only from Venezuela is redescribed based on specimens of both sexes. Differences in the ornamentation as well as in the relative length of some setae of the maxilla and maxilliped are pointed out as additional useful characters in the taxonomy of Halicyclops. This is the first record of Halicyclops in Belize.     

MORPHOLOGIC DETAILS OF SIX BENTHIC SPECIES OF PROROCENTRUM (PYRROPHYTA) FROM A MANGROVE ISLAND,TWIN CAYS,BELIZE, INCLUDING TWO NEW SPECIES1

Two new dinoflagellate species, Prorocentrum hoffmannianum and Prorocentrum ruetzlerianum, and four known species, Prorocentrum emarginatum Fukuyo 1981, Prorocentrum mesicanum Tafall 1942, Prorocentrum concavum Fukuyo 1981, and Prorocentrum lima (Ehr.) Dodge 1975, from floating detritus and sediments in a subtropical mangrove island, Twin Cays, Belize, Central America are described from scanning electron micrographs. Differences in the following characters of surface micromorphology separated the species: ornamentation of thecal plates (shape, size, and number of valve pores and areolae) and the architecture of the periflagellar area and intercalary band.     

Some Digenetic Trematodes of Marine Fishes from the Barrier Reef and Reef Lagoon of Belize

A total of 200 marine fishes (36 species) from the Caribbean Sea off Belize were examined for digenetic trematodes and 163 (81.5%) harbored at least one species. Five species are described as new: Lasiotocus asymmetricus (Monorchiidae) from Haemulon flavolineatum; Stephanostomum belizense (Acanthocolpidae) from Caranx bartholomaei; Neolepidapedon belizense (Lepocreadiidae) from Sphyraena barracuda; Opecoeloides belizensis (Opecoelidae) from Priacanthus arenatus; Saturnius belizensis (Hemiuridae) from Mugil curema. 72 previously known species were identified, and all represent new geographical distribution records while many are recorded from new hosts. Their zoogeographical affinities are very strongly with the tropical western Atlantic, although some also occur in the eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Indo-Pacific regions.     

Marine Heterotrophic Amoebae, Flagellates and Heliozoa From Belize (Central America) and Tenerife (Canary Islands), With Descriptions of New Species, Luffisphaera Bulbochaete N. Sp., L. Longihastis N. Sp., L. Turriformis N. Sp. and Paulinella Intermedia N. Sp.

ABSTRACT. Thirty four taxa of heterotrophic protists (amoebae, flagellates and heliozoa) were encountered in cultures established from marine samples from Belize (Central America) and Tenerife (Canary Islands). Most species are flagellates drawn from the choanoflagellates, the cryptophyceans, the euglenids, the kinetoplastids, the bicosoecids, the chromulinids, the pedinellids and a variety of laxa of uncertain affinities (Protista incertae sedis). the identity of the thecate choanoflagellates Salpingoeca ringens Kent, 1880, and S. tuba Kent, 1880, is discussed, and four new species of heterotrophic protists are described: one new species of the amoeba genus Paulinella (Paulinella intermedia n. sp.) and three new species of the incertae sedis genus Luffisphaera Belcher & Swale, 1975 ( Luffisphaera bulbochaete n. sp.; L. longihastis n. sp.; L. turriformis n. sp.).     

Opisthobranchiate Mollusca from Tanzania (Suborder:Doridacea)

Twenty-two species of Doridacea are described from the vicinity of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. None is new to science, but one species of the genus Gymnodoris was too immature to be fully identified. Ten of the 22 species are known from the Hawaiian Islands, indicating that many species of dorid occur throughout the Indian Ocean and the Pacific as far as Hawaii. One species (Jorunna tomentosa) appears to be cosmopolitan, and two may possibly be confined to the coast of Africa (Chromodoris annulata and C. vicind).
Sixty-nine species of dorid have already been reported from Tanzania by Eliot. Nine species in the present collection were not found by him, so 78 are now known from the area.     

EVIDENCE THAT AN OUTCROSSING POPULATION IS A DERIVED LINEAGE IN A HERMAPHRODITIC FISH (RIVULUS MARMORATUS)

Rivulus marmoratus is the only known vertebrate with obligate, synchronous hermaphroditic fertilization. Males can be experimentally induced in the laboratory and are rare or absent in most populations, but at the isolated Twin Cays, Belize, locality, males are relatively abundant. At this locality, evidence of outcrossing has been documented in this otherwise automictic cloning species. Phylogenetic analysis of restriction sites and sequence characters revealed that all Florida and Belize western Caribbean populations (including Twin Cays) are phyletically indistinguishable yet divergent from eastern populations in Brazil and the Bahamas. Further, these western lineages shared a common ancestor more recently than all other populations. Therefore, the Twin Cays population is not a remnant ancestral outcrossing population. Outcrossing is suspected to have evolved as a phenotypically plastic character, and its expression in R. marmoratus may be dormant unless triggered by some ecological factor that is not well understood.     

A new species of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Comocladia</Emphasis> (Anacardiaceae) from Belize and Guatemala

Comocladia mayana, a new species of Anacardiaceae, is described, mapped and illustrated. The species is endemic to western Belize and adjacent Guatemala and is restricted to semi-deciduous moist forest on karstic limestone formations. It differs from all other Comocladia species by the combination of entire to subentire, acuminate leaflets and tetramerous staminate flowers.     

Two new species of Edmockfordia García Aldrete (Psocodea, ‘Psocoptera’, Epipsocidae), from Valle del Cauca,Colombia, and description of the female E. chiquibulensis García Aldrete

Two new species of Edmockfordia García Aldrete, from Valle del Cauca, Colombia, and the female of Edmockfordia chiquibulensis García Aldrete, are described and illustrated. A key to the species of Edmockfordia is included; the genus was previously known only from Belize. The genus is re-diagnosed to include female characters. The distribution of the genus is considerably widened, from Belize to northeastern South America.     

The chalcidoid genus Leptofoenus (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae)

Abstract. The world species of Leptofoenus (Chalcidoidea; Pteromalidae; Cleonyminae) are revised, and a key given for the six known species. One new species, rufus, is described, and two new synonymies proposed (phantasma and ashmeadi as junior synonyms of pelecinifor-mis). Lectotypes are designated for peleciniformis, westwoodi, and howardi. New distributional records are presented, including the first record of this genus from the Nearctic, rufus from Arizona and California (U.S.A.). Important characters and relationships between the species are discussed.     

Revision of the genus Buluka de Saeger (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Microgastrinae)

Abstract Buluka , a genus previously only known from two species, B.straeleni de Saeger from central and southern Africa and B.orientalis Chou from Taiwan, is revised. A further five new species are described: B.noyesi (central India), B.townesi, B.achterbergi (peninsular Malaysia), B. huddlestoni (Solomon Is.) and B. taiwanensis (Taiwan). New characters of generic importance, a key to species and the first host record are presented. The relationship between Buluka and other microgastrine genera are discussed.     

Development of in situ hybridization and RT-PCR assay for the detection of a nodavirus (PvNV) that causes muscle necrosis in Penaeus vannamei

A nodavirus (tentatively named PvNV, Penaeus vannamei nodavirus) that causes muscle necrosis in P. vannamei was found in Belize in 2004. From 2004 to 2006, shrimp samples collected from Belize exhibited clinical signs, white, opaque lesions in the tails and histopathology similar to those of shrimps infected by infectious myonecrosis virus (IMNV). Histological examination revealed multifocal necrosis and hemocytic fibrosis in the skeletal muscle. In addition, basophilic, cytoplasmic inclusions were found in striated muscle, lymphoid organ and connective tissues. However, IMNV was not detected in these shrimps by either RT-PCR or in situ hybridization, suggesting that these lesions may be caused by another RNA virus. Thus, a cDNA library was constructed from total RNA extracted from hemolymph collected from infected shrimp. One clone (designated PvNV-4) with a 928 bp insert was sequenced and found to be similar (69% similarity when comparing the translated amino acid sequences) to the capsid protein gene of MrNV (Macrobrachium rosenbergii nodavirus). The insert of PvNV-4 was labeled with digoxigenin-11-deoxyuridine triphosphate (dUTP) and hybridized to tissue sections of P. vannamei with muscle necrosis collected in Belize and from laboratory bioassays. The samples were positive for PvNV infection. Positively reacting tissues included skeletal muscle, connective tissues, the lymphoid organ, and hemocytes in the heart and gills. In addition, we experimentally infected both P. vannamei and P. monodon with PvNV prepared from Belize samples. A nested RT-PCR assay developed from the PvNV-4 cloned sequence showed that both species are susceptible to PvNV infection.     

The cohune palm (Orbignya cohune,Arecaceae) in Belize: A survey of uses

Although common throughout Belize in lowland forests and agricultural systems, the cohune palm,Orbignya cohune is relatively little used compared with its historic importance, according to a 1992 survey discussed here. Among uses found to persist are leaves for thatch, fruits for oil, and palm heart as food. Exploitation required only simple technology and was most notable at socio-economic extremes. Areas from which cohunes were exploited rarely coincided with high-density stands of the species. Alternatives exist for all cohune products. It seems unlikely that this palm will be the basis of a large-scale industry in Belize, primarily because of the uncertainty of wild yields and the widespread availability of alternatives.