Parasitic copepods of fishes: a new genus of the Hatschekiidae from New Caledonia,and new records of the Pennellidae,Sphyriidae and Lernanthropidae from the South Atlantic and South Pacific

A new genus and species of the Hatschekiidae, Laminohatschekia synaphobranchi, is described from an eel caught off New Caledonia. It is characterised by its long ribbon-like trunk and by the possession of three pairs of biramous legs. The pennellid Sarcotretes scopeli is redescribed from a macrourid also taken off New Caledonia. Sarcotretes lobatus is recognised as a synonym of S. scopeli. Phrixocephalus carcellesi is described in detail for the first time, from the stomach contents of a King Shag caught in the Falkland Islands. A wide range of individual variability in holdfast structure was noted in P. carcellesi. A new species, Peniculisa bellwoodi, is described from Pomacentrus amboiensis collected at Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef. The sphyriid Lophoura cornuta is redescribed from a synaphobranchid eel caught off New Caledonia and both sexes of a lernanthropid, Aethon morelandi, are redescribed from Nemadactylus macropterus in southern Australia.     

A new species of the genus Spiroxys (Nematoda; Spiruroidea) from Australian chelonians of the genus Chelodina (Chelidae)

Summary Spiroxys chelodinae n. sp. is described from Australia in three species of freshwater chelonian, Chelodina longicollis, C. expansa and C. oblonga and from New Guinea in an unidentified freshwater chelonian. S. chelodinae differs from other species of the genus in having pseudolabia each with a blunt, prominent, cuticular projection (tooth) on the middle lobe and no other cuticular prominences, a cuticular collar without spines or protrusions, and a gubernaculum with tubes through which the spicules pass. Larvae (probably fourth-stage larvae of S. chelodinae) are also described. This is the first record of a Spiroxys sp. from the Australian Region, and from a host group (suborder Pleurodira), which has a Gondwana distribution. This is discussed in relation to the zoogeography of the genus Spiroxys and it is postulated that Australian chelids acquired this parasite from non-marine cryptodires (possibly carettochelyids or trionychids). In addition, a Spiroxys sp. is recorded from Nigeria, constituting the first such record from the Ethiopian Region. It was found in Pelusius subniger, thus constituting the second record of a Spiroxys species in a pleurodire.     

A REVISION OF THE GENUS GYMNODERMA

Gymnoderma, which has been considered a monotypic genus, is composed of three species. G. insulare is described from Japan and differs from G. coccocarpum of southeastern Asia in being smaller and having a thicker cortex with didymic acid present. G. lineare from the Southern Appalachians is transferred from Cladonia because the podetia lack symbiotic algae, are solid, and are located on the marginal lower side of the thallus. Gymnoderma, including three species and possibly representing an ancestral form of Cladonia, is disjunctively distributed in eastern Asia and the Southern Appalachians. G. coccocarpum is reported from Thailand and Borneo for the first time.     

A review of encyrtid wasps of the genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Anicetus</Emphasis> Howard, 1896 (Hymenoptera,Chalcidoidea, Encyrtidae) of the new world,Hawaiian Islands,and Australia with description of new species from Mexico

The review contains a characteristic (with diagnosis) of the genus Anicetus Howard, 1896, a key to the females of the 12 species known from the New World, the Hawaiian Islands, and Australia, and a synopsis of the species with data on their distribution, hosts, biology, ecesis, and use in biological control of injurious coccids. Two new species are described from Mexico: Anicetus myartsevae sp. n. and A. villarreali sp. n. Anicetus carolinensis J. Meyer, 2001 from the USA is excluded from the genus and transferred to Homosemion Annecke, 1967. A new combination is established: Anicetus argentinus (Fidalgo, 1979), comb. n. from Paraceraptrocerus Girault, 1920, which is a synonym of Anicetus. The paper is based on the author’s work in the insect depositories of the USA (Washington, San Francisco, and Riverside), Mexico (Ciudad Victoria), and Russia (St. Petersburg). Anicetus myartsevae sp. n. is compared with the Mexican A. primus (Howard, 1898), from which it differs in the antennal scape half as long dorsally as at base (as long as that in A. primus), the legs more or less extensively dark (mainly yellow in A. primus), and the face with a dark transverse stripe (without stripe in A. primus). Anicetus villarrieli sp. n. is a short-winged species.     

Four new dinoflagellates

Fragilidium fissile is a new species of this rare genus. It somewhat resemblesF. subglobosum. It differs from the latter in having a slot and a pore in the first apical plate 1′ (the nomenclature of dinoflagellate plate designation follows the Kofoid system). Both species are also distinguishable by noticeable differences in Po, 1″″ and 1‴.Peridinium tyrrhenicum is a small species differing from all the other known species ofPeridinium in its shape, apical channel and several plates, especially some of the sulcal components.Alexandrium foedum somewhat resemblesA. balechii, but it differs from the latter in that its width is greater than its length, and in the characters of all the main sulcal plates. The above listed species were found in a sample from the Tyrrhenian Sea. The fourth species,Alexandrium andersoni, is a small dinoflagellate obtained in coastal waters off Cape Cod. It differs from all the other species of the minutum group in the very typical shapes of both the 6″ and the S. s.Pentapharsodinium daleii Indelicato and Loeblich is transferred toPeridinium.     

Taxonomy and phylogeny of Puccinia lagenophorae: a study using rDNA sequence data, morphological and host range features

Puccinia lagenophorae is a rust fungus originating from Australasia which has spread throughout the world. A phylogenetic analysis of taxa related to this species was performed using rDNA (LSU, ITS) sequence data. The analyses revealed a well-supported cluster including all specimens of P. lagenophorae. By evaluating morphological and sequence data, the species is taxonomically re-defined and a list of synonyms is provided. Puccinia distincta on Bellis perennis, a species recently separated from P. lagenophorae, P. saccardoi, a species on the Goodeniaceae, and P. byliana, a species so far only known from South Africa, are reduced to synonymy in P. lagenophorae, as are several other species. Our analysis indicates that P. lagenophorae is likely not derived from the northern hemisphere species P. obscura, but from a species from Australia host-alternating between Asteraceae (aecial host) and Cyperaceae/Juncaceae (telial host). Another related species, P. stylidii (on Stylidium sp., Stylidiaceae) may have been derived from the same parental species as P. lagenophorae. From ontogenetical and morphological studies, the presence of pycnia could not be confirmed in the life cycle of this species, and the width of the pedicel of teliospores at the point of attachment was found to be highly variable and not a taxonomic character. The number of known host species is approximately 150, including 41 new host plants recorded herein.     

Taxonomic and molecular studies of the family Sebdeniaceae (Sebdeniales,Rhodophyta): new species of Lesleigha gen. nov. and Crassitegula from Hawaii,east Asia and Lord Howe Island

The genus Lesleigha gen. nov., based on L. hawaiiensis sp. nov. from Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands, is characterized morphologically and anatomically and strongly supported as distinct from the other genera of the family Sebdeniaceae (Sebdenia and Crassitegula) primarily on the basis of mitochondrial COI-5P and nuclear SSU and LSU ribosomal DNA sequences. Characters distinguishing Lesleigha from Sebdenia include the repent, dorsiventral habit, nemathecial tetrasporangia, and irregularly cruciate tetrasporangial division pattern. Although these features are equally displayed by the recently described Crassitegula from Bermuda, that genus appears to differ from Lesleigha anatomically by its lack of a fusion cell subtending the gonimoblast, although in the absence of carposporophytes it is virtually necessary that DNA-sequence analyses be conducted before a distinction between Lesleigha and Crassitegula can be certain. Besides Lesleigha hawaiiensis, L. howensis sp. nov. is newly described from Lord Howe Island in the southern Pacific, and the Japanese and Korean Sebdenia yamadae is transferred to Lesleigha as L. yamadae, based on habit and anatomical conformity as well as DNA sequences. In addition, a new species of Crassitegula, C. imitans, is described from Lord Howe Island. The existence of further sebdenialean taxa is documented although not formally treated, indicating that substantial additional diversity most likely still awaits discovery in this reputedly species-poor order.     

Spinicauda voltaensis n.sp. (Nematoda: Heterakoidea) from a toad of Upper Volta,Africa

Summary Spinicauda voltaensis n.sp. is described from a toad, Bufo sp., from Upper Volta, Africa. It differs from other Spinicauda spp. in the number, distribution and size of caudal papillae in males, in the lack of a gubernaculum, and in the possession of markedly elongate spicules and a relatively short male tail. S. mathevossianae Skarbilovich, 1950, is probably a synonym of Aplectana acuminata (Schrank, 1788) (Cosmocercidae). S. komodoensis Pinnell & Schmidt, 1977, is transferred to Moaciria.     

Studies on marine algae of the British Isles. 10. The genus Rhodymenia

Antarcticothamnion polysporum gen. et sp. nov. (Rhodophyceae: Ceramiaceae) is described from the South Shetland Is. and the Antarctic Peninsula. It differs from all previously described Ceramiaceae in vegetative structure: an indeterminate apex, which divides by alternating oblique septa, produces simple alternate-distichous determinate branches, while indeterminate branches are initiated on main axes in a verticillate arrangement. Reproductive structures are borne on modified indeterminate branch systems. Sporangia are polyhedrally divided. Spermatangia are formed in loose heads. Procarps are borne near the apex, but not always on the subapical cell, of a fertile branch. Two auxiliary cells may participate in the formation of a carposporophyte. A fusion cell is lacking and most cells of the gonimoblast develop into carposporangia, which are binucleate.

The suite of morphological characters exhibited by Antarcticothamnion sets this genus sufficiently apart from all previously described Ceramiaceae to warrant placement in its own tribe, Antarcticothamnieae trib. nov. It shares important features, however, with Callithamnieae, Compsothamnieae, and Ptiloteae.

Apical division is reviewed in the various tribes of Ceramiaceae. It is concluded that a pattern of alternating oblique septa is correlated with transitory or chronic structural imbalance resulting from a particular combination of timing and spatial sequence in the initiation and development of branches. The distribution of oblique apical division within Ceramiaceae is strongly correlated with features generally considered to be important at the level of tribe.

Phylogenetic relationships within Ptiloteae, a tribe characterized inter alia by oblique apical division, are suggested from an analysis of branching patterns. The validity of Falklandiella as a genus distinct from Dasyptilon is emphasized. Gymnothamnion and Tokidaea are removed from Ptiloteae, but without being assigned to another tribe. Tanakaella is removed from Sphondylothamnieae to Compsothamnieae, while Mazoyerella is removed from Compsothamnieae to Spermothamnieae.

Spongoclonium orthocladum A. et E. S. Gepp is discussed as a possible species of Antarcticothamnion, while an undescribed alga from the South Orkney Is. is definitely indicated as a second species of the genus.     

The Neotropical species of Notalina,a southern group of long-horned caddisflies (Trichoptera: Leptoceridae)*

The leptocerid trichopteran genus Notalina is recorded from the South American continent for the first time. Seven new species are described in it and placed in a new subgenus, Neonotalina: N.brasiliana, N.morsei, N.cipo and N.hamiltoni from southeastern Brazil, comprise the brasiliana species-group, and N.roraima from Venezuela, N.nanay from Peru and N.matthiasi from Colombia form the roraima species-group. Notalina (Neonotalina) is identifiable by the presence of a long, slender baso-mesal process on the male inferior appendage. The two species-groups may be distinguished by the morphology of the male phallus. The historical biogeography of the genus in South America is discussed.     

The subfamily classification of the Micropezidae and the genera of Eurybatinae (Diptera: Schizophora)

The classification of the family Micropezidae is re-examined and a key is given to the five subfamilies now recognised, of which Calycopteryginae is described as new and Eurybatinae is raised from tribal rank. Metopochetini is a new tribe of Eurybatinae. A key is given to the nine genera now included in the Eurybatinae, of which Papeza is described as new. P.szentivanyi is a new species from Papua. Notes on the taxonomy and distribution of genera are included. The position of Anaeropsis Bigot in the Micropezidae is confirmed. New synonymies are established as follows: Crepidochetus Enderlein (= Gongylocephala Czerny syn. n.); Metopochetus bivittatus (Macquart) (= Calobata tenuipes Walker syn. n.). New generic combinations are as follows: Metopochetus terminalis (Walker) and M.compressus (Walker) from Calobata; Crepidochetus nigrifemur (Czerny), C.pallidus (Steyskal), and Cater (Steyskal) from Gongylocephala; Crosa fragilis (Walker) from Micropeza; Crosa nigriventris (Enderlein) and C.uneifera (de Meijere) from Eurybata.     

A new cytoplasmic male sterile genotype in the sugar beet Beta vulgaris L.: a molecular analysis

Summary Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from fertile (N) and possibly new cytoplasmic male sterile (CMS) genotypes was studied in the sugar beet Beta vulgaris L. It was found by restriction endonuclease analysis that BMC-CMS, a cytoplasm that was derived from the wild beet Beta maritima, contained a unique type of mtDNA which is distinguishable from both the N and S-CMS, the only other CMS genotype that is currently availabe in B. vulgaris L. The organization of three genes: coxI, coxII and cob, was analyzed by hybridization with heterologous probes from maize. These genes have a similar structure in N and BMC-CMS that is different from S-CMS. It is concluded that BMC-CMS is a novel CMS genotype in the sugar beet.     

Melogonimus rhodanometra n. g., n. sp. (Digenea: Ptychogonimidae) from the elasmobranch Rhina ancylostoma Bloch & Schneider (Rhinobatidae) from the southeastern coastal waters of Queensland,Australia

The new genus Melogonimus is defined and adults of its type-species, M. rhodanometra n. sp., are described from Rhina ancylostoma from Moreton Bay, Queensland. This is the first record of a digenean from this host species. It is argued that metacercariae from the portunid crab Portunus pelagicus from Hervey Bay, off Queensland, belong to M. rhodanometra. The definition of the family Ptychogonimidae is amended, and a key to its two genera is given. Melogonimus is characterised by a smooth genital atrium wall, a large sinus-organ, a large muscular seminal vesicle, a weakly developed pars prostatica, a pre-testicular uterus and confluent post-testicular vitelline fields.     

Phyllobothrium discopygi n. sp. (Cestoda: Tetraphyllidea) from Chile,with a critical comparison of the affinities of P. auricula van Beneden, 1858 and P. foliatum Linton, 1890

Phyllobothrium discopygi n. sp. is described from the spiral valve of Discopyge tschudi Heckel, 1846 (Torpedinidae) taken in the Pacific Ocean off Coquimbo, San Antonio and Antofagasta, Chile, Specimens are described from whole-mounts, sections and SEM. Phyllobothrium discopygi is distinguished from other tetraphyllidean cestodes of the genus Phyllobothrium van Beneden, 1849 by a bifurcate scolex with bothridia joined in pairs, short neck, testes number and distribution, and morphology of the vitelline follicles and ovary. Phyllobothrium foliatum Linton, 1890 is considered a junior synonym of P. auricula van Beneden, 1858 following comparisons of P. auricula from D. pastinaca, Linton's holotype of P. foliatum from D. centroura and fresh specimens from D. centroura taken in waters near Woods Hole, Massachusetts. A meristic comparison of the adult worms is presented.     

Molecular phylogeny and evolution of the genus Neoerysiphe (Erysiphaceae, Ascomycota)

The genus Neoerysiphe belongs to the tribe Golovinomyceteae of the Erysiphaceae together with the genera Arthrocladiella and Golovinomyces. This is a relatively small genus, comprising only six species, and having ca 300 species from six plant families as hosts. To investigate the molecular phylogeny and evolution of the genus, we determined the nucleotide sequences of the rDNA ITS regions and the divergent domains D1 and D2 of the 28S rDNA. The 30 ITS sequences from Neoerysiphe are divided into three monophyletic groups that are represented by their host families. Groups 1 and 3 consist of N. galeopsidis from Lamiaceae and N. galii from Rubiaceae, respectively, and the genetic diversity within each group is extremely low. Group 2 is represented by N. cumminsiana from Asteraceae. This group also includes Oidium baccharidis, O. maquii, and Oidium spp. from Galinsoga (Asteraceae) and Aloysia (Verbenaceae), and is further divided into four subgroups. N. galeopsidis is distributed worldwide, but is especially common in western Eurasia from Central Asia to Europe. N. galii is also common in western Eurasia. In contrast, the specimens of group 2 were all collected in the New World, except for one specimen that was collected in Japan; this may indicate a close relationship of group 2 with the New World. Molecular clock calibration demonstrated that Neoerysiphe split from other genera of the Erysiphaceae ca 35–45 M years ago (Mya), and that the three groups of Neoerysiphe diverged between 10 and 15 Mya, in the Miocene. Aloysia citriodora is a new host for the Erysiphaceae and the fungus on this plant is described as O. aloysiae sp. nov.     

Schizymenia jonssonii sp. nov. (Nemastomatales,Rhodophyta): a relict or an introduction into the North Atlantic after the last glacial maximum?

North-Atlantic records of Schizymenia dubyi extend along the eastern shores of the North Atlantic from Morocco to southern Britain and Ireland, and the species is also recorded from Iceland. A study was undertaken to confirm the identity of the specimens from Iceland that were geographically separate from the main distribution of S. dubyi and in contrast to other species of the genus did not have gland cells. We analyzed rbcL and COI molecular sequence data from Icelandic specimens and compared the results with those for Schizymenia specimens available in GenBank. For both markers, Schizymenia was shown to be a monophyletic genus. The Icelandic specimens were clearly genetically distinct from S. dubyi and formed a well-supported clade with Schizymenia species from the Northern Pacific. Based on these results, we have described a new species, Schizymenia jonssonii, which can be distinguished by molecular phylogeny, its lack of gland cells and by being strictly intertidal. Crustose tetrasporophytes with identical COI and rbcL sequences were found at the same locations as foliose plants. Schizymenia apoda is reported for the first time in the UK, its identity confirmed by rbcL sequence data. In light of these findings, it is likely that by further molecular analysis of the genus Schizymenia in the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, a higher diversity of Schizymenia spp. will be discovered in this region.     

Phylogenetic Framework for Trema (Celtidaceae)

We used ITS and trnL sequence data, analyzed separately and combined by MP, to explore species relationships and concepts in Trema (Celtidaceae), a pantropical genus of pioneer trees. Whether Trema is monophyletic or includes Parasponia is still unresolved. Three clades within Trema received moderate to high support, one from the New World and two from the Old World, but their relationships were not resolved. In the New World, specimens of T. micrantha formed two groups consistent with endocarp morphology. Group I, with smaller brown endocarps, is a highly supported clade sister to T. lamarckiana. Group II, with larger black endocarps, is poorly resolved with several subclades, including the highly supported T. integerrima clade. Both Old World clades contain Asian and African species, with three or more species in each region. Trema orientalis is not monophyletic: specimens from Africa formed a highly supported clade sister to T. africana, while those from Asia were sister to T. aspera from Australia.     

N-linked glycosylation in Archaea: two paths to the same glycan

N‐linked protein glycosylation occurs in all three branches of life, eukaryotes, bacteria and archaea. The simplest system is that of the bacterium, Campylobacter jejuni, in which a heptasaccharide glycan is added to multiple proteins from a single lipid carrier molecule. In the eukaryotic system a conserved tetradecasaccharide modification is first added to target proteins, but is then modified by trimming and addition of other glycans from additional carrier molecules resulting in a diverse array of glycans of distinct functionality. In the halophilic Archaea from the Dead Sea, Haloferax volcanii, the surface array or S‐layer protein is glycosylated with a pentasaccharide. This glycan is synthesized from two separate carrier molecules, one that carries a tetrasaccharide and another that carries the terminal mannose, in a process that is analogous to that of eukaryotes. In this issue of Molecular Microbiology the glycosylation of the S‐layer of another halophilic Archaea from the Dead Sea, Haloarcula marismortui is characterized ( Calo et al., 2011 ). This S‐layer is glycosylated with the same pentasaccharide as that of Hfx. volcanii, but the intact pentasaccharide is synthesized on a single carrier molecule in Har. marismortui in a process that more closely resembles that of the bacterial N‐linked system.     

Taxonomic revision of the cestodes of the family Progynotaeniidae (Cyclophyllidea) parasitising stone curlews (Charadriiformes: Burhinidae)

The type series of Progynotaenia evaginata Fuhrmann, 1909 from Burhinus senegalensis in Sudan, P. foetida Meggitt, 1928 from B. oedicnemus in Egypt and Angularia australis Maplestone, 1921 from B. grallarius in Australia are redescribed. As a comparative material, specimens of P. evaginata from B. oedicnemus in Kazakhstan were studied. The type-series of P. evaginata and P. foetida were found to be heterogeneous due to the presence of scoleces and fragments of cestodes of the genus Stenovaria Spasskii & Borgarenko, 1973 (Dilepididae). For P. foetida, a lectotype is designated. P. foetida is recognised as a synonym of P. evaginata (new synonymy). Angularia australis, previously considered a member of the Dilepididae, is transferred to the Progynotaeniidae as a synonym of P. evaginata (new synonymy). The synonymy of P. indica Johri, 1963 with P. evaginata, proposed by Ryzhikov & Tolkacheva (1981), is supported. The host range and the geographical distribution of P. evaginata are restricted to birds of the genus Burhinus from the Eastern Hemisphere.     

MOLECULAR DELINEATION OF SPECIES AND SPECIES RELATIONSHIPS IN THE RED ALGAL AGAROPHYTES GRACILARIOPSIS AND GRACILARIA (GRACILARIALES)1

Delineation of species in the economically important agarophyte genera Gracilaria and Gracilariopsis has proven extremely difficult using available morphological characteristics. In this study, we examine the usefulness of two transcribed spacers for molecular systematic studies of these genera. The polymerase chain reaction was used to amplify the internal transcribed spacers (ITSs) and the intervening 5.8S ribosomal DNA of the nuclear ribosomal repeat region. In addition, a plastid spacer region and flanking regions of coding genes were amplified from the RUBISCO operon. Both regions were sequenced for individuals and populations of Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis (Bory) Dawson, Acleto, et Foldvik to determine the usefulness of these spacers in delimiting populations. These studies reveal that there is as much variation among individuals of a population as there is between individuals of geographically separate populations. In addition, the ITS spacer regions were compared between different species of Gracilariopsis and Gracilaria. The nuclear ITS spacer region is conserved at a species level in both genera and provides phylogenetically informative characters that can be used to examine species interrelationships among relatively closely related taxa. However, because of the difficulties of aligning this entire region among species from the two genera, the ITS region is not useful for examining intergenera relationships. ITS interspecies sequence comparisons indicate that Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis from California is significantly different from G. lemaneiformis from China and that a species of Gracilariopsis from Peru is more closely related to G. lemaneiformis from North Carolina than it is to the other Gracilariopsis species examined. In addition, these studies indicate that Gracilaria chilensis Bird, McLachlan, et Oliveira from New Zealand and Gracilaria tenuistipitata Chang et Xia from southeast Asia are as closely related as are Gracilaria verrucosa (Hudson) Papenfuss, G. pacifica Abbott, and Gracilaria robusta Kylin. Phylogenetic analysis of aligned plastid spacer sequences from Gracilaria and Gracilariopsis taxa provide similar conclusions about species relationships.