NORTH CAROLINA MARINE ALGAE. VI. SOME CERAMIALES (RHODOPHYTA), INCLUDING A NEW SPECIES OF DIPTEROSIPHONIA1

Six members of the Ceramiales are added to the flora of North Carolina. Two of these, Acrosorium uncinatum (Turner) Kylin and, Rhododictyon bermudensis Taylor, are also reported from South Carolina for the first time. One species, Mesothamnion boergeseni Joly, was previously known only from Brazil and another, Dipterosiphonia reversa sp. nov., is added to the algal literature for the first time. Evidence is presented for the reassignment of R. bermudensis from the Dasyaceae to the Ceramiaceae.     

Notes on the genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Inocybe</Emphasis> of Japan. IV. Species having metuloids collected from Hokkaido,Honshu, and Kyushu

This fourth paper in the series considers five species of Inocybe occurring in Hokkaido, Honshu, and Kyushu. (1) Inocybe furfurea (section Tardae) is recorded from Hokkaido as new to Japan. (2) Inocybe luteola sp. nov. (section Tardae) is described from eastern Honshu (Chiba). It has smooth basidiospores and thick-walled caulocystidia descending to the middle of the stipe. (3) Inocybe napiformis sp. nov. [section Inocybe (= Cortinatae)], known from Hokkaido, appears close to Inocybe napipes, but characters of the metuloids distinguish the two species. (4) Inocybe grammata (section Marginatae) is recorded from Hokkaido and Nagano as new to Japan. (5) Inocybe pyriformis sp. nov. (section Marginatae) is described from Kyushu (Miyazaki). It has nodulose basidiospores and caulocystidia wholly covering the stipe surface. However, I. pyriformis is not typical in the section, lacking a marginate bulbous base in its stipe.     

Eight new species of the genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mycena</Emphasis> from central Honshu,Japan

Eight new species of the genus Mycena (Agaricales) found on dead leaves or twigs in warm temperate lowland forests are described and illustrated from central Honshu, Japan: (1) Mycena fonticola sp. nov. (section Fragilipedes); (2) Mycena intersecta sp. nov. (section Fragilipedes); (3) Mycena lanuginosa sp. nov. (section Fragilipedes); (4) Mycena mustea sp. nov. (section Fragilipedes); (5) Mycena multiplicata sp. nov. (section Mycena); (6) Mycena nidificata sp. nov. (section Hiemales); (7) Mycena fuscoaurantiaca sp. nov. (section Fragilipedes); and (8) Mycena clariviolacea sp. nov. (section Fragilipedes).     

Asiaontsira gen. nov., a new tropical genus of the subfamily Doryctinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) from Vietnam and South‐East China

A new genus, Asiaontsira gen. nov., and two new species, A. cucphuongi sp. nov. (type species) and A. cantonica sp. nov., are described from tropical and subtropical areas of South‐East China and North Vietnam. This genus is compared to the closely related Australian Ontsirospathius Belokobylskij, Iqbal and Austin, 2004 as well as the similar and almost cosmopolitan genus Ontsira Cameron, 1900. A key to both species of Asiaontsira gen. nov. is provided.     

A new Permian ammonoid fauna of the Kobylka River (North Urals)

A new ammonoid fauna from the Artinskian-Kungurian boundary beds is described from the Kobylka River basin (North Urals). Two new species, Sakmarites tardus sp. nov. and Paragastrioceras kobylkense sp. nov., are described.     

Systematics and biodiversity of Ophryotrocha (Annelida,Dorvilleidae) with descriptions of six new species from deep-sea whale-fall and wood-fall habitats in the north-east Pacific

Six new Ophryotrocha species are described from five whale-falls and two wood-falls off the southern Californian coast. Phylogenetic analyses based on the nuclear gene H3 and the mitochondrial genes COI and 16S using MrBayes and maximum likelihood analyses were performed on 40 dorvilleid taxa and one outgroup. Ophryotrocha batillus sp. nov. is morphologically identical to Ophryotrocha scutellus described from a shallow water whale-fall in the North Atlantic, although the two cryptic species differ genetically. Ophryotrocha langstrumpae sp. nov. is closely related in the molecular phylogenetic analyses to these two sibling species. Ophryotrocha flabella sp. nov. is similar to Ophryotrocha globopalpata, and although there are a few morphological differences, the genetic divergence is low between the two species. Ophryotrocha nauarchus sp. nov. is sexually dimorphic, with males having appendages on the first chaetiger. Ophryotrocha magnadentata sp. nov. and Ophryotrocha longicollaris sp. nov. are sister species in our molecular analyses, and together with O. nauarchus sp. nov. and O. flabella sp. nov. they fall within a clade that includes O. globopalpata and Exallopus jumarsi described from hydrothermal vents in the Pacific Ocean and Ophryotrocha longidentata from the shallow North Atlantic. Our results highlight the remarkable unknown diversity of deep-water habitats and the role of chemosynthetic ecosystems in the evolution of deep-sea life.     

NORTH CAROLINA MARINE ALGAE. IX. ONSLOWIA ENDOPHYTICA GEN. ET SP. NOV. (PHAEOPHYTA,SPHACELARIALES) AND NOTES ON OTHER NEW RECORDS FOR NORTH CAROLINA1

Four benthic algae are reported here for the first time in the North Carolina flora. The new brown algal genus and species, Onslowia endophytica Searles, is described as an endophyte of Halymenia floridana from the North Carolina continental shelf. New records of Boodleopsis pusilla and Naccaria corymbosa from North Carolina constitute range extensions of these tropical species on the American coast north from Florida. Blastophysa rhizopus, an endophyte and epiphyte known from the North Atlantic coast of Europe and America as well as the Caribbean is reported from North Carolina for the first time and in a new host, Predaea feldmannii.     

Rugiloricus bacatus sp. nov. (Loricifera ‐Pliciloricidae) and a ghost‐larva with paedogenetic reproduction

Abstract

A new species of Loricifera, Rugiloricus bacatus sp. nov. is described together with the diagnoses of two other Rugiloricus species, Rugiloricus sp. nov. A and B, from the Faroe Bank (North Atlantic). Characteristic for all three species is the presence of a new type of reduced larva, a ghost‐larva. This type of reduced larva was discovered in 1986 by Jeanne Renaud‐Mornant, but it was with the Faroe Bank material that it was first discovered that the ghost‐larvae belonged to the phylum Loricifera. The ghost‐larvae are eitherfound inside late instar Higgins‐larvae, called penultimate Higgins‐larvae, or in the sediment. The three types of Higgins‐larvae from the Faroe Bank can be distinguished by characters such as anterior setae, posterior setae and toes. The adults of Rugiloricus bacatus sp. nov. are characterised by a prominent ruff resembling a pearl necklace; two of the eight clavoscalids are modified in the 1st row; the 2nd row of leg‐shaped scalids are very large and robust, and the 9th row with 30 beak‐like scalids alternating with 30 alternating plates. The postlarvae are free‐living and their scalids on the introvert are reduced to protoscalids. Postlarvae and adult stages have not been found for Rugiloricus sp. nov. A and B and therefore only diagnoses of these two species are presented here.     

Systematics of Cladophora spp. (Chlorophyta) from North Carolina,USA, based upon morphology and DNA sequence data with a description of Cladophora subtilissima sp. nov.

Identification of Cladophora species is challenging due to conservation of gross morphology, few discrete autapomorphies, and environmental influences on morphology. Twelve species of marine Cladophora were reported from North Carolina waters. Cladophora specimens were collected from inshore and offshore marine waters for DNA sequence and morphological analyses. The nuclear‐encoded rRNA internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS) were sequenced for 105 specimens and used in molecular assisted identification. The ITS1 and ITS2 region was highly variable, and sequences were sorted into ITS Sets of Alignable Sequences (SASs). Sequencing of short hyper‐variable ITS1 sections from Cladophora type specimens was used to positively identify species represented by SASs when the types were made available. Secondary structures for the ITS1 locus were also predicted for each specimen and compared to predicted structures from Cladophora sequences available in GenBank. Nine ITS SASs were identified and representative specimens chosen for phylogenetic analyses of 18S and 28S rRNA gene sequences to reveal relationships with other Cladophora species. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that marine Cladophorales were polyphyletic and separated into two clades, the Cladophora clade and the “Siphonocladales” clade. Morphological analyses were performed to assess the consistency of character states within species, and complement the DNA sequence analyses. These analyses revealed intra‐ and interspecific character state variation, and that combined molecular and morphological analyses were required for the identification of species. One new report, Cladophora dotyana, and one new species Cladophora subtilissima sp. nov., were revealed, and increased the biodiversity of North Carolina marine Cladophora to 14 species.     

Thermoleophilum album gen. nov. and sp. nov., a bacterium obligate for thermophily and n-alkane substrates

Several bacterial strains that are obligate for both thermophily and hydrocarbon utilization have been isolated from a number of thermal and non-thermal environments. Mud and water samples obtained from geographic sites across the United States were subjected to enrichment procedures at 60° C with n-heptadecane as sole growth substrate. Organisms forming very small white colonies on agar surfaces were often evident on primary enrichment. These bacteria were Gram negative, aerobic, small, and rodshaped. They lacked pigmentation, motility, and the ability to form endospores. Growth occurred in the temperature range from 45° C to 70° C with the optimum around 60° C and at a pH near neutrality. Only n-alkanes from 13 to 20 carbons in length were utilized by these organisms as growth substrate. The mol% guanine plus cytosine values for these strains were between 68 and 70%. The physiological and morphological characteristics of these organisms are distinctly different from any previously described thermophilic microbes. It is proposed that they be placed in a new genus, Thermoleophilum gen. nov. with the type species being Thermoleophilum album gen. nov., sp. nov. The type strain in ATCC 35263.Paper number 8953 of the Journal Series of the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service Raleigh, NC 27695, USA     

A new Spionidae (Polychaeta) from North Carolina, and a redescription of Marenzelleria wireni Augener, 1913, from Spitsbergen, with a key for all species of Marenzelleria

Marenzelleria bastropi, a new species of Spionidae (Polychaeta) from the brackish water Currituck Sound, North Carolina, is described. The new species is characterized by the great number of chaetigers between the first neuro- and notopodial hooded hooks, the extension of the nuchal organ up to the end of chaetiger 2/middle of chaetiger 3 and the presence of about 60–90 branchiate chaetigers. Marenzelleria bastropi sp. nov. is closely related to M. neglecta (Sikorski and Bick, 2004) and Marenzelleria viridis (Verrill, 1873). Marenzelleria wireni Augener, 1913 is described here for the first time from western Spitsbergen. Adult specimens are investigated and compared with specimens from other areas of distribution. A key for subadult and adult specimens of all Marenzelleria species is provided.     

Microcostatus schoemanii sp. nov., M. cholnokyi sp. nov. and M. angloensis sp. nov. three new terrestrial diatoms (Bacillariophyceae) from South Africa

The terrestrial diatom Microcostatus schoemanii sp. nov. is described from dry soils of the Faan Meintjies Nature Reserve (North‐West Province, South Africa). Microcostatus cholnokyi sp. nov. and Microcostatus angloensis sp. nov. are described from sandy soils at a colliery near the town of Kriel (Mpumalanga Province, South Africa). The morphology of these taxa is examined using both light and scanning electron microscopy and new taxa are compared with similar species. In M. schoemanii the density of the striae combined with the valve outline and the distance between the central raphe endings are the main distinguishing morphological features. M. cholnokyi is differentiated by the presence of a conopeum and the distinct structure of the microcostae. M. angloensis is similar to M. schoemanii but differentiated by the shape of the cell and the apices, the angle of striation and the distance in between the proximal raphe endings.     

Ammonites of Tethyan origin in the Ryazanian stage of the Russian platform: Genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Riasanella</Emphasis> gen. nov.

A new ammonite genus Riasanella is described from the Ryazanian Stage of the Russian Platform (type species R. rausingi sp. nov.). The new species R. plana sp. nov., R. olorizi sp. nov., and R. riasanitoides sp. nov. are described. These species come from the lower, strongly condensed beds of the Riasanites rjasanensis Zone of the Moscow Region. The upper subzone of this zone in the Ryazan Region contains specimens of Riasanella, identified in open nomenclature. The new genus is assigned to the family Himalayitidae; one of its species is a possible ancestor of Riasanites Spath.     

First reports of Grania (Clitellata: Enchytraeidae) from Africa and South America: molecular phylogeny and descriptions of nine new species

In this article, our knowledge of the geographic distribution of Grania species is expanded by describing seven new species, G rania bekkouchei sp. nov. , G rania brasiliensis sp. nov. , G rania capensis sp. nov. , G rania chilensis sp. nov. , G rania cryptica sp. nov. , G rania hinojosai sp. nov. , and G rania simonae sp. nov. , from poorly investigated regions of the Southern Hemisphere, plus two new species, G rania carolinensis sp. nov. and G rania unitheca sp. nov. , from off the east coast of the USA. An immature achaetous specimen that we call Grania cf. levis was also included. The newly generated data were combined with a previously published data set in order to update the hypothesis of phylogenetic relationships among Grania species. All new species except G . cryptica sp. nov. are supported by both morphological and molecular data. In addition, we find that G . chilensis sp. nov. is structured in at least four distinct populations along the Chilean coast. The species described from South Africa form a monophyletic clade where two are morphologically indistinguishable but diverging in both mitochondrial and nuclear ribosomal genes, and thus we describe them as different species, G . bekkouchei sp. nov. and G . cryptica sp. nov. Among the North Carolinian species, G . unitheca sp. nov. is indicated as a close relative of Grania monospermatheca Erséus & Lasserre, 1976, and G . carolinensis sp. nov. is indicated as a close relative of G. cf. levis. The updated phylogeny is strongly concordant with geographical species distributions, thus supporting a low level of dispersal within this genus, as has previously been hypothesized. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London     

A new elusive otodontid shark (Lamniformes: Otodontidae) from the lower Miocene,and comments on the taxonomy of otodontid genera,including the ‘megatoothed’ clade

We describe a new large otodontid lamniform shark, Megalolamna paradoxodon gen. nov. et sp. nov., chronostratigraphically restricted to the early Miocene (Aquitanian–Burdigalian). This new species is based on isolated teeth found from five globally distributed localities: the Jewett Sand in southern California, USA; the Pungo River Formation of North Carolina, USA; the Chilcatay Formation of Peru; the Oi Formation in Mie Prefecture, Japan; and the O’oshimojo Formation in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Extrapolations based on available published data on modern macrophagous lamniforms suggest that the largest specimen of M. paradoxodon gen. nov. et sp. nov. possibly came from an individual that measured at least 3.7 m in total length. All specimens came from deposits in the mid-latitudinal zones representing shallow-water, shelf-type, coastal environments. Its dentition likely exhibited monognathic heterodonty suited for capturing and cutting relatively large prey (e.g. medium-sized fishes). We recommend the genus Otodus to include sharks of the ‘megatoothed’ (e.g. megalodon) lineage in order to avoid Otodus paraphyly. We also propose the following phylogenetic hypothesis: [Kenolamna?+?[Cretalamna?+?[Megalolamna + Otodus]]].

ZooBank LSID for the genus Megalolamna is: urn: lsid:zoobank.org:act:B4791DEF-4D96-4FEB-9B7B-0EF816B96079

ZooBank LSID for the species Megalolamna paradoxodon is: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:7D3D7442-53C6-43A2-9E8D-6339729565B6     

New data on late Santonian and early Maastrichtian ostracodes of the Saratov Region

The article presents a paleoenvironmental analysis of ostracode assemblages from Mezino-Lapshinovka (Upper Santonian) and Lokh (Lower Maastrichtian) Formations of the Vishnevoe section (Saratov Region). Two new species Cytherelloidea vishneviensis sp. nov. and Mauritsina mandelstami sp. nov. are described.