A new species of Hemicyclops (Copepoda, Poecilostomatoida) from burrows of the mud shrimp Upogebia major in an estuarine mud-flat in Tokyo Bay, Japan

A new species of poecilostomatoid copepod, Hemicyclops tanakai n. sp. was collected from burrows of the mud shrimp Upogebia major in an estuarine mud-flat in Tokyo Bay. The new species can be distinguished from its congeners by combination of the following characteristics: setation of the antennule, the segmentation of the antennule, the length–width ratio of the caudal ramus, the ornamentation on the third segment of antenna and the shape of the genital double somite.     

A new poecilostomatoid copepod associated with solitary deep-water corals

Solitaricola bipes, a new genus and species of poecilostomatoid Copepoda, family Pseudanthessiidae, is described. It is associated with solitary scleractinian corals, probably with Flabellum sp., trawled in 1035 m off Sri Lanka. It is the first copepod associate recorded from solitary corals, but it is morphologically related to associates of hermatypic corals and zoanthideans.     

Ostrincola humesi sp. nov., a myicolid copepod (Poecilostomatoida) parasitic in rock oysters cultured in the Gulf of Thailand

A new species of poecilostomatoid copepod, Ostrincola humesi (Myicolidae), is described, based on specimens collected from the mantle cavity of the rock oyster, Saccostrea cucullata (Born), cultured in the Gulf of Thailand. A close comparison was made between the new species and Ostrincola koe Tanaka with which the new species was previously confused. A key to the nine species of Ostrincola is provided.     

Crucisoma bernardi n.g., n.sp. (Crustacea: Copepoda) parasitic in a deep-sea mollusc Cuspidaria filatovae Bernard, 1979 (Bivalvia: Anomalodesmata)

Summary Crucisoma bernardi, a copepod parasitizing a deepsea mollusc, Cuspidaria filatovae (Bivalvia: Anomalodesmata) off the coast of Oregon, is described and illustrated. A definitely poecilostomatoid copepod, belonging to a new genus, this species is treated by the author as incertae sedis, although there are many reasons why it should provide grounds for the erection of a new family. ac]19810127     

A new poecilostomatoid copepod (Erebonasteridae) from deep-sea cold seeps at the West Florida Escarpment

A new species of poecilostomatoid copepod, Erebonaster spinulosus (Erebonasteridae), is described on the basis of a single female from a depth of 3 266 m at cold seeps near the base of the West Florida Escarpment in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Among its distinctive features are: the large body highly ornamented with setules and spinules, the rostrum with small median teeth and lateral setules, the claw of the second maxilla with a prominent knob on the concave margin, the maxilliped ornamented with setules and its claw bearing a digitiform process near the seta, the third segment of the exopod of leg 4 with the formula II,I,4, and the highly ornamented leg 5 having on the free segment a very long seta 9 times the length of the segment.The genus Erebonaster now contains two species, the previously described Erebonaster protentipes found in 2000 m at the Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California, and the new Erebonaster spinulosus.     

The microcopepod fauna in the Eastern Mediterranean and Arabian Seas: a comparison with the Red Sea fauna

Multiple opening-closing nets of 0.05 mm mesh size were employed to study the community structure and vertical distribution of microcopepods at selected stations in the Red Sea, Arabian Sea and Eastern Mediterranean Sea down to a maximum depth of 1850 m. Calanoids, cyclopoids (Oithona and Paroithona) and poecilostomatoids (mainly Oncaea) were the 3 most abundant orders. In the epipelagic zone (0–100 m), these orders occurred at similar abundance levels, whereas in the meso- and bathypelagic zones the poecilostomatoid genus Oncaea dominated numerically by about 60–80% of all copepodids.The species diversity of Oncaea in the Red Sea is compared with preliminary results from the two adjacent regions. In the deep Eastern Mediterranean Sea, the number of species appears to be similar to that in the deep Red Sea and low as compared to the deep Arabian Sea. In this latter area an extremely speciose Oncaea fauna was found at depth below the oxygen-minimum-zone (900–1850 m). The results are related to the differences in the hydrographic conditions of these 3 areas.     

Copepoda associated with the coral Gardineroseris planulata (Dana) on the Great Barrier Reef,northeastern Australia

Three new lichomolgid copepods associated with the scleractinian Gardineroseris planulata (Dana) are described: Sociellus torus, n. gen., n. sp., characterized by a 2-segmented endopod in leg 3 and the lack of an inner seta on the first segment of the endopod in legs 1–3; Odontomolgus pumilus, n. sp., of very small size and having a much elongated free segment in leg 5 of the female; and Paramolgus ampullaceus, n. sp., distinguished by the bottle-shaped genital segment of the female. In addition, the harpacticoid Alteuthellopsis corallina Humes, 1981, is reported from this coral. With the inclusion of 3 species of the poecilostomatoid genus Xarifia already described (Humes, 1985) there are now 7 species of copepods known to be associated with Gardineroseris planulata on the Great Barrier Reef.     

Ingestion of the cyanobacterium Trichodesmium spp. by pelagic harpacticoid copepods Macrosetella,Miracia and Oculosetella

Trichodesmium is a filamentous, colonial nitrogen fixing cyanobacteria, ubiquitous in tropical and subtropical regions of the world's oceans. Trichodesmium fixes atmospheric nitrogen and can comprise a significant fraction of total primary production in oceanic surface waters. Therefore, the consumption and fate of Trichodesmium has important consequences for understanding carbon and nitrogen cycling in the open ocean. The pelagic harpacticoid copepod Macrosetella gracilis uses Trichodesmium not only as a physical substrate for juvenile development, but also as a food source. Several different types of pelagic copepods (including several species of calanoids, harpacticoids and a poecilostomatoid species) were tested for ingestion of Trichodesmium by labelling the cyanobacteria with ¹⁴C. Only the pelagic harpacticoids ingested Trichodesmium. Here we report the first grazing rates based on ¹⁴C-uptake measurements for Macrosetella gracilis (0.173 µg C copepod^–1 h^–1), and the first quantitative measurements of both Miracia efferata (0.402 µg C copepod^–1 h^–1) and Oculosetella gracilis (0.126 µg C copepod^–1 h^–1) ingesting this cyanobacteria. Ingestion rates of M. gracilis and M. efferata on the two different species of Trichodesmium, T. thiebautii and T. erythraeum, as well as the two different colonial morphologies of T. thiebautii, spherical-shaped (puffs) and fusiform (tufts), were also compared. Both Miracia and Macrosetella had higher ingestion rates on the puff colonies than the tuft colonies of T. thiebautii.. Both also had higher ingestion rates of T. erythraeum than T. thiebautii. Trichodesmium thiebautii contains a previously reported neurotoxin which may be an important factor in determining trophodynamic interactions. Our results suggest that pelagic harpacticoid copepods can be quantitatively important in determining the fate of Trichodesmium carbon and nitrogen.     

The Saphirella problem

The problem — one of an assemblage of small planktonic copepods with mixed larval and adult characteristics — is reviewed. It is suggested that some forms are poecilostomatoid first copepodids which have failed to find the definitive milieu and so are unable to moult further. This indicates a need for experimental work. The known species are summarised.     

Egg-brooding, body size and predation risk in planktonic marine copepods

We investigated the interacting effects of copepod body size and the presence or absence of egg masses on the risk of predation by a visual predator. We conducted selection experiments involving three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and copepods ranging in body mass from 0.5 to 740 μg C: Oithona similis, Corycaeus anglicus, Pseudocalanus newmani, P. moultoni, Pseudodiaptomus marinus, and Paraeuchaeta elongata. We found that sticklebacks selected ovigerous females of the two smallest-bodied species of copepods (Oithona similis and Corycaeus anglicus). In contrast, the fish showed no significant selection for ovigerous females of the remaining, larger-bodied species. Unexpectedly, egg mass position (i.e., in a ventral, dorsal or lateral location on the urosome) appeared to influence predation risk more than did body size, resulting in higher predation risk for the cyclopoid and poecilostomatoid species than for the calanoid species we tested. Although the sticklebacks showed no statistically significant preference for ovigerous females of any of the four calanoid species, for each species the overall proportion of ovigerous females ingested was slightly greater than 0.50. Thus, whether body size influences the susceptibility of egg-brooding calanoid copepods to predation remains an open question. Received: 24 August 1998 / Accepted: 6 July 1999     

A new species of Hemicyclops (Copepoda,Poecilostomatoida) from a dredged area in Tokyo Bay,Japan

A new species of poecilostomatoid copepod, Hemicyclops japonicus, is described from a dredged area in Tokyo Bay. The new species can be distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the setation of the first antenna, the segmentation of the antenna and the urosome, the length to width ratio of the caudal ramus and the shape of the genital segment and the labrum.     

A new fungal genus, Teracosphaeria, with a phialophora-like anamorph (Sordariomycetes, Ascomycota)

The new genus and species Teracosphaeria petroica is described for a perithecial ascomycete and its anamorph occurring on decayed wood collected in New Zealand. The fungus produces immersed, non-stromatic ceratosphaeria-like perithecia in nature, with hyaline, septate ascospores produced in unitunicate, non-amyloid asci. The anamorph produced in vitro is phialophora-like with lightly pigmented phialides terminating in flaring, deep collarettes that are often noticeably brown with conspicuous periclinal thickening. Phylogenetic analysis of LSU rDNA sequence data indicates that this fungus is distinct from morphologically similar fungi classified in the Chaetosphaeriales, the Trichosphaeriales or the Magnaporthaceae. It forms a monophyletic group with recently described, chaetosphaeria-like ascomycetes, such as the pyrenomycete genus Mirannulata, and shows affinity with the anamorphic species Dictyochaeta cylindrospora. The usefulness of describing anamorph genera for morphologically reduced anamorphs, when anamorph characteristics are actually part of the holomorph diagnosis, is discussed. An apparently contradictory example of the so-called Cordana and Pseudobotrytis anamorphs of Porosphaerella spp. is also discussed.     

Systematic relationships of theLactoridaceae,an endemic family of the Juan Fernandez Islands,Chile

The systematic relationships ofLactoridaceae are problematical, with alternative assignments toMagnoliales, Laurales, andPiperales. Phenetic analyses suggest thatLactoridaceae are best accomodated withinMagnoliales and are most closely related toAnnonaceae. Cladistic analyses indicate that the family is a relatively derived member of theMagnoliales, with affinities toAnnonaceae, Eupomatiaceae, Himantandraceae, andMyristicaceae. These analyses together with fossil pollen data are used to interpret the phylogeny ofLactoridaceae and its relatives.     

Evolutionary relationships among aquatic anamorphs and teleomorphs: Lemonniera, Margaritispora, and Goniopila

The hypothesis that similar conidial morphologies in aquatic hyphomycetes are a result of convergent evolution was tested using molecular sequence data. Cladistic analyses were performed on partial sequences of 28S rDNA of seven species of Lemonniera, one species of Margaritispora and one species of Goniopila. Lemonniera has tetraradiate conidia with long arms, whereas Margaritispora and Goniopila have typically globose (isodiametric) conidia, with short conical protuberances in a stellate or quadrangular arrangement. Lemonniera and Margaritispora have phialidic conidiogenesis and both produce dark, minute sclerotia in culture whereas Goniopila has holoblastic conidiogenesis and does not produce sclerotia in culture. Goniopila produces a microconidial phialidic synanamorph in culture. All three genera have schizolytic conidial secession. Molecular analyses demonstrate that Lemonniera species are placed in two distinct clades: one within Leotiomycetes; the other within Pleosporales, Dothideomycetes. Margaritispora is placed with Lemonniera species within Leotiomycetes. Goniopila and Lemonniera pseudofloscula are placed within Dothideomycetes. No morphological character was entirely congruent with the molecular derived phylogeny. This suggests that for the group of species studied, conidial shape is not a reliable indicator of phylogeny but more likely the result of convergent evolution in response to the aquatic environment.     

First Stage Zoeas of Quadrella Dana, 1851 [Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Xanthoidea: Trapeziidae] and their Affinities with those of Tetralia Dana, 1851, and Trapezia Latreille, 1828

The first stages zoeas of Quadrella maculosa Alcock, 1898, Q. serenei Galil, 1986, Tetralia rubridactyla Garth, 1971, and Trapezia richtersi Galil & Lewinsohn, 1983, are described and illustrated. Setal differences between the Quadrella zoeas are not recorded, but they can be separated on the spinulation of the dorsal spine (present in Q. maculosa absent in Q. serenei). The first stage zoea of Q. maculosa is compared with that of Tetralia rubridactyla and Trapezia richtersi. But although Quadrella and Tetralia appear superficially similar in that both have two pairs of lateral carapace spines (vs. one pair in Trapezia), other observations imply that Tetralia zoeas may have closer affinities with Trapezia rather than with Quadrella. However, this appears to contradict recent phylogentic relationships based on adult morphology.     

rbcL sequences support exclusion ofRetzia,Desfontainia, andNicodemia from theGentianales

The taxonomic positions ofRetzia, Desfontainia, andNicodemia have been much discussed, and all three genera have been included inLoganiaceae (Gentianales). We have made a cladistic analysis ofrbcL gene sequences to determine the relationships of these taxa toGentianales. Four newrbcL sequences are presented; i.e., ofRetzia, Desfontainia, Diervilla (Caprifoliaceae), andEuthystachys (Stilbaceae). Our results show thatRetzia, Desfontainia, andNicodemia are not closely related toLoganiaceae or theGentianales. Retzia is most closely related toEuthystachys and is better included inStilbaceae. The positions ofDesfontainia andNicodemia are not settled, butDesfontainia shows affinity for theDipsacales s.l. andNicodemia for theLamiales s.l.     

Pleosporales in Japan (5): Pleomassaria, Asteromassaria, and Splanchnonema

Eight species in Pleomassariaceae are described and illustrated. They are Pleomassaria maxima, Pl. swidae, Pl. siparia “type A,” Prosthemium canba, Asteromassaria macroconidica, A. pulchra, Splanchnonema mori, and S. argus. Of these, Pl. swidae on twigs of Swida controversa, Pr. canba on Betula ermanii, and A. macroconidica on twigs of Prunus ×yedoensis and an unknown woody plant are new. Three species, Pl. siparia “type A,” A. pulchra, and S. argus, are reported from Japan for the first time. A new combination, S. mori (≡ Massaria mori), is proposed.     

Synopsis of the tribe Bocageeae (Annonaceae), with revisions of Cardiopetalum,Froesiodendron, Trigynaea,Bocagea, and Hornschuchia

The tribal name Bocageeae Endlicher is reestablished and the tribe is circumscribed on the basis of solitary internodal ebracteate pedicels that are articulated at the base, and pollen shed in polyads of eight or more grains. Septate anther locules, large pollen size, and seed appendages are prevalent in the tribe. Intectate pollen with free-standing columellae, rare in Annonaceae, occurs not only in the genusTrigynaea but also in some species ofBocagea andHornschuchia. As defined here, the Bocageeae include seven neotropical genera:Cymbopetalum, Porcelia, Bocagea, Cardiopetalum, Froesiodendron, Hornschuchia, andTrigynaea. The latter five genera are revised and the treatments include ten new species:Cardiopetalum plicatum, Froesiodendron urceocalyx, Hornschuchia lianarum, H. santosii, H. leptandra, Trigynaea cinnamomea, T. lanceipetala, T. triplinervis, T. lagaropoda, andT. axilliflora, all from tropical South America. A new combination,Froesiodendron longicuspe, changes the rank of that taxon from subspecies to species.Cardiopetalum surinamense is removed fromFroesiodendron and reassigned toCardiopetalum on the basis of its connate petals, dehiscent monocarps, and seeds with bilobed arils. A cladogram provides an explicit hypothesis of intergeneric relationships in the tribe. The new combinationOnychopetalum periquino, based onTrigynaea periquino, is made.     

Intergeneric relationships ofLolium,Festuca, andVulpia (Poaceae) and their phylogeny

Morphological and seed protein analyses of 26 species of the generaLolium, Festuca andVulpia confirmed their close systematic affinities. Six inflorescence characters readily differentiatedFestuca fromLolium. Protein similarities betweenFestuca of sect.Bovinae and cross-pollinated species ofLolium, coupled with cytogenetic and crossability data, substantiate that they should be united into one genus.Vulpia had phenetic similarities with sect.Scariosae, Montanae andOvinae ofFestuca. Lolium, Festuca, andVulpia are most likely derived from a common ancestral form which was close toFestuca pratensis andLolium perenne.