Comparing the secretory pathway in honeybee venom and hypopharyngeal glands

We provide insights into the secretory pathway of arthropod gland systems by comparing the royal jelly-producing hypopharyngeal glands and the venom-producing glands of the honeybee, Apis mellifera. These glands have different functions and different product release characteristics, but both belong to the class 3 types of insect glands, each being composed of two cells, a secretory cell and a microduct-forming cell. The hypopharyngeal secretory cells possess an extremely elongate tubular invagination that is filled with a cuticular structure, the end-apparatus, anchored against the cell membrane by a conspicuous series of actin rings. In contrast, venom glands have no actin rings, but instead have an actin-rich brush border surrounding the comparatively short and narrow end-apparatus. We relate these cytoskeletal differences to the production system and utilisation of secretions; venom is stored in a reservoir whereas royal jelly and enzymes are produced on demand. Fluorescence-based characterisation of the actin cytoskeleton combined with scanning electron microscopy of the end-apparatus allows for detailed characterisation of the point of secretion release in insect class 3 glands.     

Hemiuridae (Digenea) from marine fishes of the Great Barrier Reef,Queensland, Australia

The following species are described, figured and/or recorded from the Great Barrier Reef at Heron Island or Lizard Island, Queensland, with comparative material reported from other areas of the ocean around Australia or New Guinea: Dinurus longisinus (new synonym: D. hippuri) from Seriola lalandi, Heron Island and Coryphaena hippurus, Papua New Guinea; Ectenurus trachuri from Caranx sexfasciatus, Diploprion bifasciatus, Pterocaesio marri, Seriola lalandi and Atherinomorus capricorniensis, Heron Island; Erilepturus hamati (with 25 new synonyms) from Lutjanus carponotatus, Lizard Island, Platycephalus bassensis, Coff's Harbour, NSW, P. fuscus, Coff's Harbour, NSW and Moreton Bay, Queensland, P. endrachtensis, Sillago analis, S. maculata, S. ciliata, Pseudorhombus arsius and Polydactylus sp. from Moreton Bay, Queensland and Lates calcarifer, Darwin, Northern Territory; Tubulovesicula angusticauda from Echeneis naucrates and Lethrinus miniatus, Heron Island and Anguilla reinhardtii, Moreton Bay and Bribie Island, Queensland; Elytrophalloides humerus from Trachinotus botla and T. coppingeri, Heron Island; Lecithochirium kawakawa from Euthynnus affinis Heron Island and Lizard Island: Lecithochirium cirrhiti (new synonyms: L. sammarae, L. nohu) from Sargocentron rubrum, Heron Island; Lecithochirium caesionis from Pterocaesio marri, heron Island; Plerurus digitatus (new synonyms: P. cynoglossi, P. atulis, P. scomberomori) from Plectropomus leopardus, Heron Island, Lutjanus erythropterus, Variola louti, Scomberomorus semifasciatus, Grammatorcynus bicarinatus and Carangoides embureyi, C. gymnostethoides, Lizard Island, Scomberomorus commerson, Heron Island, Lizard Island, New Britain, Papua New Guinea, Point Lookout, Queensland and Moreton Bay, Queensland, Euthynnus affinis Heron Island, Lizard Island and New Britain, Papua New Guinea, Sphyraena barracuda, Heron Island and Lizard Island, Scomberomorus munroi, S. queenslandicus and Saurida undosquamis, Moreton Bay, Queensland and Chirocentrus dorab, Bundaberg, Queensland. The Lecithochirium species-group Cirrhiti is considered indistiguishable from the species-group Lotellae.     

Effects of seawater components on immature Culicoides molestus (Skuse) (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)

Abstract Following analysis of beach sites and an indication that seawater components might influence larval occurrence, we studied the impact of increasing salinity and seawater concentration on survival of fourth-instar larvae of the canal biting midge, Culicoides molestus . While NaCl had little effect on immature survival, increasing the concentration of seawater increased mortality prior to the adult stage. Seawater at three and four times the normal concentration killed all immatures. Artificial elevation of seawater concentration in the sandy substrate preferred by larvae, therefore, has the potential to reduce immature midge survival. Diet also affected survival, with higher mortality of immatures that were fed fish-food flakes compared with those that were fed live nematodes.     

Retroporomonorchis pansho n. g., n. sp., an unusual monorchiid trematode exploiting an atypical host

Systematic Parasitology - The Monorchiidae Odhner, 1911 are well represented in tropical and subtropical marine fishes worldwide but rarely reported from the Lutjanidae, an important family of...     

The Pseudoplagioporinae,a new subfamily in the Opecoelidae Ozaki, 1925 (Trematoda) for a small clade parasitizing mainly lethrinid fishes,with three new species

The Pseudoplagioporinae n. subf. (Opecoelidae) is proposed for species of Pseudoplagioporus Yamaguti, 1938, Fairfaxia Cribb, 1989, and Shimazuia Cribb, 2005, a small group of relatively distinctive, Indo-West Pacific taxa reliably known almost entirely from emperor fishes (Perciformes: Lethrinidae). These taxa were previously recognized in the Plagioporinae Manter, 1947, but that subfamily has recently been restricted to a clade of Holarctic, freshwater taxa, whereas analyses of new genetic data find the pseudoplagioporines to form a distinct clade among a larger assemblage of marine taxa. New material was sourced from fishes collected mainly in Queensland waters, Australia, but with some specimens from off Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and Japan. Orthodena tropica Durio & Manter, 1968 is transferred to Pseudoplagioporus as P. tropicus (Durio & Manter, 1968) n. comb., and Orthodena Durio & Manter, 1968 thus becomes a synonym of that genus. Three new species of Pseudoplagioporus are proposed. One, P. mediocris n. sp., like other species of Pseudoplagioporus, occurs in several species of Lethrinus. The other two new species, P. labiatus n. sp. and P. roseovulatus n. sp., apparently do not infect species of Lethrinus and were instead found only in the Bigeye emperor Monotaxis grandoculis (Forsskål) and the Redfin emperor M. heterodon (Bleeker), respectively. New host-locality combinations and the first genetic data, for the ribosomal ITS2 DNA region, and the 28S rRNA, 18S rRNA, and cox1 mtDNA genes, are reported for Pseudoplagioporus lethrini Yamaguti, 1938, P. interruptus Durio & Manter, 1968, P. tropicus, Fairfaxia lethrini Cribb, 1989, Fairfaxia cribbi Hassanine & Gibson, 2005, and Shimazuia lethrini (Yamaguti, 1938) Cribb, 2005.     

519. Paralophia Epiphytica

Summary.  A new genus Paralophia ( Orchidaceae ) is established for two Madagascan species formerly assigned to Eulophia as E. epiphytica and E. palmicola . The history, taxonomy, habitat, conservation biology and cultivation of the recently described Paralophia epiphytica from Madagascar are discussed.     

Stock structure of blue threadfin Eleutheronema tetradactylum on the Queensland east coast, as determined by parasites and conventional tagging

Blue threadfin Eleutheronema tetradactylum (Polynemidae) were examined from four areas (Princess Charlotte Bay, Trinity Inlet, Halifax Bay and Upstart Bay) in eastern Queensland covering a distance of c . 950 km of coastline. Parasites were used as biological markers to infer stock structure of E. tetradactylum . Parasites designated as 'temporary' biological markers were the copepod Thysanote eleutheronemi , the acanthocephalan Neoechinorhynchus topseyi , the nematode Philometra rajani and hemiurid trematodes. The larval nematodes Anisakis sp. Type 1 and Terranova sp. Type 2; and the larval cestodes Pterobothrium pearsoni and Callitetrarhynchus gracilis were considered 'permanent' biological markers. Both univariate and multivariate analyses demonstrated that there was little difference in temporary parasite abundance between the four areas. In contrast, the same analyses revealed that most areas had two or more significant differences in permanent parasite abundance, with the exception of Halifax Bay and Upstart Bay, which were significantly different only in the multivariate analysis. Biological markers predicted that Princess Charlotte Bay and Trinity Inlet consisted of distinct populations, whereas Halifax Bay and Upstart Bay were not clearly differentiated. Tag recapture data supported this hypothesis; the majority of recaptures were within 100 km of the initial tagging location. Geographical movement of E. tetradactylum may be limited due to their biology and ecology, as well as the distances and oceanographic boundaries that separate habitats. Contrary to current management definitions, the stock structure of E. tetradactylum on the east coast of Queensland appears to be geographically differentiated at a small spatial scale.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Adlardia</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">novaecaledoniae</Emphasis> n. g., n. sp. (Digenea: Cryptogonimidae) from the fork-tailed threadfin bream <Emphasis Type="Italic">Nemipterus furcosus</Emphasis> (Val.) (Perciformes: Nemipteridae) off New Caledonia

Adlardia novaecaledoniae n. g., n. sp. (Digenea: Cryptogonimidae) is described from the fish Nemipterus furcosus (Val.) (Perciformes: Nemipteridae) from off New Caledonia (South Pacific). Adlardia n. g. is distinguished from all other cryptogonimid genera by the combination of an elongate body, the presence of oral spines, intestinal caeca that open via ani at the posterior end of the body, a highly lobed ovary, oblique testes that are located in the mid-hindbody, vitelline follicles that extend from midway between the testes and ovary to midway between the ovary and ventral sucker, and an excretory vesicle that bifurcates dorsal to the ovary and reunites immediately anterior to the pharynx. A. novaecaledoniae n. sp. is the only cryptogonimid that has been reported with an excretory vesicle that reunites anterior to the pharynx. Siphoderina elongata (Gu &; Shen, 1979) Miller &; Cribb, 2008 is transferred to Adlardia as A. elongata (Gu &; Shen, 1979) n. comb. based on morphological and ecological (host group) agreement with A. novaecaledoniae. Bayesian inference analysis of LSU rDNA revealed that A. novaecaledoniae nested well within a clade containing cryptogonimid taxa known almost exclusively from haemulid and lutjanid fishes, suggesting that host-switching between teleosts of the Haemuloidea, Lutjanoidea and Sparoidea may have been common in the evolutionary history of this system.