Littoral barnacles of The Snares islands,southern New Zealand (Cirripedia: Thoracica)

Abstract

Ibla idiotica, Lepas australis, Calantica villosa, Chamaesipho columna, Tetraclitella purpurascens, Notobalanus vestitus, and Notomegabalanus campbelli are reported for the first time from The Snares. The occurrence of Calantica spinosa and Epopella plicata is confirmed. Habitat information and recorded distribution in New Zealand are given for each species. The Snares barnacle fauna is restricted both in diversity and in numbers of individuals. This may be due to high wave energies, strong winds which aid desiccation, and counter-flow of currents, which might disrupt larval dispersal from the north and north-west.     

Miocene barnacle assemblages from southern Spain and their palaeoenvironmental significance

The Tabernas Basin in southeast Spain is a Neogene intermontane basin which filled with sub-aerial and submarine fan conglomerates grading into turbidite sandstones towards the basin centre. The basin history involved the development of Seravallian-Tortonian subaerial fans which coalesced southwards from the basin margin. Increasing water depth in the Tortonian led to a submarine development of these fans. The coarse fan conglomerates are colonized almost solely by barnacles of the species Megabalanus tintinnabulum , known from Miocene-Recent deposits. The barnacles occur in seven preservational-state assemblages, which provide a record of the colonization of stabilized mass-flow conglomerates and of subsequent reworking episodes. M. tintinnabulum is known from intertidal environments today. In situ clusters developed on the fan conglomerates record the transition of the fans from subaerial to submarine environments. Mass-flow deposits rich in barnacle shell debris are representative of basin-wards reworking of intertidal clusters and illustrate relative increase in water depth. A further shallowing episode is identifiable by the recolonization of mass flows by in situ barnacle clusters. This case history is demonstrative of the utility of some barnacles in determining basin history with respect to minor sea level fluctuations.     

Creusia oraniensis nov. sp. (Cirripedia,Creusiinae) du Miocène terminal d'Oranie (Algérie)

A new Balanomorph Cirripedia, in the subfamilyCreusiinae, Creusia oraniensis nov. sp., is described. It is found in various reef sites of the Uppermost Miocene near Oran (Algeria). Its paleoecology is also discussed.     

Acaricidal resistance and genetic affinities of some two‐spotted spider mite populations in New Zealand

Toxicological tests on the present status of resistance to acaricides in six strains of the two‐spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae Koch) in New Zealand are reported. Resistance to parathion appears widespread; cross‐resistance to formetanate is developed. Resistance to Plictran has not developed, and there is no indication of high levels of Kelthane resistance. The levels of genetic incompatibility operating between the strains are also investigated. The causes of such incompatibilities and their possible exploitation in integrated control programmes are discussed.     

External morphology of the burrowing barnacle shape Lithoglyptes bicornis (Crustacea: Cirripedia: Acrothoracica)

The external morphology of female and male Lithoglyptes bicornis was examined under SEM. The structure of the mantle, the thorax and, especially, the trophi were thoroughly examined. The data on the mantle and the thorax structures were compared with the previous data on the acrothoracican ultrastructure. The data on the structure and the character of trophi setation allow to speculate about a relationship with other cirripede taxa.     

The brine shrimp's tale: a topsy turvy evolutionary fable

It has been suggested that: (1) the brine shrimp, Artemia (Branchiopoda: Anostraca), which habitually swims inverted, has 'only recently turned over'; (2) if this habit were to persist for tens of millions of years, original dorsal–ventral homologies would become obliterated; (3) it would become necessary to re-define the concept of dorsal and ventral because so many details would have changed over evolutionary time; and (4) if modern brine shrimps were to maintain the habit of swimming upside down for 100 Myr into the future, they might give rise to a whole new subkingdom whose descendants would be defined as having a dorsal nerve cord. However, brine shrimps and their allies have not recently turned over. All the nearly 300 extant anostracans swim inverted, and members of the order have clearly done so for more than 400 Myr, yet their anatomical arrangements are the same as in crustaceans that live dorsal side up. Nor do crustaceans that swim inverted and even hang from the surface film depart from the standard arrangement. The claim that inverted swimming became a genetically determined attribute of brine shrimps via the operation of the so-called Baldwin effect is rejected, as is the concept itself.  © 2006 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2006, 88 , 377–382.