Dasyatis laosensis,a new whiptailed stingray (family Dasyatidae), from the Mekong River of Laos and Thailand

Synopsis Dasyatis laosensis, a new species, is described from the Mekong River where it forms the border between Laos and Thailand. It is the first member of the genus Dasyatis to be described as an endemic freshwater species from Southeast Asia. Bright orange color on the ventral surface of the disc and similar meristic characters indicate that it may be closely related to Dasyatis akajei, a marine species from southern Japan and China, and to Dasyatis sp. undetermined, from the West River in Guangxi, southern China.     

Enhanced detection of Plasmodium vivax liver stages by cytocentrifugation

Malaria parasites circulating in the blood or developing in the mosquito host can easily be seen and studied. We know much less about malaria parasites in the liver not only because of their location, but also because there are so few of them. Hepatic parasites are most often grown within hepatoma cells in culture, stained and visualized on slides under direct microscopy. In this report, Chitraporn Karnasuta and George Watt investigate the potential of cytocentrifugation as a tool for improving the detection of liver-stage malaria parasites.