Dugesia lugubris (Tricladida: Paludicola), a European Immigrant into North American Fresh Waters

1969 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian R. Ball

Dugesia lugubris (Schmidt), a Palaearctic freshwater triclad, is described from North America. A morphological and taxonomic evaluation is presented and comparisons with European material and data are made, confirming the initial diagnosis. The known distribution of the species in North America is discussed in relation to what is known of its distribution and ecology in Europe, and it is concluded that the introduction is probably unique and of recent occurrence. It represents the second authenticated case of passive dispersal by man in the freshwater Tricladida, and is almost certainly a result of the shipping plying between the St. Lawrence River and various European ports. The present findings in no way conflict with the opinions of modern American taxonomists that early records of D. lugubris in North America are the results of mis-identification of Cura foremanii (Girard). A key for the separation of these two superficially similar species is provided.

1992 ◽  
Vol 66 (5) ◽  
pp. 839-846 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark V. H. Wilson ◽  
Donald B. Brinkman ◽  
Andrew G. Neuman

Contrary to ideas that Cretaceous fresh waters contained few teleosts, there were several taxa of Esocoidei (pikes and relatives) in North American Cretaceous rivers. Dentaries and palatines of Campanian to Maastrichtian age all have C-shaped tooth bases and other distinctive features of shape and foramina. The fossils include at least three distinct kinds, two of which are described here as new genera and species in the Esocidae: Estesesox foxi n. gen. and sp. and Oldmanesox canadensis n. gen. and sp.These old, diverse, and apparently primitive specimens show that pikes radiated when Eurasia and North America were still joined. Some references in the literature to the Cretaceous fish Platacodon Marsh are based on referred dentaries that are here identified as esocoid fossils. The Esocidae are the first example of a family of Recent North American freshwater teleosts that has been shown to have speciated in Cretaceous fresh waters and survived the terminal Cretaceous extinction.


1996 ◽  
Vol 128 (4) ◽  
pp. 613-665 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.J. Larson

AbstractSpecies of the Agabus opacus- and lineellus-groups, as defined by Larson (1989), are combined and revised as members of the A. opacus-group. The A. opacus-group contains 13 species, namely: A. hypomelas Mannerheim, A. vancouverensis Leech, A. verisimilis Brown, A. vandykei Leech, A. wasastjernae (Sahlberg), A. opacus Aubé, A. confertus LeConte, A. euryomus sp.nov., A. walsinghami (Crotch), A. jimzim sp.nov., A. lineellus LeConte, A. discors LeConte, and A. austrodiscors sp.nov. Agabus wasastjernae and A. opacus are Holarctic and boreal; the remaining 11 species are confined to the Cordilleran region of western North America. Character distribution does not support recognition of subspecies of A. hypomelas, therefore A. hypomelas irregularis Mannerheim is regarded as a synonym of A. hypomelas. A lectotype is designated for A. discors LeConte. A phylogenetic tree of the hypothesized relationships between the species is presented.A key to the species of the group is included. For each species, the following information is provided: synonymy; description and illustration of taxonomically important characters; notes on relationships, variation, distribution, and ecology; and a map of North American collection localities.


2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (12) ◽  
pp. 2207-2217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel E Galazzo ◽  
Selvadurai Dayanandan ◽  
David J Marcogliese ◽  
J Daniel McLaughlin

The systematics of Diplostomum species, common intestinal parasites of piscivorous birds, has long been problematic, owing to phenotypic plasticity and the paucity of morphological features that are often subject to age- and host-induced variation. We sequenced the ITS1–5.8S–ITS2 regions of the rDNA from adult Diplostomum huronense, Diplostomum indistinctum, and Diplostomum baeri obtained from experimentally infected ring-bill gulls (Larus delawarensis) and compared them with partial ITS1 sequences from several species of Diplostomum in GenBank. The three North American species were distinguishable on the basis of ITS sequences. Sequences from D. huronense differed from those of D. indistinctum at 12 sites in ITS1 and 4 sites in ITS2, supporting morphological and morphometric data that indicate the two are distinct species. Sequences of D. huronense and D. indistinctum differed from those of D. baeri at 27 and 24 sites, respectively, in ITS1 and 15 and 12 sites, respectively, in ITS2. Phylogenetic analysis of partial ITS1 sequences revealed that the North American and European species of Diplostomum formed separate groups, with the former being basal to the latter. The results indicated that D. huronense and D. indistinctum from North America are distinct from Diplostomum spathaceum and other similar species from Europe. Furthermore, sequences from specimens identified as D. baeri from North America differed from those of D. baeri from Europe by 3.8% in ITS1 (23 sites). While morphologically similar, the two are not conspecific. Sequences of the North American species have been deposited in GenBank (AY 123042–123044).


1974 ◽  
Vol 52 (11) ◽  
pp. 2427-2434 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. D. Bird

The four North American species of Evernia, E. divaricata (L.) Ach., E. mesomorpha Nyl., E. perfragilis Llano, and E. prunastri (L.) Ach., are discussed from the standpoint of taxonomy, distribution, and ecology. The North American distributions of E. divaricata and E. perfragilis are mapped for the first time. A puzzling lichen found on the ground in alpine areas from New Mexico north to Alberta is regarded as an ecological variant of E. divaricata.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-239
Author(s):  
Alan S. Weakley ◽  
Derick B. Poindexter ◽  
Hannah C. Medford ◽  
Bruce A. Sorrie ◽  
Carol Ann McCormick ◽  
...  

As part of ongoing efforts to understand, document, and conserve the flora of southeastern North America, we propose a number of taxonomic changes, nomenclatural changes, interpretations of nativity, and distributional accounts. Regarding the Asaroideae (Aristolochiaceae), we support continued recognition of Hexastylis (and other segregates of a very broad Asarum s.l.) at generic rank and make the necessary combinations to continue the use of Hexastylis in southeastern North America floras. In Conoclinium (Asteraceae), we present morphological and distributional evidence corroborating the recent suggestion (based on molecular evidence) that Chapman’s 1878 C. dichotomum is distinct, warrants recognition, and is present as a second Conoclinium in the southeastern North American flora. An analysis of historical accounts of Gaillardia pulchella (Asteraceae) strongly suggests that its modern occurrence east of Texas is adventive, rather than native. Two rare southeastern United States skullcaps, Scutellaria mellichampii and S. ocmulgee (Lamiaceae), have been persistently confused with one another and other species; we present a reassessment of the taxonomic distinction between them, best ways to distinguish them and similar species, and their known distributions. A reassessment of the taxonomy, distribution, and ecology of Linum carteri (Linaceae), a rare southern Florida endemic, confirms that two species should be recognized by modern species concepts; we make the necessary new combination to effect the recognition of two narrowly endemic species. In Andropogon (Poaceae), we propose that A. virginicus var. decipiens warrants recognition as distinct at species rank from other entities in the Andropogon virginicus complex. We also present more comprehensive information on the distributions of four species of “bushy bluestems” (Andropogon glomeratus s.l.), their ecology, and their practical recognition. In the Violaceae, modern reassessment of the taxonomy of many species (especially in the genus Viola) by H.E. Ballard, Jr. and collaborators have been vexed by uncertain application of many “old” names; we here provide a first installment of typifications and nomenclatural interpretations needed to move forward with a modern treatment of the genus in our region. In Xyris (Xyridaceae), we re-establish the generally ignored X. elliottii var. stenotera based on careful and extensive study of its morphology and ecology in comparison to X. elliottii var. elliottii, including a transplant study. English naturalist Mark Catesby (1683–1749) has been honored by having a genus and fifteen species of plants named for him, but most of these honorific names have been constructed in manners contrary to the Shenzhen Code; as these are “errors to be corrected,” we therefore propose to correct and standardize these honorifics by restoring his name ‘catesby-‘ as the root of the names. Similarly, in seven names (variably formed) employed by W.W Ashe to honor his cousin and (later) wife Margaret Haywood Henry (Wilcox) (Ashe), we also standardize and correct the root of the names to be accurately based on her name, ‘margaret-,’ in conformance with the Shenzhen Code.


1991 ◽  
Vol 123 (6) ◽  
pp. 1239-1317 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.J. Larson

AbstractNorth American species of Agabus Leach of the elongatus-, zetterstedti-, and confinis-groups, as defined by Larson (1989), are revised. Study of character state distribution indicates that the elongatus- and zetterstedti-groups are clades within the confinis-group but the names are retained in this paper to maintain consistency. Twenty species belonging to this complex occur in North America, namely: elongatus-group with A. elongatus Gyllenhal and A. inexspectatus Nilsson; zetterstedti-group with A. zetterstedti Thomson; and the confinis-group with A. thomsoni (J. Sahlberg), A. moestus (Curtis), A. clypealis (Thomson), A. phaeopterus (Kirby), A. immaturus sp.nov. (Great Lakes and Maritime Provinces regions), A. canadensis Fall, A. audeni Wallis, A. mackenziensis sp.nov. (northwestern Canada), A. bicolor (Kirby), A. subfuscatus Sharp, A. discolor (Harris), A. approximate Fall, A. kootenai sp.nov. (southwestern Canada and northwestern United States), A. inscriptus (Crotch), A. smithi Brown, A. sasquatch sp.nov. (alpine areas of California and Nevada), and A. confinis (Gyllenhal). For each species the following information is provided: synonymy; description and illustration of taxonomically useful characters; notes on relationships, variation, distribution, and ecology; and a map of North American collection localities. A key to the North American species of the confinis-group is presented. Lectotypes are designated for A. subfuscatus Sharp, Gaurodytes inscriptus Crotch, G. ovoideus Crotch, and G. longulus LeConte.


1973 ◽  
Vol 51 (9) ◽  
pp. 1629-1641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vernon L. Harms

The taxonomy of the two similar species Sparganium hyperboreum and S. minimum in North America is investigated by a morphological analysis of herbarium specimens and the construction of hybrid indices. It is concluded that despite some hybridization and apparent introgression the two taxa should be recognized as specifically distinct. The criteria for their separation are presented.


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