scholarly journals Species Diversity of Shallow Water Zoanthids (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Hexacorallia) in Florida

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Davis Reimer ◽  
Colin Foord ◽  
Yuka Irei

Shallow water zooxanthellate zoanthids are a common component of the coral reef ecosystems of the Caribbean. Despite this, their species diversity remains poorly understood. In this study, collectedPalythoa, Zoanthus, Isaurus, andTerrazoanthusspecimens from the waters of Florida were phylogenetically examined to obtain a better understanding of zoanthid species diversity in the Caribbean. Surprisingly, the results from analyses utilizing three DNA markers (mitochondrial 16S ribosomal DNA, cytochrome oxidase subunit I, and the internal transcribed spacer of ribosomal DNA) showed the presence of at least eleven species, of which up to four appear undescribed. Additionally, the presence of the genusTerrazoanthusin the Caribbean was confirmed for the first time. Attempts to match phylogenetic species or clades with original literature were hampered by vague and short original descriptions, and it is clear that for AtlanticPalythoaandZoanthusspecies an in-depth and multidisciplinary investigation is needed to reconcile recent phylogenetic results such as in this study with traditional taxonomy. Furthermore, most shallow water zoanthid species from Florida were observed to have close, sister-species relationships with previously investigated species in the Pacific Ocean. These results indicate that many brachycnemic zoanthid species likely had a Caribbean-Pacific distribution until the formation of the Isthmus of Panama. However, due to inadvertent redescriptions, overall species diversity in these two common genera is likely much lower than literature indicates.

2020 ◽  
Vol 648 ◽  
pp. 169-177
Author(s):  
TJ Carrier ◽  
HA Lessios ◽  
AM Reitzel

Relationships between animals and their associated microbiota are dependent on both the evolutionary history of the host and on the environment. The majority of studies tend to focus on either one of these factors but rarely consider how both determine the community composition of the associated microbiota. One ‘natural experiment’ to test how evolutionary history, shared environments, and the interaction between these factors drive community composition is to compare geminate species pairs. Echinoids separated by the Isthmus of Panama are suitable for this comparison due to their known evolutionary history and differences in the oceanographic characteristics of the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. By comparing the bacterial communities of the eggs of Echinometra and Diadema geminate species pairs, we show that each pair of geminate species associates with a distinct bacterial community in a pattern consistent with phylosymbiosis, and that the interaction between the evolutionary history of the host and the environment best explains differences in these communities. Moreover, we found that the relative abundance of particular bacterial taxa differed considerably between the 2 bodies of water and that the 2 Caribbean Echinometra species were dominated by unclassified bacterial taxa within the phototrophic Oxyphotobacteria. Taken together, data presented here support the hypothesis that the bacterial communities associated with geminate species are another characteristic of these species that have diverged in ~2.8 million years of isolation.


2013 ◽  
Vol 87 (5) ◽  
pp. 755-774 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catalina Pimiento ◽  
Gerardo González-Barba ◽  
Dana J. Ehret ◽  
Austin J. W. Hendy ◽  
Bruce J. MacFadden ◽  
...  

The late Miocene Gatun Formation of northern Panama contains a highly diverse and well sampled fossil marine assemblage that occupied a shallow-water embayment close to a purported connection between the Pacific and Atlantic (Caribbean) oceans. However, the diverse chondrichthyan fauna has been poorly documented. Based on recent field discoveries and further analysis of existing collections, the chondrichthyan fauna from this unit comprises at least 26 taxa, of which four species are extinct today. The remaining portion of the total chondrichthyan biodiversity has affinities with modern taxa and is therefore comprised of long-lived species. Based on known records of the modern geographic distribution range of the Gatun chondrichthyans, the fauna has mixed biogeographic affinities suggesting that around 10 million yr ago, a connection likely occurred between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Given the known habitat preferences for modern chondrichthyans, the Gatun fauna was primarily adapted to shallow waters within the neritic zone. Finally, comparisons of Gatun dental measurements with other faunas suggest that many of the taxa have an abundance of small individuals, in agreement with previous studies that proposed this area as a paleonursery habitat for the species Carcharocles megalodon.


Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4965 (3) ◽  
pp. 515-528
Author(s):  
MARCO CURINI-GALLETTI ◽  
ERNEST R. SCHOCKAERT

The genus Tajikacelis n. gen. is introduced for species of Archimonocelididae (Proseriata) characterized by the lack of atrial spines in the copulatory organ and by the opening of the seminal vesicles into the prostate vesicle at its ventral side. Six new species from the Pacific Ocean are ascribed to the new genus; they may be distinguished by features of the genital systems and the morphology of their copulatory stylets. T. tajikai n. sp. (type species of the new genus) and T. macrostomoides n. sp., both from eastern Australia, have a long tubular stylet. In T. macrostomoides n. sp., the stylet is more curved, bending to 180°, and has a narrower basis compared to that of T. tajikai n. sp. In T. artoisi n. sp., from Hawai’i, and T. nematoplanoides n. sp., from South Australia, the stylet is shaped as a truncated cone, with a broad, oblique proximal opening and a very short tubular part. T. artoisi n. sp. is distinct for the much stronger thickening of the dorsal side of the stylet, and for the different shape of the proximal opening. In T. acuta n. sp. and T. truncata n. sp., from West Panama, the tubular stylet is comparatively short; the two species differ for the shape of the distal opening, produced into a sharp spike in T. acuta n. sp., and square-ended in T. truncata n. sp.. Two species previously described in the genus Archimonocelis are transferred to Tajikacelis n. gen.: T. itoi Tajika, 1981 from Japan and T. keke Martens and Curini-Galletti, 1989 from Sulawesi (Indonesia). The taxonomic position of the problematic Archimonocelis glabrodorsata Martens and Curini-Galletti, 1989 from the Caribbean is discussed. The relationships of and within the genus Tajikacelis n. gen. are discussed and compared with recent results based on DNA studies. 


Tsunami ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 151-160
Author(s):  
James Goff ◽  
Walter Dudley

Most Europeans do not worry about tsunami waves as much as those who live around the rim of the Pacific Ocean, but they should. On All Saint’s Day, 1755, a huge earthquake struck Lisbon, Portugal, causing most stone buildings to collapse, including churches, monasteries, nunneries, and chapels, trapping the faithful inside the ruins, which votive candles quickly turned into burning pyres. Voltaire would write, “The sole consolation is that the Jesuit Inquisitors of Lisbon will have disappeared.” To add to the irony, among the few buildings safely left standing following the disaster were the lightly constructed wooden bordellos of the city. Most of Lisbon’s prostitutes but few of her nuns survived. Tsunami waves would not only kill thousands around Lisbon’s harbor but also travel south to Spain and North Africa, north to Ireland and Wales, and across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean, flooding the streets of Barbados.


1994 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 800-807 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette B. Tucker ◽  
Rodney M. Feldmann ◽  
Charles L. Powell

Speocarcinus berglundi n. sp. is described from the Imperial Formation in Riverside County, California. Although the Imperial Formation spans late Miocene through late Pliocene time, the part of the unit that bears crabs has been radiometrically dated as late Miocene. The identification of a new species was based upon comparison with four extant species and represents the first documented fossil occurrence for the genus. The occurrence of this new species suggests that the genus may have originated in the Pacific and, during the Miocene, dispersed through the Isthmus of Panama to the Caribbean. Two of the specimens exhibit parasitism by Bopyridae (Isopoda).


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Churchill

AbstractThis is the latest in a series of annual surveys in this Journal reviewing dispute settlement in the law of the sea, both under Part XV of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and outside the framework of the Convention. It covers developments during 2018. The most significant developments during the year were the judgment of the International Court of Justice in Costa Rica v. Nicaragua, delimiting the maritime boundaries between the two States’ overlapping maritime zones in both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean; the report of the Conciliation Commission concerning maritime boundary arrangements between Timor-Leste and Australia; and the findings of a dispute settlement body of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization.


1997 ◽  
Vol 75 (9) ◽  
pp. 1415-1464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Leistikow

Examination of a small collection of Oniscidea from Costa Rica revealed the presence of two species new to science (Ischioscia martinae sp.nov. and Scleropactes talamancensis sp.nov.). Further specimens from the collection of the United States National Museum were reexamined to reconsider the status of Philoscia muscorum (Scopoli, 1793) and Ischioscia variegata (Dollfus, 1893), both of which have been reported from Costa Rica. The specimens belong to two new species (Ischioscia muelleri sp.nov. and Ischioscia elongata sp.nov.). Redescriptions of Ligia baudiniana Milne Edwards, 1840 from the shores of both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean and the type material of Ischioscia variegata (Dollfus, 1893) from Venezuela are also presented.


Evolution ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 66 (12) ◽  
pp. 3902-3917 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Messmer ◽  
Geoffrey P. Jones ◽  
Philip L. Munday ◽  
Serge Planes

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