scholarly journals A new species of freshwater flatworm (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Dendrocoelidae) inhabiting a chemoautotrophic groundwater ecosystem in Romania

Author(s):  
Giacinta Angela Stocchino ◽  
Ronald Sluys ◽  
Mahasaru Kawakatsu ◽  
Serban Mircea Sarbu ◽  
Renata Manconi

We report the description of a new species of freshwater flatworm of the genus Dendrocoelum inhabiting the chemoautotrophic ecosystem of Movile Cave as well as several sulfidic wells in the nearby town of Mangalia, thus representing the first planarian species fully described from this extreme biotope. The species was also found in non-sulfidic wells localized in villages in the vicinity of the cave with a total of nine examined populations. Dendrocoelum obstinatum Stocchino & Sluys, sp. nov. represents the first triclad being able to live in both sulfidic and non-sulfidic waters. Among the fauna of the Mangalia sulfidic ecosystem it is the only species found also outside of the current boundaries of the sulfidic aquifer. One possible explanation of this peculiar distribution is that the new species is limited to the old boundaries of the sulfidic aquifer. The latter became much smaller during the hydrogeological history of the region, so that D. obstinatum may be considered to be an indicator of the extension of the sulfidic aquifer in the past of the Mangalia region. In the context of a biogeographic discussion on the distribution of the genus Dendrocoelum we provide an annotated checklist of species reported from Romania.

Zootaxa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3478 (1) ◽  
pp. 239-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOSÉ ADRIANO GIORGI ◽  
NATALIA J. VANDENBERG

Species of the genus Phaenochilus are reviewed, keyed, and illustrated, and an annotated checklist provided. A newspecies, Phaenochilus kashaya n. sp., is described from Thailand. This species feeds on an invasive pest of cycads, thecycad aulacaspis scale, Aulacaspis yasumatsui Takagi (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Diaspididae). The economic importance of cycads and cycad aulacaspis scale is discussed. A taxonomic history of Phaenochilus is provided.


Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4927 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-409
Author(s):  
CORENTIN BOCHATON ◽  
LAURENT CHARLES ◽  
ARNAUD LENOBLE

Documenting recent extinction events against the backdrop of increasing human-induced environmental pressure is complicated by the lack of historical and subfossil evidence for most parts of the world. This paucity of data renders it particularly difficult to evaluate the human impact on fragile environments, such as small islands, that may have been heavily altered by historical human exploitation. Here we describe a new species of an extinct Leiocephalus lizard from Guadeloupe, Leiocephalus roquetus sp. nov. based on recent discoveries of both a previously undocumented historically taxidermy specimen and of a large assemblage of subfossil bone remains from La Désirade Island. This new species presents a primitive morphology compared to all extant species of its genus and provides evidence for the past existence of a Lesser Antillean clade of Leiocephalus lizards that was completely wiped out in the centuries following the European colonization of these islands. Our study demonstrates how paleontological approaches can help to better understand the history of human environmental impact as well as the degree of degradation of modern ecosystems. 


1952 ◽  
Vol s3-93 (24) ◽  
pp. 427-434
Author(s):  
MONICA TAYLOR

Material collected in Loch Tannoch was allowed to macerate in a chemical nutrient. A rich crop of Euglena gracilis as well as other infusoria resulted. Eight months later, when the Euglena had encysted, many amoebae were found at the bottom of the receptacle. They constitute a new species, here named Amoeba hugonis. An average adult specimen, when extended, measures about 104x52·2µ. The nucleus consists of a central karyosome lying in the nuclear sap, separated from the cytoplasm by a wellmarked nuclear membrane. Between the latter and the karyosome is situated an achromatic ‘collar’ with chromatin particles embedded in it. Fission is described, but a study of mitosis has been deferred. The life-history of this small amoeba is very similar to that of the large A. proteus, &c. The cycle occupies two months. Chromidia begin to appear in the cytoplasm of the early adult. They give rise to spores, out of which amoebulae hatch.


Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4941 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-258
Author(s):  
YUN-HE WU ◽  
XIAO-LONG LIU ◽  
WEI GAO ◽  
YU-FAN WANG ◽  
YING-CHUN LI ◽  
...  

Approximately half of the species in speciose genus Raorchestes were described during the past 10 years, yet only 11 species are known from Southeast Asia and southern China (SEA-SC), adjacent Himalayas, and northeastern India. Field work in northwestern Yunnan province, China resulted in the discovery of one new species in the genus based on morphological and molecular analyses. The new species is diagnosed by small size with 15.0–19.0 mm SVL in adult males (n=3); tongue pyriform, notched posteriorly; rudimentary webbing between toes; fingers and toes with narrow lateral dermal fringes; tibiotarsal articulation reaching anterior of the eye when hindlimb is stretched along the side of the body; relative finger lengths: I < II < IV < III, relative toe lengths: I < II < V < III < IV; inner metatarsal tubercle oval, outer metatarsal tubercle absent; finger discs and toe discs greyish or orange; flank near the crotch with a distinct black region between two creamy white patches, and the thigh having a similar black patch near the groin, proximal to another creamy white patch; a distinct “) (”-shaped dark marking on the back; male with external single subgular vocal sac; nuptial pad absent. A phylogenetic tree was reconstructed based on the mitochondrial genes for 16S rRNA and ND1. The results indicated that these individuals form a monophyletic group, and show high genetic divergence to their closest relatives within the genus (uncorrected p-distances > 3.2%) by distance of 16S comparable to the divergence between recognized Raorchestes species. This study further enriches the diversity of rhacophorids, especially in northwestern Yunnan. 


1875 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 50-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. D. Handyside

The position of this new species of Ganoid, under our commonly accepted classification, the author gave as follows:—After referring to the Polyodon folium of Laépède (the P. reticulata of Shaw, the Planirostra spatula of Owen), the paddle-fish or spoon-bill sturgeon of the Ohio and Mississippi and their tributaries, as a well-known species of the genus in question, Dr Handyside went on to state that the new species now to be described was first observed on a Chinese fishmonger's stall at Woosung, 12 miles from Shanghai, and had since been found in the Yang-tsze-Kiang, and, as was alleged, in the northern Japanese sea. He then sketched the history of the Polyodontidoæ family, and narrated the researches of Lacépède, Von Martens, Blakiston, Kaup, and Duméril.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 365 (3) ◽  
pp. 295
Author(s):  
CHE-WEI LIN ◽  
CHI-HUNG LEE

Reknowned for its high biodiversity and endemism, over one third of the Bornean species of Phyllagathis were discovered in Sarawak over the past two years. In this study, we report an addition of a new species of Phyllagathis, namely P. stellata from southwestern Sarawak. In addition to the taxonomic account, color plates, line drawings, a distribution map, and comparisons with morphologically similar species are provided to aid in identification.


1957 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 257-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorothea F. Sandars

A new species Fibricola sarcophila, is described from Sarcophilus harrisii from Tasmania. The history of previous records of strigeid from marsupial hosts is outlined and their possible relationships discussed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiana S. Leite ◽  
Erica A.G. Vidal ◽  
Françoise Dantas Lima ◽  
Sergio M.Q. Lima ◽  
Ricardo M Dias ◽  
...  

Abstract The new species, Paroctopus cthulu sp. nov. Leite, Haimovici, Lima and Lima, was recorded from very shallow coastal waters on sandy/muddy and shelter-poor bottoms with natural and human-origin debris. It is a small octopus, adults are less than 35 mm mantle length (ML) and weigh around 15 g. It has short to medium sized arms, enlarged suckers on the arms of both males and females, large posterior salivary glands (25 %ML), a relatively large beak (9 % ML) and medium to large mature eggs (3.5 to > 9 mm). The characteristics of hatchlings of two brooding females, some of their anatomical features, and in-situ observations of their behaviour are a clue to the life history of it and closely related pygmy octopuses. The Bayesian phylogenetic analysis showed that Paroctopus cthulu sp.nov. specimens grouped in a well-supported clade of Paroctopus species, separate from P.joubini and P. cf mercatoris from the Northwestern Atlantic . The description of this new species, living in a novel habitat of human debris in shallow water off Brazil, offered an opportunity not only to evaluate the relationship among the small octopuses of the western Atlantic, Caribbean and eastern Pacific, but also their adaptation to the Anthropocene period.


Zootaxa ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4200 (2) ◽  
pp. 327 ◽  
Author(s):  
PEDRO S. R. ROMANO

Pelomedusoides is the most diverse clade of side-necked turtles and there is an extensive fossil record (de Broin, 1988; Lapparent de Broin, 2000; Gaffney et al., 2006, 2011) that dates back at least to the Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) (Romano et al., 2014). Its large fossil record evidences a greater diversity in the past, particularly at the end of the Mesozoic, and exhibits a good sampling of species that are represented by skull material (Gaffney et al., 2006, 2011). As a consequence, the most complete and recent phylogenetic hypotheses for this clade (e.g. Romano et al., 2014; Cadena, 2015) are based on matrices comprising a great amount of cranial characters derived largely from Gaffney et al. (2006, 2011). In addition, it is well established that shell characters show a lot of phenotypic plasticity, even in the fossil species (Romano, 2008; Gaffney et al., 2006, 2011). In most cases it consequently is not justified to rely on “diagnostic features” of poorly informative shell-only material for describing a new species. Because of that, most authors remark new morphotypes in the literature when such aberrant specimens are recovered, but do not make any nomenclatural act by proposing a new yet poorly supported species (e.g. Romano et al., 2013; Ferreira & Langer, 2013; Menegazzo et al., 2015). Unfortunately, such a supposedly new bothremydid turtle (Pleurodira: Bothremydidae) from the Early Paleocene of Brazil was recently described based on poorly diagnostic remains (Carvalho et al., 2016; hereafter CGB, for the authors initials) and a correction of this unfounded nomenclatural act is required. In addition I present some comments on shell only material from Brazil in order to guide splitter-taxonomists to stop describing poorly preserved fossil specimens as new species. 


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