Studies on Schismatoglottideae (Araceae) of Peninsular Malaysia III: New species for the Schismatoglottis Calyptrata Clade

Three new colonial species of Schismatoglottis Calyptrata clade are described from Peninsular Malaysia and compared with the four already known morphologically similar species described from there. All seven species are illustrated from living plants and an identification key is provided.

Studies on Schismatoglottideae (Araceae) of Borneo LXX — New colonial species for the Schismatoglottis [Calyptrata Clade] from Sarawak

Three new colonial species of Schismatoglottis Calyptrata clade are described and illustrated from Sarawak and compared with the four pre-existing morphologically similar species occurring in the state. A modified description of Schismatoglottis niahensis is provided to correct a previous misinterpretation of the stem architecture. All seven recognized species are illustrated from living plants.

How do ecological and social environments reflect parental roles in birds? A comparative analysis

Parental roles are highly diverse in animal taxa. Since caring is an important determinant of fitness, understanding the origin and maintenance of various parental care strategies is a key question in evolutionary biology. Here we investigate parental care patterns in birds, which exhibit a remarkable diversity of parental sex roles. By means of phylogenetically informed comparative analyses we investigate whether and how care provisioning is predicted by ecology and social environment. Making use of the most comprehensive dataset including 1101 species that represent 126 avian families, we show that sex differences in parental care are neither related to food type nor to nest type, two key ecological factors. However, we found an effect of the social environment, as males tend to care relatively more in in colonial species than in non-colonial species. Taken together, these results highlight the importance of social effects for evolution of diverse parental sex roles.

KEBERADAAN HEWAN PENGOTOR TERITIP DI INFRASTRUKTUR TELUK KUNYIT, PANTAI SARIRINGGUNG DAN PANTAI MUTUN, LAMPUNG

Abstrak: Teritip merupakan salah satu hewan pengotor yang umum hidup menempel pada infrastruktur buatan manusia yang teredam di dalam perairan laut. Fenomena penempelan teritip mengakibatkan kerusakan struktur bangunan pada infrastruktur di perairan laut. Tujuan penelitian ini menginventarisasi keberadaan jenis teritip yang menempel pada infrastruktur yang ada di area pantai yang berada di Teluk kunyit, Pantai Sariringgung dan Pantai Mutun sebagai langkah awal dalam pengendalian hewan pengotor. Penelitian dilakukan dengan metode survei selama bulan April and November 2018. Pada kedua Pantai Sariringgung dan Pantai Mutun ditemukan dua spesies teritip, Amphibalanus amphitrite dan Microeuraphia withersii. Namun, jenis teritip yang ditemukan di Teluk Kunyit hanya satu spesies Cthtamalus malayensis..Kata kunci: introduksi, biofouling, zona intertidal, Teluk Lampung.Abstract: Barnacle is the most common biofouling in the manmade submerged structures. Barnacles are a serious problem which leading the detriment of coastal structures. The aim of the study was to investigate the dataset of barnacale communities in Lampung shores, in order to monitor developing of biofouling. Three coastal areas of Teluk Kunyit, Sariringgung and Mutun were investigated between April and November 2018. It was found that two species, Amphibalanus amphitrite and Microeuraphia withersii, are found in both costal areas. In contrast, only colonial species of Cthtamalus malayensis has been found abundance in Teluk kunyit area.Keywords: introduction, biofouling, intertidal zone, Lampung Bay

The Ascidiacea collected during the 2017 British Columbia Hakai MarineGEO BioBlitz

A three-week intensive marine biodiversity survey was carried out at a small remote region of the central British Columbia coast at and near the Calvert Island Marine Station (Hakai Institute) July 21–August 11, 2017. The survey included daily sampling by the staff and a number of visiting taxonomists with specialties covering all the major groups of invertebrates. Many marine habitats were sampled: rocky and sand/gravel intertidal and tidepools, eelgrass meadows, shallow and deeper subtidal by snorkel and Scuba, plus artificial surfaces including the sides and bottom of the large floating dock at the Institute and settlement plates set out up to a year previously at various subtidal sites. Many new species were recorded by all the taxonomists. In this very biodiverse remote area 36 ascidian species were identified: 18 Aplousobranchia, 7 Phlebobranchia, and 11 Stolidobranchia, comprising a total of 15 solitary and 21 colonial species including two undescribed colonial species. This represents almost one third of all the known North American species from Alaska to southern California in this limited very remote area. Remarkably, only two are possible non-natives. Diplosoma listerianum (Milne-Edwards, 1841), was collected mostly on natural substrates including deeper areas sampled by Scuba, and one colony occurred on a settlement plate. A few Ciona savignyi Herdman, 1882 were collected, two from natural substrates and four from artificial surfaces. There were no botryllids, Styela clava Herdman, 1881, Didemnum vexillum Kott, 2002, or Molgula manhattensis (De Kay, 1843), though these are all common and sometimes very abundant non-natives in other parts of BC and along much of the U.S. west coast. Most of the species encountered are known in northern California, Washington, and southern BC, but only a small number are represented among the few known Alaska species.

Colonial ascidians strongly preyed upon, yet dominate the substrate in a subtropical fouling community

Higher diversity and dominance at lower latitudes has been suggested for colonial species. We verified this pattern in species richness of ascidians, finding that higher colonial-to-solitary species ratios occur in the tropics and subtropics. At the latitudinal region with the highest ratio, in southeastern Brazil, we confirmed that colonial species dominate space on artificial plates in two independent studies of five fouling communities. We manipulated settlement plates to measure effects of predation and competition on growth and survivorship of colonial versus solitary ascidians. Eight species were subjected to a predation treatment, i.e. caged versus exposed to predators, and a competition treatment, i.e. leaving versus removing competitors, to assess main and interactive effects. Predation had a greater effect on growth and survivorship of colonial compared to solitary species, whereas competition did not show consistent patterns. We hypothesize that colonial ascidians dominate at this subtropical site despite being highly preyed upon because they regrow when partially consumed and can adjust in shape and space to grow into refuges. We contend that these means of avoiding mortality from predation can have large influences on diversification patterns of colonial species at low latitudes, where predation intensity is greater.

Colonial ascidians strongly preyed upon, yet dominate the substrate in a subtropical fouling community

Higher diversity and dominance at lower latitudes has been suggested for colonial species. We verified the latitudinal pattern in species richness of ascidians, finding that higher colonial-to-solitary species ratios occur in the tropics and subtropics. At the latitudinal region with the highest ratio, in south-eastern Brazil, we confirmed that colonial species dominate the space on artificial plates in two independent studies of five fouling communities. We manipulated settlement plates to measure effects of predation and competition on growth and survivorship of colonial vs. solitary ascidians. Eight ascidian species were subjected to a predation treatment, i.e. caged vs. exposed to predators, and a competition treatment, i.e. leaving vs. removing competitors, to assess main and interactive effects. Predation had a greater effect on growth and survivorship of colonial compared to solitary species, whereas competition did not show consistent patterns between the two life histories. We hypothesize that colonial ascidians dominate at this subtropical site despite being highly preyed upon because they regrow when partially consumed and can adjust in shape and space to grow into refuges. We contend that these means of avoiding mortality from predation can have large influences on the diversification patterns of colonial species at low latitudes, where predation intensity is greater.

Evidence of sociality in the timing and location of foraging in a colonial seabird

Social foraging behaviours, which range from cooperative hunting to local enhancement, can result in increased prey capture and access to information, which may significantly reduce time and energy costs of acquiring prey. In colonial species, it has been proposed that the colony itself may act as a site of social information transfer and group formation. However, conclusive evidence from empirical studies is lacking. In particular, most studies in colonial species have generally focussed on behaviours either at the colony or at foraging sites in isolation, and have failed to directly connect social associations at the colony to social foraging. In this study, we simultaneously tracked 85% of a population of Australasian gannets ( Morus serrator ) over multiple foraging trips, to study social associations at the colony and test whether these associations influence the location of foraging sites. We found that gannets positively associate with conspecifics while departing from the colony and that co-departing gannets have more similar initial foraging patches than individuals that did not associate at the colony. These results provide strong evidence for the theory that the colony may provide a source of information that influences foraging location.