Culexiregiloricus, a new genus of Nanaloricidae (Loricifera) from the deep sea of the Guinea Basin (Southeast Atlantic)

A postlarva of Nanaloricidae (Loricifera) was found in the deep sea of the Guinea Basin. This postlarva belongs to a new species, Culexiregiloricus trichiscalida, which also represents a new genus. It inhabits clayish sediments with a high amount of calcitic multi-chambered shells of recent planktonic foraminiferans of 0.25 to 1.5 mm in size. This is the third report of a species of Nanaloricidae from a deep-sea habitat. The postlarva is characterized by a mouth cone divided in a short basal section and being drawn out terminally in to a long and slim mouth tube as second section. It also has distinct filiform and delicate clavoand spinoscalis of the second and third rows all covered with minute trichoids, a lorica divided into eight plates (four broad and four narrow ones, some of which have two to eight transversal undulations) and eight wide intercalary plicae (six broad and two narrow ones, with distinct longitudinal folds), 14 lorica spikes of medium size along anterior rim of lorica. Other characters include eight dorsal papillated flosculi, of which six form clusters of three each on dorsolateral plates, and a caudal end with a broad ventral plate flanked longitudinally by massive elevated cuticular ridges. Together with the three species of the genus Armorloricus and one species of the genus Phoeniciloricus, the new species may form a specific species-group within Nanaloricidae, which is characterized by a long and slim mouth tube as the most obvious character.

A new species of Argulus from Kosi Bay, South Africa and distribution records of the genus

A new species of the fish ectoparasite Argulus i.e. A. kosus is described from Kosi Bay in South Africa. This species is characterised by deep antero-lateral depressions of the dorsal carapace which delimit a pronounced frontal region, scales are present on the mouth tube, varying numbers of sclerites are present on the maxillae, no flagella occur on the swimming legs nor any scales on the antennae. The shape of the respiratory areas are also typical for this species. A table of the distribution of the genus in South Africa and a map showing the localities, is also included.

The fine structure and function of the cephalic appendages of the branchiuran parasite, Argulus japonicus Thiele

The fish parasite Argulus japonicus Thiele (Crustacea: Branchiura) has recently been introduced into Britain and is now established in the wild. A. japonicus , an ectoparasite attaching to, and feeding on, the skin of its host, is a potentially serious pathogen of native freshwater fishes. The anatomy of the attachment and feeding structures is described using light and electron microscopy. The primary attachment organs are the suckers derived from the maxillules. The extrinsic musculature of the suckers comprises two major muscle groups: the suction muscles which insert on the floor of the sucker and generate suction, and the cup muscles which control the orientation and movement of the sucker as a whole. The inner wall of the sucker cup comprises two hoops of thickened cuticle and provides the rigidity necessary to prevent the sucker from collapsing. These hoops are hinged to allow extra movement of the distal hoop plus its marginal m em brane when forming a seal onto the surface of the host. Numerous mucous glands are present in the floor of the sucker. The elongate mouth tube represents a ventral outgrowth of the head bearing a small labrum and labium distally. The homology of the labium is confirmed by the arrangement of its paired muscles, which originate on the undersurface of the ventral cephalic tendon and pass down through channels in the suboesophageal ganglion. The labrum lacks muscles. The ontogeny of the mouth tube, the adult m andibular musculature and the possible feeding mechanism are described. The preoral spine lies in the ventral midline of the body anterior to the mouth tube. It consists of a tapering spine carried on a long eversible sheath. When fully retracted the spine and sheath virtually disappear into the body. As the spine retracts the cuticle of the proximal sheath becomes inverted. The epithelium beneath this sheath cuticle is syncytial and is separated from the cuticle-lined, central duct of the spine by a fluid matrix which can be displaced as the spine is retracted. The fluid matrix appears to be secreted by the epithelial cells of the sheath cuticle. Retraction is by means of paired retractor muscles which originate dorsal to the midgut and pass down through the nerve ring. These muscles shorten to about 25% of their maximum length during extreme retraction.

Bedside diagnosis of alcohol intoxication with a pocket-size breath-alcohol device: sampling from unconscious subjects and specificity for ethanol.

We describe a novel mouth-cup device for sampling breath from unconscious subjects and analysis with a hand-held breath-alcohol instrument, the "Alcolmeter SD-2." This equipment was evaluated in healthy volunteers after they drank a moderate dose of alcohol. Three kinds of breath were analyzed: (a) end-expired air from a conventional mouth-tube, (b) breath sampled from the mouth-cup, and (c) air from a nasal tube supplied with the breath analyzer. The ethanol concentration in breath from the mouth-cup was slightly less than in end-expired air but significantly greater than in nasal air. Results with mouth-tube and mouth-cup correlated highly with blood-ethanol concentration as determined by gas chromatography; nasal-tube air correlated less well. The Alcolmeter responded not only to ethanol but also to methanol, 1-propanol, and 2-propanol, whereas ethylene glycol gave no response. The time-response curve for methanol was different, and this might permit differential diagnosis of methanol poisoning.