Punctodera cf. stonei Brzeski, 1998 cysts were detected in soil samples collected from 10 sites in Southland, New Zealand, between February 2024 and September 2026. Only cysts and second‐stage juveniles (J2) were examined. Cysts were oval‐shaped with vulval protuberance absent; circumfenestrate with scattered to distinct bullae around fenestrae. J2 specimens exhibited robust, slightly concave stylet knobs and a long, tapering tail with a rounded terminus. Molecular characterisation was performed by sequencing 18S, ITS and D2–D3 expansion segments of 28S rRNA and COI genes, and by subsequent phylogenetic analysis for COI and ITS. Morphological and morphometric characters were most consistent with published descriptions of P. stonei , while molecular analyses showed varying relationships to available Punctodera reference sequences. Based on an integrative assessment of morphological, morphometric, molecular data and the cropping history of the area, the Southland population has been identified as Punctodera cf. stonei . This represents the first confirmed record of the genus Punctodera in New Zealand, extending the known geographic distribution of Punctodera cf. stonei to include Oceania and the Southern Hemisphere.
Velvet worms and vagrant spiders are two predatory invertebrate taxa that can occupy urban forests, but understanding their habitat associations in these environments has been hampered by a lack of effective monitoring methods. We assessed how forest age and type affected the numbers of velvet worms and vagrant spiders detected within leaf litter-filled bags after 1, 6, 11 and 19 months at 21 sites across Wellington, New Zealand. Sites were distributed across a remnant old-growth forest, a 'predator free' ecosanctuary with secondary forest >100 years old, and fragments of younger forest. Velvet worms were observed in bags after 11 months and in greater numbers after 19 months. Vagrant spiders were more frequently encountered than velvet worms, with two or more vagrant spiders observed at each site across all checks. Velvet worm detections were significantly higher in the ecosanctuary, followed by the remnant forest, with fewer detections in the younger forest fragments. Conversely, vagrant spiders showed no significant difference in abundance between habitats. Forest maturity and possibly control of pest rodents seem to favour greater abundance of velvet worms in Wellington. Leaf litter-filled bags are a promising, non-lethal method for detecting velvet worms, vagrant spiders and a range of other invertebrates.
Rhodolith beds are structurally complex biogenic habitats recognized as important reservoirs of marine biodiversity, yet their associated sponge fauna remains poorly documented in the Southwestern Atlantic. Here, two new species of the genus Clathria Schmidt, 1862 (Microcionidae) are described from mesophotic rhodolith beds off the coast of Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil. Clathria (Clathria) crassifibra sp. nov., collected at 56 m depth off Recife, is characterized by a thickly encrusting habit, a reticulate choanosomal skeleton, principal styles with microspined heads, a single category of auxiliary subtylostyles, echinating acanthostyles, rare cleistochelae, palmate isochelae, and wing-shaped toxas. Clathria (Microciona) jaboatonensis sp. nov., collected at 51 m depth off Jaboat & atilde;o dos Guararapes, is characterized by a thinly encrusting habit, a hymedesmioid to confused skeleton, two categories of echinating acanthostyles and cleistochelae, auxiliary subtylostyles with microspined tyles, palmate isochelae, and wing-shaped toxas. Detailed comparisons with morphologically similar Atlantic congeners are provided in the Remarks sections for each species. The predominance of encrusting morphologies in both species is consistent with previous observations of rhodolith-associated sponge assemblages and may reflect adaptations to these biogenic substrates, although the ecological drivers underlying these growth forms remain poorly understood. The discovery of two new species from a limited sampling effort highlights the potential for additional undocumented sponge diversity associated with mesophotic rhodolith beds and underscores the need for further taxonomic surveys in deeper habitats of the Brazilian continental shelf.
Reliable species distribution data are essential for conservation planning, yet for many invertebrates, these data are incomplete or inaccessible. Institutional collections hold millions of insect specimens, but most of the data and metadata are undigitised 'dark data', limiting their integration into global biodiversity platforms. We assessed the effect of completeness of digitisation on estimations of species' environmental space using Anagotus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), a genus of large-bodied, flightless weevils endemic to New Zealand, as a case study. We compiled occurrence records from institutional collections and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), cleaned, georeferenced and linked them to environmental variables from the New Zealand Environmental Data Stack. We analysed the geographic and environmental space occupied in GBIF and non-GBIF records using choropleth maps and environmental principal component analysis. Prior to our digitisation efforts, only 25.6% of the 2202 specimens held in major institutions had metadata available through GBIF, with large gaps in the New Zealand Arthropod Collection (72.6% undigitised), which also contributed most records (70.7%). The consequences of these absences extend beyond coverage statistics; for the 14 named species we analysed, adding non-GBIF records recovered two species entirely absent from GBIF and expanded the observed ecological regions by 0%-325% (& micro; = 84.90%) for the remaining 12, fundamentally altering our understanding of their geographic range and likely rarity-matrix classification. Despite this shortfall, GBIF records broadly captured the environmental space occupied by Anagotus, although some climatic outliers and historically or geographically unique localities were not represented. Our analysis suggests that while partial digitisation can be sufficient to support some modelling for conservation planning, comprehensive digitisation remains critical for capturing environmental extremes and historical baselines. For taxa like New Zealand's endemic flightless weevils, the records absent from aggregated repositories could influence whether a species is correctly classified as threatened.
Loxomerus antipodes Liebherr and Marris, sp. nov. (Coleoptera: Carabidae), is described from the New Zealand subantarctic Antipodes Islands archipelago. Loxomerus antipodes, sp. nov., was considered conspecific with Loxomerus brevis Blanchard, 1853, from the Auckland Islands, but it is diagnosed from that sister taxon based on numerous anatomical differences, including (1) smaller, externally less convex compound eyes; (2) a more basally constricted pronotum; (3) pronotal and elytral margins contrastingly paler than the more melanised discs; (4) distinctly impressed elytral striae, the associated intervals broadly convex, and sutural intervals upraised, callus-like in basal half of elytral length; and (5) male aedeagal median lobe apex more elongate. Loxomerus antipodes sp. nov. was initially known only from dead remains collected on Antipodes Island in 1969. In 1995, live specimens were found on neighbouring pest-free Bollons Island. The species was hypothesised to be locally extirpated on Antipodes Island due to intensive predation by the invasive house mouse, Mus musculus Linnaeus, 1758, present at least since the early 20th century. But following the eradication of mice from Antipodes Island in 2016, the presence of the flightless L. antipodes sp. nov. was documented on the island in 2022 and 2023. Also in 2023, the rarely observed, flightless Pseudhelops antipodensis Watt, 1971 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), was recollected on the main Antipodes Island. Resurgence of these beetles highlights the detrimental effects mice exert on island invertebrate populations and emphasises the beneficial impacts of eradication programmes.
