Abstract. New records of the Indo-Pacific seastar Mithrodia clavigera (Lamarck, 1816) include the north-central Gulf of Mexico, southeastern Florida, and Ascension Island. Material includes in-situ photographs, specimens from our own field collections, and museum specimens. This species was previously reported in the Atlantic basin in the 1880s off Brazil and in the western Caribbean Sea in the late 1960s and early 1970s. More recent findings are attributable to the advent of SCUBA, seafloor photography, and genetic analysis. The presence of M. clavigera in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent waters probably represents a former connection with populations in the eastern Pacific Ocean before the rise of the Isthmus of Panama. Our observations here of specimens collected off Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and the Gulf of Mexico add to our understanding of this species' behavior and ecology.
Abstract. A new species of Lepidodermella (Gastrotricha: Chaetonotida: Chaetonotidae) is described from two streams in northwestern Oregon, U.S.A. This is the fourth species of freshwater gastrotrich reported from the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The dearth of reports appears to be due more to a lack of study rather than a lack of gastrotrichs. Lepidodermella squamata is one of the species already reported from the Pacific Northwest, and occurs sympatrically with the new species described here. No other members of the genus have been reported from the Pacific Northwest. Three species of Lepidodermella have been reported previously from North America. The genus includes one marine species and 14 freshwater species. Lepidodermella weissi, new species, brings the number of freshwater species to 15 and can be distinguished from other freshwater members of the genus by the following characters: absence of parafurcal spines, absence of transverse anterior ventral plates, head width of less than 40 µm, head with five lobes, pharynx length 44 µm or less, adhesive tube length of 5 µm or more, more than 35 scales per middorsal column, presence of seven or fewer posterior midventral columns of scales, presence of a pair of posterior ventral plates, and the presence of several columns of spined scales between the ventral ciliary bands and the smooth scales of dorsum and sides.
Abstract. A thread-leg shrimp, Nematocarcinus sp., was photographed at 870 m off the San Juan Seamount off California. The shrimp was not collected. The color pattern is very different from previously described northeastern Pacific species of Nematocarcinus. The image in the photograph is too distant to see characteristic details of the rostrum. A previous report of Nematocarcinus exilis (Spence Bate, 1888) from Oregon cannot be verified, so this is the first well-documented report of this family in the eastern Pacific north of Mexico.
Abstract. The skull morphology of four species of cottontails from the mountains and plateaus of southwestern United States and northern Mexico, currently recognized as Sylvilagus nuttallii, S. cognatus, S. robustus, and S. holzneri (=S. floridanus holzneri), was analyzed using multivariate statistics. Based on 26 or 30 measurements taken on each of 350 adult skulls, and formulation of 16 pooled samples, with each representing a different geographic population, the results show there are two species-level distinctions in skull type. Cottontails from southern Utah, northern and east-central Arizona, and northern New Mexico show morphological overlap among geographically adjacent samples and all have a highly arched skull. These are referable to S. nuttallii. Cottontails from central Arizona, central New Mexico, and western Texas southward along the Sierra Madre Occidental to Durango, Mexico, and Sierra Madre Oriental to central Coahuila, Mexico show morphological overlap among geographically adjacent samples and all have a relatively flat skull. These are referable to S. holzneri. Both S. nuttallii and S. holzneri are polytypic in the study area. Sylvilagus n. pinetis is restricted to the White Mountains of Arizona. Those north and west of the Colorado River in Arizona and Utah are referable to S. n. nuttallii and those from southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona and northern New Mexico are referable to S. n. grangeri. The population of cottontails previously referred to S. cognatus from central New Mexico is indistinguishable from topotypical S. holzneri from southeastern Arizona as well as populations from southwestern New Mexico, Chihuahua, and Sonora, Mexico. Cottontails previously referred to S. robustus, from the Guadalupe Mountains of New Mexico and Texas, southward in the mountains of western Texas, and the Sierra Madre Oriental to central Coahuila, Mexico, average larger in overall size and, on average, have proportionately larger auditory bullae and are referable to S. holzneri robustus. The relationship of S. holzneri to other mountain/plateau-inhabiting taxa, outside the study area in central and southern Mexico remains to be resolved.
Abstract. Brianaudea, nom. nov., is introduced as a replacement name for Naudea Kensley, 1979 (Crustacea: Isopoda: Bathynataliidae) which is a junior homonym of Naudea Meyer & Rodrigues, 1966 (Chelicerata: Acariformes: Iolinidae). Naudea Kensley contains one species that is now Brianaudea louwae (Kensley, 1979), comb. nov.
Abstract. The skull morphology of four species of cottontails from the mountains and plateaus of southwestern United States and northern Mexico, currently recognized as Sylvilagus nuttallii, S. cognatus, S. robustus, and S. holzneri (=S. floridanus holzneri), was analyzed using multivariate statistics. Based on 26 or 30 measurements taken on each of 350 adult skulls, and formulation of 16 pooled samples, with each representing a different geographic population, the results show there are two species-level distinctions in skull type. Cottontails from southern Utah, northern and east-central Arizona, and northern New Mexico show morphological overlap among geographically adjacent samples and all have a highly arched skull. These are referable to S. nuttallii. Cottontails from central Arizona, central New Mexico, and western Texas southward along the Sierra Madre Occidental to Durango, Mexico, and Sierra Madre Oriental to central Coahuila, Mexico show morphological overlap among geographically adjacent samples and all have a relatively flat skull. These are referable to S. holzneri. Both S. nuttallii and S. holzneri are polytypic in the study area. Sylvilagus n. pinetis is restricted to the White Mountains of Arizona. Those north and west of the Colorado River in Arizona and Utah are referable to S. n. nuttallii and those from southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona and northern New Mexico are referable to S. n. grangeri. The population of cottontails previously referred to S. cognatus from central New Mexico is indistinguishable from topotypical S. holzneri from southeastern Arizona as well as populations from southwestern New Mexico, Chihuahua, and Sonora, Mexico. Cottontails previously referred to S. robustus, from the Guadalupe Mountains of New Mexico and Texas, southward in the mountains of western Texas, and the Sierra Madre Oriental to central Coahuila, Mexico, average larger in overall size and, on average, have proportionately larger auditory bullae and are referable to S. holzneri robustus. The relationship of S. holzneri to other mountain/plateau-inhabiting taxa, outside the study area in central and southern Mexico remains to be resolved.
Abstract. New records of the Indo-Pacific seastar Mithrodia clavigera (Lamarck, 1816) include the north-central Gulf of Mexico, southeastern Florida, and Ascension Island. Material includes in-situ photographs, specimens from our own field collections, and museum specimens. This species was previously reported in the Atlantic basin in the 1880s off Brazil and in the western Caribbean Sea in the late 1960s and early 1970s. More recent findings are attributable to the advent of SCUBA, seafloor photography, and genetic analysis. The presence of M. clavigera in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent waters probably represents a former connection with populations in the eastern Pacific Ocean before the rise of the Isthmus of Panama. Our observations here of specimens collected off Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and the Gulf of Mexico add to our understanding of this species' behavior and ecology.
We herein describe a new species of stylochoplanid flatworm, Alloioplana yerii, from Japan. This is the first record of the genus from the West Pacific. Alloioplana yerii is characterized by i) a lack of nuchal tentacles, ii) an oval prostatic vesicle that is smaller than the seminal vesicle, iii) the presence of a common sperm duct, and iv) the presence of an intra-prostatic ejaculatory duct. We provide a partial sequence of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene (712 bp) as a DNA barcode for the species. Our phylogenetic analyses based on concatenated sequences of 18S and 28S ribosomal DNA and of COI suggest that Stylochoplanidae is not monophyletic and that Al. yerii forms a relatively well-supported clade with Echinoplana celerrima Haswell, 1907 (Gnesiocerotidae) and Notoplana sp. (Notoplanidae).
This publication describes new species found by Mr. Donald Megahan and his family while collecting at three Eocene, Cook Mountain Formation, Claiborne Group, localities in central Texas. The following eight new species are proposed: Pliciscala obliqua, Papuliscala keani, Conradconfusus nodulinus, Terebrifusus megahani, Orthosurcula ethani, Unitas duomillias, Ringicula taenia, and Syrnola debrae.
All species in the epicaridean isopod genus Zonophryxus Richardson, 1903 are reviewed, and information regarding host choice is summarized. The enigmatic species Colypurus agassizi Richardson, 1905 is shown to be synonymous with Zonophryxus similis Searle, 1914, and Colypurus Richardson, 1905 and Colypuridae Richardson, 1905 are synonymized with Zonophryxus and Dajidae, respectively. The correct name for the species is Zonophryxus agassizi, new combination. The existence of two distinct male morphotypes in at least some species of Zonophryxus is confirmed and discussed. Type and other material of Zonophryxus retrodens Richardson, 1903 and Zonophryxus trilobus Richardson, 1910 were examined, and these species are discussed and illustrated, including description of morphological structures either erroneously or not previously reported. New material of Zonophryxus dodecapus Holthuis, 1949 is reported on, with the discovery that females of the species can have either five or six pairs of pereopods independent of their developmental stage. A new species, Zonophryxus probisowa, is described from Peruvian material and named in honor of The Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington on the occasion of this, its final volume.
Three new species of Microspio were found in collections from a range of depths including shallow water in Bermuda, the continental shelf off Massachusetts, and deep water in the South China Sea off Brunei. Microspio fischeri, new species, is associated with shallow water sponges in Bermuda where it is a prey species of a predatory syllid; it is characterized by the medial placement of the first pair of branchiae as well as unusual notopodial capillaries in anterior chaetigers and enlarged notopodial lobes in posterior chaetigers. Microspio lydonia, new species, from the continental shelf on the east coast of the United States is distinguished from M. pigmentata (Reish, 1959) from the west coast by differences in the structure of the nuchal organs and hooded hooks, pigmentation, and Methyl Green staining patterns. Additions to the description of M. pigmentata include illustration of the nuchal organs and dorsal ciliary bands. Microspio ariena, new species, from deep water in the South China Sea off Brunei has enlarged branchiae with large glands that stain deeply with Methyl Green on a few anterior chaetigers, followed by much smaller branchiae on additional chaetigers. The three new species bring the total of described species in the genus to twenty-one, although some species remain problematic. A table comparing important characteristics of all 21 known species of Microspio is included.
The skull morphology of four species of cottontails from the mountains and plateaus of southwestern United States and northern Mexico, currently recognized as Sylvilagus nuttallii, S. cognatus, S. robustus, and S. holzneri (=S. floridanus holzneri), was analyzed using multivariate statistics. Based on 26 or 30 measurements taken on each of 350 adult skulls, and formulation of 16 pooled samples, with each representing a different geographic population, the results show there are two species-level distinctions in skull type. Cottontails from southern Utah, northern and east-central Arizona, and northern New Mexico show morphological overlap among geographically adjacent samples and all have a highly arched skull. These are referable to S. nuttallii. Cottontails from central Arizona, central New Mexico, and western Texas southward along the Sierra Madre Occidental to Durango, Mexico, and Sierra Madre Oriental to central Coahuila, Mexico show morphological overlap among geographically adjacent samples and all have a relatively flat skull. These are referable to S. holzneri. Both S. nuttallii and S. holzneri are polytypic in the study area. Sylvilagus n. pinetis is restricted to the White Mountains of Arizona. Those north and west of the Colorado River in Arizona and Utah are referable to S. n. nuttallii and those from southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona and northern New Mexico are referable to S. n. grangeri. The population of cottontails previously referred to S. cognatus from central New Mexico is indistinguishable from topotypical S. holzneri from southeastern Arizona as well as populations from southwestern New Mexico, Chihuahua, and Sonora, Mexico. Cottontails previously referred to S. robustus, from the Guadalupe Mountains of New Mexico and Texas, southward in the mountains of western Texas, and the Sierra Madre Oriental to central Coahuila, Mexico, average larger in overall size and, on average, have proportionately larger auditory bullae and are referable to S. holzneri robustus. The relationship of S. holzneri to other mountain/plateau-inhabiting taxa, outside the study area in central and southern Mexico remains to be resolved.
Abstract. New species of the until now monotypic buccinoidean genera Germonea and Drepanodontus are described from the southwestern Atlantic waters. These genera are only otherwise known from lower bathyal and abyssal depths of Scotia Sea. Germonea costulosa n. sp. collected near Namuncurá/Burdwood Bank in 681 to 785 m depth is the second known species of the genus characterized by distinctive regular ribs. In addition, Drepanodontus peonza n. sp., collected from the same area, is similar to the type species of this genus with two distinctive spiral cords along all whorls. The bathymetry of both new species is shallower than that of the already described species, at upper slope depths. Geographically the new species put both genera on both sides of the Antarctic convergence. Previous reports include D. tatyanae sharing this distribution rising some questions about the effectiveness of the Drake passage as a barrier.
Green anoles of the Anolis carolinensis Voigt, 1832 species group have been become successfully established by human transport on many islands in the Pacific, from Okinawa in the west to Hawaii in the east. First recorded from Oahu in 1950, from the time of their discovery, and for decades afterwards, the green anoles of the Pacific were identified as the Cuban green anole, Anolis porcatus. We show that Pacific green anoles are readily distinguished from A. porcatus by the larger head scales of A. porcatus but are essentially indistinguishable from A. carolinensis from South Carolina, which come from within the range of the same mtDNA clade as the source of the Pacific invasion in Texas and Louisiana. Genetically distinct A. carolinensis from southern Florida are intermediate in scale size, differing in this respect from Pacific green anoles. These results are in harmony with recent molecular genetic studies on the phylogeny and status of green anoles from the Pacific, North America, and Cuba. The green anole of the Pacific is A. carolinensis sensu stricto.
A new species of Lepidodermella (Gastrotricha: Chaetonotida: Chaetonotidae) is described from two streams in northwestern Oregon, U.S.A. This is the fourth species of freshwater gastrotrich reported from the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The dearth of reports appears to be due more to a lack of study rather than a lack of gastrotrichs. Lepidodermella squamata is one of the species already reported from the Pacific Northwest, and occurs sympatrically with the new species described here. No other members of the genus have been reported from the Pacific Northwest. Three species of Lepidodermella have been reported previously from North America. The genus includes one marine species and 14 freshwater species. Lepidodermella weissi, new species, brings the number of freshwater species to 15 and can be distinguished from other freshwater members of the genus by the following characters: absence of parafurcal spines, absence of transverse anterior ventral plates, head width of less than 40 mu m, head with five lobes, pharynx length 44 mu m or less, adhesive tube length of 5 mu m or more, more than 35 scales per middorsal column, presence of seven or fewer posterior midventral columns of scales, presence of a pair of posterior ventral plates, and the presence of several columns of spined scales between the ventral ciliary bands and the smooth scales of dorsum and sides.
A thread-leg shrimp, Nematocarcinus sp., was photographed at 870 m off the San Juan Seamount off California. The shrimp was not collected. The color pattern is very different from previously described northeastern Pacific species of Nematocarcinus. The image in the photograph is too distant to see characteristic details of the rostrum. A previous report of Nematocarcinus exilis (Spence Bate, 1888) from Oregon cannot be verified, so this is the first well-documented report of this family in the eastern Pacific north of Mexico.
Six species of bopyrids were detected by inspection of crustaceans of diverse taxa collected in the Gulf of Mexico and the Mexican Caribbean that were deposited in two scientific collections housed in the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. Probynia ramiroromani, new species is described, becoming the first species of the genus from the American continent. The occurrence of Pseudione cf. crenulata is recorded for the first time in the west Atlantic coast, the distribution ranges of Orthione furcata, Parabopyrella thomasi, and Robinione overstreeti are extended, and O. furcata and Urobopyrus processae are reported for the first time in Mexican waters. Munida valida, Periclimenaeus perlatus, Processa bermudensis, and Upogebia vasquezi are now recognized as hosts of P. cf. crenulata, P. ramiroromani, U. processae, and O. furcata, respectively.
(SJM, TLR, MRK, LCHD) College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland 4870, Australia; (TLR, MKR, LCHD) Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Sciences, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland 4870, Australia; (DPB) Formally Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, U.S.A.; (MU) Cairns Institute, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland 4870, Australia; (EJP) Department of Geosciences, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, U.S.A.; (AMD) Oasestraat 79, Purmerend, The Netherlands
Based on collections of interstitial Syllidae (Annelida) from several areas of the Indo-Pacific Ocean (Madagascar, Andaman Islands, South China, Hong-Kong, the Philippines, and New Zealand), we report a total of 49 species belonging to 19 genera. Most of these species are already known in the Indo-Pacific area, but these reports extend their distributional ranges. Nine species are described as new: Parexogone javieri (from New Zealand), Parexogone viejoi (from the Philippines), Prosphaerosyllis fittoni, Sphaerosyllis dieteri, Syllis kai, Perkinsyllis tsilo (from Madagascar), and Megasyllis chiki, Syllis dominguezi, and Syllis escribanoi (from China). Two species, previously described as Streptosyllis Webster & Benedict, 1884 are transferred to the genus Streptospinigera Kudenov, 1983: S. baolingi (Ding & Westheide, 1994), new combination, and S. hainanensis (Ding & Westheide, 1994), new combination, both from China. One species is transferred to Syllis [Typosyllis botosaneanui (Hartmann-Schroder, 1973)], new combination.
