Notes on astogeny of some Petraliellidae (Bryozoa) from Australia

Members of the bryozoan family Petraliellidae share the capacity to develop basal rhizoids, which anchor the unilaminar, semi-repent parts of the colonies above the substratum, and enable them to overgrow other, competing sessile forms. Little is known of the larval behaviour and settlement, or the early astogeny of species. Ancestrulate colonies of the Australian Tertiary lunulitiform species Smittia biincisa are referred to the genus Riscodopa, and together with Riscodopa paucipora sp. nov. are described and compared with the Recent species R. cotyla and R. parva from New Zealand, and with R. hyalina sp. nov. from New South Wales, Australia. All the Recent species are known to develop basal rhizoids, and an early astogeny similar to that of many other small, rooted bryozoans, comprising the post-metamorphosis development of a binary complex, including rhizoid and feeding elements, is inferred for Riscodopa. Observations on living Hippopetraliella magna from Queensland suggest that both the ancestrular morphology and early astogeny show a capacity for semi-repent growth, even though they do not include rhizoid development. Larvae metamorphose without direct attachment, and the ancestrula develops elongated, partially calcified supporting processes, which raise the early stages of growth above the substratum. A similar kind of ancestrula has been found in preserved specimens of Mucropetraliella ellerii.     

XXII.—On the structure of the palate and mandible of Archegosaurus decheni,Goldfuss

Summary

The genus Helixotionella is introduced for three species of spirally budded, free-living, lunulitiform bryozoans from Australia, H. spiralis (Chapman), H. rubra (Bretnall) and H. scutata sp. nov. H. spiralis, the type species, has a fossil history extending from the Upper Oligocene of Victoria, but like H. scutata, has been found to occur in Recent samples from Western Australia. H. rubra is known only from the Recent of New South Wales. All species have minute colonies and the majority of specimens has been revealed only after detailed examination of very fine fractions of bottom sediments, which themselves include a high proportion of bryozoan skeletal material.     

Recent and fossil Lunulitidae (Bryozoa: Cheilostomata) 5. Selenaria alata Tenison Woods,and related species

Five species of Lunulitidae are described, all of which have been assigned in the past to a variety of genera, such as Lunulites, Otionella and Selenaria. None of the species seems to be certainly referable to any one of these genera, but several of them appear to be closely related to one another. At present no attempt is made to define any new generic group, or groups, for these species which are known, almost exclusively, from the Australian Tertiary deposits. The exception is Selenaria alata, a species originally described from the Miocene of Victoria, which has now been found in recent collections from the Bass Strait. The information these Recent specimens provide on the musculature and mandibular structure of the distinctive avicularia has considerable significance in interpreting the morphology and function of purely fossil species with similar skeletal characters.     

XXXVI.—A new gecko from Sokotra

Summary

The thysanopteran genus Cartomothrips Standard is revised with a key to the four species: browni Standard (= Treherniella niger Moulton syn. nov.), laughlini sp. nov., neboissi sp. nov. and manukae Stannard. Two species are known from Australia, one from New Zealand but the fourth is known from both countries. These thrips are apparently fungus-feeding, two being associated with the dead twigs of Leptospermum species. The significance of the distribution of these insects and their host plants on both sides of the Tasman Sea is discussed.     

Recent and fossil Lunulitidae (Bryozoa,Cheilostomata) 6. Lunulites sensu lato and the genus Lunularia from Australasia

The characters of the genus Lunulites Lamarck, and of some closely related genera are described and discussed. The genus Lunularia Busk is reintroduced, and three species from Australasia are described. One species, L. parvicella, is known only as an Australian Tertiary fossil, but the remaining two, L. capulus and L. repandus, have an extensive Tertiary-to-Recent Australasian distribution. L. capulus is apparently confined to Australian waters and deposits, but L. repandus has now been found in the Miocene and Recent of New Zealand, as well as off the southern and western Australian coasts.     

Gastrointestinal helminth communities of two gekkonid lizard species,Nactus multicarinatus and Nactus pelagicus (Squamata: Gekkonidae), from the Republic of Vanuatu,Oceania

Gastrointestinal helminth communities of two gekkonid species, Nactus multicarinatus and Nactus pelagicus, from the Vanuatu Archipelago were examined. Both helminth communities were depauperate: N. multicarinatus harboured one species of Digenea, Mesocoelium monas, one species of Cestoda, Oochoristica javaensis, four species of Nematoda, Hedruris hanleyae, Parapharyngodon maplestoni, Physocephalus sp. (larvae in cysts), Filarioidea gen. sp. (juvenile); N. pelagicus harboured one species of Cestoda, O. javaensis, four species of Nematoda, H. hanleyae, Falcaustra tannaensis, P. maplestoni, Physocephalus sp. (larvae in cysts). In each helminth community P. maplestoni represented a core species and H. hanleyae was a secondary species. It is postulated that the helminth fauna infecting lizards of the Vanuatu Archipelago originated in Australia and Papua New Guinea and reached the archipelago by rafting; their establishment in Vanuatu was fortuitous.     

Review of the southern temperate fish family Aplodactylidae (Pisces: Perciformes)

The southern temperate perciform fish family Aplodactylidae is reviewed. The monotypic genus Crinodus is relegated to the synonymy of the genus Aplodactylus, which is recognized as containing five species: A. arctidens Richardson from New Zealand and Australia (Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania); A. lophodon (Günther) restricted to south-eastern Australia (New South Wales and Victoria); A. westralis Russell restricted to south Western Australia; A. etheridgii (Ogilby) from the south-west Pacific (north-eastern New Zealand, Kermadec Islands, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island); and A. punctatus Valenciennes from the west coast of South America (Peru and Chile). A key to the species is given.     

On marine polyzoa

Summary

Schizoporella ansata (Johnston, 1847) is synonymous with S. unicornis (Johnston in Wood, 1844), which is characteristically a littoral species in western Europe. Specimens collected offshore, differing most notably from S. unicornis in the shape of the poster (sinus) of the orifice, constitute the S. ansata of authors. The sub-littoral species with a D-shaped anter to the orifice, which occurs off Atlantic coasts of Europe, is recognized as S. dunkeri (Reuss, 1848), a Tertiary species which had also been referred to S. ansata. The Mediterranean offshore form, however, with an orbicular anter to the orifice, represents S. magnifica Hincks (1886). It is here recorded from southern Britain.

Shorter mention is made of S. errata (Waters, 1878), which has been confused with S. unicornis, from which it differs most notably in the shape of the sinus. The Tertiary species S. tetragona (Reuss, 1848), which has been confused with both S. dunkeri and S. errata, is described and distinguished from these species. It is here recognized for the first time as a Recent species.     

A new species of Thais (Mollusca: Neogastropoda: Muricidae) with direct development from northwestern Australia

Thais wutingi, a new species of Muricidae, is described from rocky and mangrove shores in the vicinity of Darwin, northern Australia. It is relatively common where it occurs but the species may have previously been mistaken for T. gradata (Jonas) or T. javanica (Philippi). The new species differs from the latter two species in having a penis with a narrow groove along the greater curvature of the penial base. The larvae of T. wutingi undergo direct development, hatching from egg capsules as crawling juveniles, in contrast to the majority of Thais (s.l.) species found in the tropics which have planktotrophic development. Its mode of development may explain the relatively restricted geographical distribution of this species, which is confined to the north and northwestern coasts of Australia.     

A revision of Sabellastarte (Polychaeta: Sabellidae)

Sabella indica Savigny, 1822 (‘Indian Ocean’) is the type of Sabellastarte, but that name is preoccupied in the Pectinariidae. Sabellastarte sanctijosephi (Gravier, 1906, as Eurato, from Djibouti) has sometimes been used in its place, ignoring more suitable forms and older names. Sabellastarte spectabilis (Grube, 1878, Philippines) with an Indo-Pacific distribution is the best replacement name for S. indica, better than Sabellastarte pectoralis (Quatrefages, 1866, as Sabella) which also occurs in the Indian ocean. Sabellastarte magnifica (Shaw, 1800, Jamaica) is distinct from Indo-Pacific forms and a neotype is selected. Unlike the above species, Sabellastarte fallax (Quatrefages, 1866, as Sabella, location unknown) has a short crown relative to the body, as in Sabellastarte australiensis (Haswell, 1884, as Spirographis, New South Wales) and Sabellastarte japonica (Marenzeller, 1885 as Laonome, Japan), but both the latter differ in having bispiral crowns. Sabellastarte pottaei Quatrefages, 1866, as Sabella, New Caledonia) is a synonym of S. japonica, but rules of priority should be waived. Sabellastarte samoensis (Grube, 1870a as Sabella) and Sabellastarte sanctijosephi are least like the ‘indica’ concept. These and those above are redescribed and species removed from Sabellastarte are listed.     

A review of the pseudoscorpion genus Ideoblothrus (Pseudoscorpiones,Syarinidae) from western and northern Australia

Five new pseudoscorpion species belonging to the genus Ideoblothrus are named and described from Western Australia and the Northern Territory: I. pisolitus from a single pisolitic mesa near Pannawonica, I. nesotymbus from limestone karst on Barrow Island, I. westi from limestone karst near the Fortescue River, I. descartes from a vine thicket on Descartes Island in the Kimberley, and I. milikapiti from rainforest on Melville Island. New specimens of I. papillon Harvey from Papillon Cave and I. woodi Harvey from Cave C‐167, Western Australia are recorded. A further species is recognised but not named as adult specimens are not available: Ideoblothrus sp. ‘Mesa A’ occurs within a different pisolitic mesa than I. pisolitus.     

The first twisted-wing parasitoid in Eocene amber from north-eastern China (Strepsiptera: Myrmecolacidae)

An Early Eocene amber twisted-wing parasitoid (Strepsiptera) is described and figured from the Fushun Coalfield in north-eastern China, representing the first record of this order for the Tertiary of Asia and the second extinct genus of Myrmecolacidae. Kronomyrmecolax fushunicus gen. et sp. nov. is represented by a single male which is distinguished from other living and fossil myrmecolacids, particularly Palaeomyrmecolax Kulicka, in middle Eocene Baltic amber. The genera differ in details of hind wing venation and antennal morphology.     

A new species of Deoterthron (Crustacea: Tantulocarida) ectoparasitic on a deep-sea asellote from New Zealand

Summary

A new species of the recently designated crustacean class Tantulocarida (Deoterthron megacephala sp. nov.) is described from New Zealand waters, ectoparasitic on an undescribed new species of the deep sea asellote genus Haploniscus, collected by epibenthic sledge at a depth of 1386 metres. Illustrations of the new parasite include the first scanning electron microscope photographs of a tantulocaridan. The genotype, Deoterthron dentatum Bradford & Hewitt has been re-examined to clarify certain structural features.     

Four related species of root mealybugs of the genus Rhizoecus from east and southeast Asia of importance at quarantine inspection (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Pseudococcidae)

New data on four related species of root mealybugs of the genus Rhizoecus, from east and southeast Asia, are presented in order to aid identification. One of these, R. carolinensis Beardsley, described from the Caroline Is., is now known to occur in Papua New Guinea and Sabah, East Malaysia. R. saintpauliae Williams, described from Thailand, also occurs in Hawaii and the Philippine Is. R. hibisci Kawai and Takagi, described from Japan, is now known from Hawaii. It has been intercepted in recent years at quarantine inspection in the USA and also in the Netherlands on plants from various localities in east Asia. A new species, R. bacorum sp. nov., is described from Sri Lanka. These species are probably polyphagous and are potential pests to horticulture, causing damage to potted plants if they become established in greenhouses. A key to all four species is presented.     

A re-assessment of the genera Holorusia Loew (=Ctenacroscelis Enderlein), Ischnotoma Skuse and Zelandotipula Alexander (Diptera: Tipulidae), with notes on their phylogeny and zoogeography

Summary

A short historical background to the genera considered is given. A review is made of a number of characters which had previously only been treated inconsistently, or not at all. As a result, the old-world genus Ctenacroscelis is merged with Holorusia sensu stricto, as represented by the isolated Californian type-species. All other species previously referred to Holorusia sensu lato are redistributed to two genera; the tropical South American and New Zealand forms are united into Zelandotipula; the Chilean element and the Australian species are united into Ischnotoma, the name Icriomastax Enderlein being resurrected as a subgenus to receive most of the Chilean species.

Tentative phylogenetic and zoogeographic observations are made. Holorusia and Ischnotoma are considered and discussed as sister-groups, whilst Zelandotipula is believed to be only distantly related. Zoogeographically Holorusia is seen as a successful Asiatic genus; Ischnotoma as a receding group, with extreme southern-continental distribution, having had a much wider distribution as indicated by the European Oligocene fossil Holorusia vasifera, transferred here to Ischnotoma. Zelandotipula is viewed as an essentially Neotropical genus, which has made one ‘invasion’ of New Zealand, probably in the geologically recent past.

Résumés of the principal features of the re-defined genera are given, together with systematic notes on certain species, and species catalogues giving distributions and all new name combinations.     

Taxonomy and genetic variation in the Australian lizards of the genus Pseudemoia (Scincidae: Lygosominae)

This study reviews the taxonomy of the southern Australian scincid lizards previously referred to Leiolopisma entrecasteauxii (Duméril and Bibron, 1839) and L. baudini Greer, 1982; here placed along with L. spenceri and the recently described L. rawlinsoni in the genus Pseudemoia. Electrophoretic, karyotypic and morphological data show that populations assigned to P. entrecasteauxii belong to three species. The name Pseudemoia entrecasteauxii is restricted here to a morphologically variable species which occurs in woodlands, forests and heathlands from the Blue Mountains, NSW, through the southeastern mainland, Bass Strait islands and Tasmania, to the islands of Spencer Gulf, SA. Populations designated as L. entrecasteauxii Form B by recent authors are mostly referrable to P. entrecasteauxii (s.s.). Pseudemoia pagenstecheri (Lindholm, 1901) is resurrected to apply to strongly striped populations disjunctly distributed in open grassland habitats from Tasmania, south-central Victoria, the southeast Australian highlands, Blue Mountains and New England Tableland. This species largely encompasses those populations referred to by several workers as L. entrecasteauxii Form A. A neotype for Lygosoma (Liolepisma) pagenstecheri is designated. A new species, P. cryodroma, is restricted to alpine and subalpine habitats on the high plains of Victoria. Pseudemoia cryodroma may have had a hybrid origin from P. entrecasteauxii and P. pagenstecheri. Pseudemoia baudini, hitherto known only from the unique holotype, is redescribed. This species extends eastward along the coast of the Great Australian Bight as far as the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. A key to the species of Pseudemoia is provided.     

The biology and functional morphology of the high-energy beach dwelling Paphies elongata (Bivalvia: Mactroidea: Mesodesmatidae). Convergence with the surf clams (Donax: Tellinoidea: Donacidae)

The biology and functional morphology of the Australian endemic Paphies elongata (shell length <20 mm) from wave-exposed beaches are described. On Middleton Bay Beach, Albany, Western Australia, the species co-occurs with the smaller (shell length <13 mm) Donax columbella. Both make tidally regulated migrations up and down the shore in the swash and backwash of waves, respectively. Emergence from and re-burrowing into the beach sand in concordance with the waves is fast in both taxa (5–10 s). Adaptations to such a life on these high-energy beaches include an anteriorly elongate and posteriorly reduced shell and a mesh of tentacles within the inhalant siphon that screens out sand grains from the mantle cavity but allows entry for particles of detritus that P. elongata suspension feeds on when they are raised into the water column with each breaking wave. Internally, relatively large ctenidia, small labial palps, a stomach with many sorting areas and a short intestine equip P. elongata for life in such a dynamic habitat. Strong rejectory currents in the mantle cavity keep it clean of sand. Paphies elongata is dioecious, as are species of Donax, which throughout its Australian range P. elongata is sympatric with. These donacid and mesodesmatid taxa have both evolved to exploit the niche and the food resource of detritus held in suspension by breaking waves of high-energy sandy beaches within their respective ranges. Of interest, however, is that the original and sole occupants of such beaches – the Mesozoic Upper Cretaceous Donacidae – have been joined subsequently by representatives of the Mesodesmatidae, such as P. elongata, the adoption of this habitat taking place in the Eocene of the Cenozoic, some 50 million years later.     

Poecilostome copepods (Lichomolgidae) associated with the scleractinian coral Galaxea in the Moluccas

Summary

Nine species of Scirtothrips are here recorded from the Australasian region, eight from Australia and two including one endemic species from New Zealand. A key is provided for their identification, and diagnostic details and collection notes are given for each species. Two new species, S. casuarinae and S. helenae are described from Australia and one new synonym, S. gladiiseta Girault = Dendrothripoides ipomeae Bagnall, is recorded.     

Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) of Mount Kilimanjaro: family Pieridae,subfamily Coliadinae

This paper forms part of a series on the butterfly fauna of Mount Kilimanjaro. Three genera (Catopsilia, Colias and Eurema) with eight species of Coliadinae are believed to occur within the main forest zone. However, of these, one or two may prove to be no more than variants of a third species, Eurema desjardinsii. A fourth conventionally recognized member of the complex may occur on the lower slopes below 1800 m. The widespread species Eurema hecabe occurs on the lower slopes, but records are sparse, and no records of its close relative Eurema floricola, with which it has often been confused, have been found. The need for original field and laboratory research on the taxonomy of African Eurema species is stressed. Keys to adult Coliadinae found in Tanzania, with colour illustrations, are included as online supplementary material.