Description of a new species of Asymmetrione (Isopoda: Bopyridae: Pseudioninae) infesting the hermit crab Paguristes tomentosus (Anomura: Diogenidae) from Peru,with a key to species and a review of southeastern Pacific bopyrids

A new species of bopyrid isopod is described from a host hermit crab Paguristes tomentosus collected from Pisco, Peru and assigned to the pseudionine isopod genus Asymmetrione Codreanu, Codreanu and Pike, 1965. This is the second species in the genus with less than 20° asymmetry in females, but agrees with all other species in the genus in having the characteristic “socket” on the propodus of the female's pereopods, and in all characters of the males. A key is provided to the 10 species now in Asymmetrione. New records of an Anathelges sp. from Pagurus villosus collected in central Chile are given but additional material is required to determine whether these specimens represent the eastern Pacific A. thompsoni or the western Atlantic A. hyptius. A review of all the bopyrid species known from the western South American coast, with remarks on their taxonomy and biology, is provided.     

Re-establishment of the Family Eumedonidae Dana, 1853 (Crustacea: Brachyura)

On the basis of a re-examination of all available data concerning the systematic position and status of the genus Eumedonus and allied genera it is concluded that these taxa form a separate family within the superfamily Xanthoidea (sensu Guinot, 1978). The family is characterized not only by particular morphological features but by the symbiotic mode of life of its members.     

Review of the Neotropical genus Physiomorphus Pic (Coleoptera: Mycteridae: Lacconotinae), with description of the larvae of three species

The Neotropical lacconotine genus Physiomorphus Pic (Coleoptera: Mycteridae) is reviewed, and redescribed. Larvae are described and illustrated for three species, based on reared specimens. Detailed information is included on biology, rearing and habitat. New synonymies presented are: Physiomorphus Pic 1917 = Batobiomorphus Pic 1920; Laccoderus melanurus Champion 1916 = Batobiomorphus laticollis Pic 1920; Physiomorphus atricolor Pic 1917 = Physiomorphus rufotinctus Pic 1921. The following new species are described: Physiomorphus rufolineatus; P. antennatus; P. angustus; P. mimeticus, and P. subcostulatus, bringing the total number of known species to eight. Comparisons are made between larvae and adults of Physiomorphus and other described lacconotines. Details are given on Brazilian localities where Physiomorphus larvae were collected.     

Taxonomy and ecology of two endemic freshwater crabs from western Jamaica with the description of a new Sesarma species (Brachyura: Grapsidae: Sesarminae)

The type series of the Jamaican grapsid crab Sesarma windsor Türkay and Diesel, 1994, was re-examined and found to consist of two distinct forms. The holotype represented a form so far only recorded from a freshwater cave in western Jamaica. The other form inhabits burrows in the banks of mountain creeks in western Jamaica and is assigned to a new species, Sesarma fossarum sp. n. Both species are fully described and morphological differences partly interpreted as adaptations to the habitats where they occur. The new species and S. bidentatum Benedict, 1892, both from mountain creeks, closely resemble the cavernicolous S. windsor which suggests a fairly recent invasion of the cave habitat by the latter.     

In search of the true Tydeus (Acari,Tydeidae)

The early history of the genus Tydeus, the type genus of the family Tydeidae, is complex and convoluted and, subsequently, even the identity of the type species of the family remains unclear. First, the literature is thoroughly analysed and morphological characters of some species are reappraised. After studying Oudemans' types, two species inquirendae, Tydeus croceus and T. cruciatus, are redescribed and a third, T. spathulatus, removed from synonymy and reinstated as a valid species. A fourth species, confused with T. spathulatus, is described. A lectotype is designated for T. spathulatus and a neotype for T. croceus. After discussion, the genus Lorryia Oudemans, is re‐established in its pristine state. As the redescribed species were designated as type species by Oudemans, the following new generic synonymies are proposed: Raphitydeus Thor, and Lorryia Oudemans, sensu Ka?mierski (, ) are junior synonyms of Brachytydeus Thor, ; Homeotydeus André, (partim) and Pseudolorryia Ka?mierski, are junior synonyms of Calotydeus Oudemans, ; Brachytydeus Thor, (partim), Calotydeus Oudemans, (partim), Tydeus Koch, sensu Oudemans, (partim), Orthotydeus André, , and Tydeus Koch, sensu Ka?mierski, are junior synonyms of Tydeus Koch, . To stabilize the usage of the names, especially that of the genus type of the family Tydeidae, the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature will be asked to set aside all previous type species designations for Tydeus and to designate Tydeus spathulatus as the type species, with Oudemans' specimens from Italy as primary type material.     

Nine Indo-Pacific species of Upogebia Leach (crustacea: Thalassinidea: Upogebiidae)

Nine species of Upogebia Leach from the Seychelles Islands, the Philippines, Indonesia and the Gulf of Aden are studied. U. balmaorum, U. laemanu and U. gracilis are all new species and the first two are closely related to each other. The four additional species include U. baweana Tirmizi and Kazmi, U. fallax de Man, U. hexaceras (Ortmann) and U. miyakei Sakai, two of which are known only from their holotypes. They are compared here with U. pugnax de Man, U. octoceras Nobili; all are briefly re-described.     

Contribution to the knowledge of the genus Pseudomonocelis Meixner, 1943 (Rhabditophora: Proseriata)

A new species of the genus Pseudomonocelis (P. caribbea sp. n.) is described. It is distinguished from congenerics by shape and size of the copulatory organ and relative positions of mouth and genital openings. It is the first species of the genus found in America. Sampling in east Africa (Zanzibar island) revealed two species, attributed to P. pardii and, tentatively, to P. cavernicola, both originally described from Somaliland. Morphological differences between Tanzanian and Somali specimens are reported. The Mediterranean P. ophiocephala, based on extensive morphological and karyological survey of 13 populations, is interpreted as constituting at least two sibling species, distinguishable solely on the basis of karyotype. Results support the notion that the present perception of the contribution of interstitial Rhabditophora to marine biodiversity may be unrepresentative.     

New fanworm species (Polychaeta: Sabellidae: Fabriciinae) in the genus Pseudofabriciola Fitzhugh

Three new species are described: Pseudofabriciola quasiincisura from Belize, P. peduncula from Papua New Guinea, and P. sofla from the Gulf of Mexico off Florida. The total number of species in the genus is increased to 11. Pseudofabriciola quasiincisura and P. peduncula are intertidal, whereas P. sofla is from 26 m depth. An additional species from the Gulf of Mexico off Florida (88m depth), known only from a single specimen lacking the branchial crown, is described briefly but not named. Pseudofabriciola sofla and the unnamed species were originally described by Uebelacker (1984) as Fabricia sp. A. An emended definition for Pseudofabriciola is provided. Cladistic relationships of the species described herein are evaluated relative to others in the genus. The depth distribution of Pseudofabriciola, which displays the greatest known range within the Fabriciinae, is also re-examined.     

Redescription of Gordius paranensis Camerano, 1892 (Nematomorpha), a species new for New Zealand

We describe nematomorph specimens from New Zealand and compare them to museum specimens of Gordius paranensis Camerano, 1892 from Chile. Although specimens from New Zealand and Chile vary from each other, especially in body dimensions and coloration, literature data on other South American specimens of G. paranensis correspond to the New Zealand specimens which are therefore considered to belong to this species. A conspicuous character of G. paranensis is a precloacal, parabolic row of bristles that has been observed elsewhere only in G. difficilis (Montgomery, 1898).     

Membraniporoidea,Microporoidea and Cellarioidea (bryozoa,Cheilostomata) collected by Discovery Investigations

Thirty eight species of anascan Cheilostomata are described from the collections of Discovery Investigations, and other British antarctic expeditions. Ten new species are described, including Stomhypselosaria watersi introduced for Cellaria dubia (Busk) sensu Waters (1904). Two new genera are introduced, and Swanomia nom. nov. is proposed for Mawsonia Livingstone 1928, non Woodward 1907.     

The Indo-Pacific Pilumnidae XII. On the familial placement of Chlorodiella bidentata (Nobili, 1901) and Tanaocheles stenochilus Kropp, 1984 using adult and larval characters with the establishment of a new subfamily,Tanaochelinae (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura)

Within the Xanthoidea, Chlorodiella bidentata (Nobili, 1901) had been assigned to the Xanthidae MacLeay, 1838 and Tanaocheles stenochilus Kropp, 1984, to the Trapeziidae Miers, 1886. The adult characters of these two species are re-appraised and are considered to be congeneric. The familial position of Tanaocheles is reviewed and the genus does not conform to the diagnosis of the Xanthidae or Trapeziidae. The taxon is, therefore, placed in the Pilumnidae Samouelle, 1819, sensu Guinot, 1978, and assigned to a new subfamily. The first stage zoeal chaetotaxy of C. bidentata supports the adult revision at the family level.     

A new species of Zeuxo (Crustacea: Tanaidacea) from the French Atlantic coast

A new species of tanaidacean of the genus Zeuxo is described from 105 specimens dredged from the shallow inshore benthic marine fauna from Arcachon, western France. This is the only species of Zeuxo in the Lusitanian area. Its combination of a 7-articled uropod (6-articled endopod with elongate articles in the adult) with a conspicuous lacinia mobilis on the right mandible is unique for the genus. The spination and setation of the carpus of pereopod 2 is reduced in comparison with the most similar known species of Zeuxo. It is distinct from potentially sympatric species of the family Tanaidae in having five free pleonites without a dorsal fringe of setae.     

A new species of arboreal salamander (Caudata: Plethodontidae: Pseudoeurycea) from the mountains of Oaxaca,Mexico

Recent surveys of the plethodontid salamander fauna of Oaxaca, Mexico, disclosed the existence of a new, morphologically distinct arboreal species of the genus Pseudoeurycea. The new species, described here, is from the Sierra Mazateca in northern Oaxaca. Sequences of 1833 base pairs of the 16S, cytochrome b and ND4 mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genes from the new taxon were used to assess its phylogenetic position. Previous phylogenetic analyses based on mtDNA supported recognition of four clades within Pseudoeurycea: P. bellii, P. gadovii, P. juarezi and P. leprosa-Lineatriton species groups. One additional species, P. unguidentis, was not closely allied to any of the four groups. Re-analysis including the additional sequences reported here establishes a sister-group relationship between the new species and P. unguidentis. Moreover, it supports this clade as part of the P. juarezi species group.     

A revision of the family Deckeniidae Ortmann, 1897 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Potamoidea), with description of a new genus (Gecarcinucidae: Gecarcinucoidea) from the Seychelles,Indian Ocean

The family Deckeniidae Ortmann, 1897, is revised and only 2 East African species are recognised, D. imitatrix Hilgendorf, 1869, and D. mitis Hilgendorf, 1898. The identity of the poorly known species from Seychelles, Indian Ocean, Deckenia alluaudi A. Milne Edwards and Bouvier, 1893, is clarified. This species is redescribed, assigned to a new genus (Seychellum gen. nov.), removed from the Deckeniidae sensu stricto and transferred to the family Gecarcinucidae Rathbun, 1904.     

The ontogeny description of two Neotropical species of Crotonia (Acari: Oribatida: Crotonioidea)

A remarkable new species of black fungus gnat Pnyxiopalpus roslii sp. nov., was discovered from nests of the termite Nasutitermes proatripennis in Ulu Gombak, Malaysia, and is described based on the female morphology and DNA barcodes. This is the first record of a termitophilous black fungus gnat from South-east Asia. The new species is easily distinguished from its known congeners by the degeneration of all thoracic setae into tiny setulae. This species is described as a symbiont of the host termite based on field observations and the examination of specimens. The “wing stump” structure of the new species indicates that this species has wings after eclosion and later loses them, an adaptation to a cryptic life. A second still undescribed termitophilous species of Pnyxiopalpus was observed walking in a marching column of the termite Longipeditermes longipes in Ulu Gombak.     

A review of the Neotropical species of Ooencyrtus Ashmead, 1900 (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae)

A key is provided to the 15 species of Ooencyrtus recognized as occurring in the Neotropical region. The following species are described as new: caligo, syrphidis, calpodicus, caribeus, castneus, eversi and pinguis; Echthrodryinus saccharalis Gordh and Trjapitzin is transferred to Ooencyrtus; Ooencyrtus trinidadensis venatorius Vidal and De Santis is given species status and Ooencyrtus fasciatus Mercet is treated as a doubtful record for the region. All available published information on the biology and distribution of each species is listed and the pest status of some of the hosts is also included.     

A checklist and key to species of the genus Sophonia (Insecta: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadellidae: Nirvaninae) in China with descriptions of two new species

This paper provides a checklist and a key to the 22 Chinese species of the nirvanine leafhopper genus Sophonia Walker. Two new species, Sophonia transvittata sp. nov. and S. yunnanensis sp. nov., are described and illustrated. The type specimens of the new species are deposited in the Institute of Entomology, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China (IEGUC).