Deep-living demersal fishes in the Catalan Sea (western Mediterranean) below a depth of 1000 m

An extensive survey of the deep-living fishes of the Catalan Sea (western Mediterranean) recorded 31 species in 19 families and 29 genera from 100 samples at depths between 960 and 2251 m. Chlorophthalmidae, Moridae and Macrouridae accounted for nearly 85% of all specimens taken. In biomass terms, Hexanchidae, Moridae, Alepocephalidae and Chlorophthalmidae were the most important families. A quantitative model of the bathymetric distribution of the species is presented. The ‘centre of gravity’ of species’ distribution and the habitat width, a measure of the distribution heterogeneity, are also given. Out of the 31 demersal species caught, the distributions of only 13 are centered below 1000 m. The Mediterranean deep-sea ichthyofauna is very impoverished in comparison with the adjacent Atlantic Basin fauna.     

Dipteran infestation of loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and green (Chelonia mydas) sea turtle nests in northern Cyprus

This paper describes dipteran infestation of loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and green (Chelonia mydas) sea turtle nests in northern Cyprus in 1996 and 1997. Insect larvae were collected from infested nests, reared to adulthood and identified to species. A minimum of 13.4% (1996) and 17.4% (1997) of loggerhead turtle nests and 3.3% and 20.7% of green turtle nests were infested in 1996 and 1997, respectively. Eleven dipteran species were found infesting turtle nests with one species (Sarcotachina aegyptiaca) being dominant. Gross estimates, utilizing the speeds of development for three species of sarcophagid showed that infestation was taking place differentially between the two turtle species. Various aspects of the effect of dipteran infestation on marine turtle nests in northern Cyprus and recommendations for future investigations are discussed.     

Two new species of asterocherid (Copepoda: Siphonostomatoida) associated with a sponge from the Strait of Messina,Italy: taxonomic and ecological traits

Two new species of asterocherid associated with sponges are described from the Mediterranean Sea. They are Psilomyzon laetitiae sp. nov. and Psilomyzon sarcotragusicola sp. nov. The genus Psilomyzon consists of only one known species, P. pauciseta. The two new species can be easily distinguished from the cogener species by reduction of the endopod of leg 4. In P. pauciseta the leg 4 endopod is 3-segmented, with the third segment reduced; in both new species it is 2-segmented, with the second segment carrying an inner projection, possibly homologous to the third segment of the leg 4 endopod of P. pauciseta. In the two new species, the bifid outer process on male leg 4 second endopodal segment seems to be serially homologous to the similar processes on the same segment in legs 1–3, whereas the inner projection may represent a vestigial element of the third endopodal segment of leg 4.

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:33BF0653-BBA9-426B-B365-5D8C62DFD44A     

The identity of Yoldia micrometrica Seguenza, 1877 and three new deep-sea protobranchs from the Mediterranean (Bivalvia)

Three new species are described from the relatively well-known deep Mediterranean protobranch fauna. Yoldiella wareni n. sp. is a miniaturized species so far misidentified as Yoldiella micrometrica (Seguenza, 1877), which is a Pleistocene species (neotype here designated). Yoldiella ovulum n. sp. is similar to Y. micrometrica, of which it may represent a descendant species. Ledella marisnostri n. sp. is the second species known for the genus in the Mediterranean. These three species are thought to be endemic to the Mediterranean, where they may represent either persisting Plio-Pleistocene species which survived the changes from psychrospheric to homeothermic conditions, or newly adapted species, evolved from Plio-Pleistocene ancestors. In the second case, they seem to be the result of an ongoing differentiation of the deep Mediterranean protobranch fauna from the North-East Atlantic one, due to the physical isolation of the Mediterranean basin.     

地中海果蝇鸣声特征分析

利用计算机鸣声分析技术，对地中海果蝇鸣声的声学特征进行了全面分析，探讨了果蝇鸣声特征及其生物学意义，并将果蝇鸣声区分为3个部分．结果表明，地中海果蝇召唤歌为正弦波，IPI（两相邻脉冲的时间间隔）均值为2．9ms，基频约为366Hz；而其求爱歌由脉冲串组成，每个脉冲串大约持续0．1s，求爱歌的IPI均值为3．2ms，基频约为146Hz．此分析为果蝇鸣声的系统研究提供了基础数据．     

Cognetti's syllid collection (Polychaeta: Syllidae) deposited at the Museum of the Stazione Zoologica “Anton Dohrn” (Naples,Italy), with descriptions of two new species of Autolytus

A total of 36 syllid specimens preserved on permanent slides, which were collected and identified by G. Cognetti, and deposited at the Museum of the Stazione Zoologica “Anton Dohrn” in Naples, Italy, were re‐examined. Among the material, two new species of Autolytus, Autolytus antondohrni sp. nov. and A. cognettii sp. nov., were found and are described. Three new combinations are assigned: Autolytus mediterraneus (Cognetti, 1953), Exogone (Parexogone) meridionalis (Cognetti, ) and Syllis alternata Moore, 1908. Four lectotypes are designated for Autolytus convolutus Cognetti, 1953, A. mediterraneus (Cognetti, 1953), A. neapolitanus Cognetti, 1953 and Exogone (Parexogone) meridionalis (Cognetti, ). Proceraea scapularis (Claparède, ) is resurrected.     

Synopsis of the life cycles of Digenea (Platyhelminthes) from lagoons of the northern coast of the western Mediterranean

The present document reports on the large amount of data relating to digenean parasites recorded from or known to be present in various hosts in lagoons of the northern coast of the western Mediterranean, which has been compiled from the literature of more than a century. In these lagoons, at least 72 nominal species of digeneans have been recorded. This total corresponds to approximately 12% of the 584 “marine” digenean species reported for Europe. Data are provided on the life cycles of 56 digenean species. The life cycle has been totally elucidated for 44 species (25 from fish, 19 from birds), and partly for the other 12 species (seven from fish, five from birds). This means that the life cycle is known for 61.1% of the recorded fauna (44/72) and partly for 16.7%, but remains unknown for 22.2%, making it, in this respect, one of the best understood digenean marine faunas in the world. In addition, a checklist is provided dealing with the cercarial and metacercarial forms recorded from lagoons of the northern coast of the western Mediterranean, which have been described only on the basis of characters of these larval stages and which remain without demonstrated links to a corresponding sexual adult stage in a vertebrate.     

Sillago suezensis,a new whiting from the northern Red Sea,and status of Sillago erythraea Cuvier (Teleostei: Sillaginidae)

The status of Sillago erythraea Cuvier in Cuvier and Valenciennes 1829 is re-examined. A lectotype designation by McKay in 1985 fixes it as a junior synonym of Sillago sihama (Forsskål in Niebuhr, 1775), which is restricted to the southern Red Sea. Northern Red Sea populations previously assigned to S. sihama or S. erythraea, are here described as Sillago suezensis sp. nov. Sillago suezensis is also distributed in the eastern Mediterranean Sea due to Lessepsian immigration through the Suez Canal. The new species is characterized within the Sillago sihama group, which has the swimbladder divided posteriorly into two tapering extensions projecting below the vertebral column extending into the tail musculature, by the absence of scales on the preopercle and on most of the opercle, a total number of 34 vertebrae, the swimbladder with lateral extensions each spreading a blind tubule anterolaterally, and a low position of the nostril.

http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:B289CDF4-AE82-44D3-9AE1-4A2B514AD348