Comparative morphology of the otolith of the triplefins (family: Tripterygiidae)

Otolith morphology may provide useful information about the triplefin fish family Tripterygiidae. A comparative study of the otolith of 40 tripterygiid species was conducted to identify the most appropriate taxonomical characters that can separate the species and genera of the family Tripterygiidae. Among other otolith characters, it is possible to distinguish characters that clearly define a taxonomic group (genus or species), and other characters that are shared by several genera, but may be only useful to define certain species within a genus. Ontogenetic changes in the otolith of the triplefin fishes studied are evident. The otolith of the juvenile Ucla xenogrammus was the most similar to the adult otolith, while otolith of the juvenile Blennodon dorsale was the least similar to the adult otolith.     

Morphology of the larvae of three species of Arrenurus (Acari: Parasitengona: Arrenuridae)

A new species belonging to the subgenus Bezzisca of the Neotropical genus Dexosarcophaga is described. Dexosarcophaga (Bezzisca) bermudezi sp. nov. is described from Panama and represents the sixteenth species of this subgenus. An illustrated key to identifying the Bezzisca species is also provided.     

Morphology and chaetotaxy of the immature stages of the scorpionfly Panorpa liui Hua (Mecoptera: Panorpidae) with notes on its biology

The immature stages of the scorpionfly Panorpa liui Hua were obtained through rearing. The egg, larva and pupa were observed using light and scanning electron microscopy with special reference to the chaetotaxy of the first instar larva and pupa. The larva is of the eruciform type, with three pairs of thoracic legs and eight pairs of abdominal prolegs. The head of the larva bears a pair of compound eyes, each of which consists of 26 ommatidia. A fleshy tibial lobe is borne distally on the mesal side of the tibia of the thoracic legs. The telson bears a protrusile sucker of four anal forks. The pupa is exarate and decticous with sexual dimorphism in chaetotaxy and caudal segments. This species completes two generations per year, overwintering as the prepupal stage in the soil. The durations of egg, larva and pupa are 3–4, 13–19 and 8–10 days, respectively.     

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.     

First North American record of Cichlasoma managuense (Pisces: Cichlidae)

An established population of a neotropical cichlid fish, Cichlasoma managuense , was found in a spring pool in the Virgin River basin, Utah. Presence of this predatory species poses an additional threat to the native fish fauna of the Virgin River, which already has suffered multiple impacts of water development and introduced fishes.     

Homing behaviour of rock pool blenny Parablennius parvicornis (Pisces: Blenniidae)

The homing ability of the rock pool blenny Parablennius parvicornis was studied at a rocky shore on Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain). A total of 140 fish was tagged in five different rock pools and 100 of these were displaced from their original site, during low tide. This blenny species shows great site fidelity and is able to return home from 400 m away. Results show that homing success mainly depends on the displacement distance and it increases when fish return against the current, whereas sex and fish size have no influence.     

A new species of Ameroseius Berlese from Brazil,redescriptions of Ameroseius plumosus (Oudemans) and Ameroseius plumigera (Oudemans) (Acari: Mesostigmata: Ameroseiidae) based on the examination of type material

Ameroseius Berlese is the most numerous genus of family Ameroseiidae Evans (in Hughes 1961). Species of this genus have been reported from many regions around the world. A few species of this genus are known from Brazil. Ameroseius mineiro Narita, Bernardi and Moraes, sp. nov. is described based on the morphology of adult females and males collected from guano in caves of Minas Gerais State, Brazil. This is the second Ameroseius species described from Brazil. The holotypes of Ameroseius plumosus (Oudemans) and Ameroseius plumigera (Oudemans) were examined, given their close similarity with the species described in this paper, and they are here redescribed. A key is provided to separate these and other most similar species. http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:17A7D831-EC49-4D65-B06B-5E13EF52C696     

Revision of the Neotropical genus Yagra Oiticica (Lepidoptera: Castniidae)

The Castniidae, or butterfly moths, are characteristically colourful diurnal moths, distributed throughout the tropics except in Africa. The Neotropical representatives forage almost exclusively on monocotyledonous plants and many species are crop pests with more than 60% of the Neotropical castniids found or endemic in Brazil. Research studies that focus on taxonomy, systematics, and morphology of this group are scarce. In this study, Yagra Oiticica, a small genus restricted to south-eastern South America, is revised and the diagnostic morphological characters of male and female genitalia are illustrated. This research is part of long-term study on the Castniidae for future phylogenetic analysis.     

Oncodiscus sauridae Yamaguti, 1934 from Saurida undosquamis in Kuwait and a revision of the genus Oncodiscus (Cestoda: Bothriocephalidae)

Oncodiscus sauridae Yamaguti, 1934 is described and figured in detail from specimens collected from Saurida undosquamis (new host) and S. tumbil in the Arabian Gulf and Australian waters, respectively (new geographical localities). O. fimbriatus and O. waltairensis are regarded as synonyms of O. sauridae. O. maharashtrae is regarded as species inquirenda. The diagnosis of the genus Oncodiscus is emended.     

The occurrence and phylogenetic implications of the ovipositor clip within the Figitidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Cynipoidea)

The presence of the ovipositor clip is surveyed throughout Figitidae. This morphological structure is postulated to restrain the parasitoid host during oviposition. All Figitinae and Eucoilinae that attack semi‐concealed dipterous hosts were found to possess the clip. Figitids that attack fully concealed hosts all lacked the ovipositor clip. It is hypothesized here that two subfamilies, the Anacharitinae and Aspicerinae, attack fully exposed hosts yet lack the clip in order to quickly oviposit and prevent fighting with the host. Mapping of the presence/absence of the ovipositor clip on to two competing phylogenies suggests this structure evolved in parallel in Figitinae and Eucoilinae. The evolution of the ovipositor clip is probably responsible for the successful colonization of semi‐concealed dipterous larvae by Eucoilinae.     

Emersion behaviour and foraging ecology of the common Chilean clingfish Sicyases sanguineus (Pisces: Gobiesocidae)

The present study is the first to correlate information on emersion behaviour and foraging ecology of Sicyases sanguineus, a common clingfish of the Chilean coast. Individuals smaller than 15 cm in total length were frequently found at the highest points in the inter-tidal zone and consumed inter-tidal animals and seaweeds. Fish larger than 23 cm were infrequently observed emersed in the lower inter-tidal zone, but were collected sub-tidally by divers. These large clingfish ate mainly benthic animals occurring in the low inter-tidal and sub-tidal zones. Size-dependent factors, dessication and wave impact restrict the area of action of S. sanguineus to certain areas of the rocky inter-tidal and shallow sub-tidal zone. However, the fish can be locally very abundant, consuming a great diversity of prey items including both direct primary space users and mobile animals able to affect community structure through grazing. We argue, therefore, that S. sanguineus may be important in structuring communities in some areas of the rocky inter-tidal and shallow subtidal zones of Central Chile.     

Biting mechanism of the amphipod Anonyx (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Lysianassoidea)

Anonyx amphipods feed extensively on dead or weakened animals, often of large size. They cut off strips of food using the wide incisor processes of their mandibles like a pair of shears. The mandibles and associated mouthparts are specialized for this shearing action. The strips of food are coiled and packed into their proventriculi.     

Reef and coral communities of Oman,with a description of a new coral species (Order Scleractinia,genus Acanthastrea)

The coastline of Oman extends 2000 km from 16.5°N to 26.5°N in the north-west Indian Ocean. Most of it is long, exposed sandy beach or mixed sand and shallow rocky areas subject to severe scour, and there is a seasonal, cold-water upwelling whose influence increases towards the equator. Three areas of the mainland support corals, separated by long stretches of shallow sandy or muddy sublittoral. Three categories of coral or reef development are recognized: (A) coral reefs develop with characteristic profiles of reef flat and reef slope; (B) corals provide framework but there is no reef growth and no characteristic reef profile; and (C) no true reef development occurs, but mixed coral/phaeophyte communities are attached directly on to old, often non-limestone substrate. A and B are common in the north and central regions but are rare in the south. Type C is found in the centre and especially the south where the poor reef development is more typical of marginal, high-latitude coral areas. Ninety-one coral species from 47 genera were recorded (77 species from 37 genera being zooxanthellate), although diversity declines towards the equator. Regional comparisons show the Oman fauna to be fairly similar (up to 63% similariy) to that of the Arabian Gulf, but relatively dissimilar to faunas of the Gulf of Kutch (20%) and Lakshadweep (35%), the only other areas known to have significant amounts of corals in the Arabian Sea. A new species of Acanthanstrea with calices 5–8 cm wide is described.     

Diversity of the subgenus Disparalona (Mixopleuroxus) Hudec, 2010 (Crustacea: Cladocera) in the New and Old World

During the last three decades, strong progress was made in the taxonomy of the family Chydoridae (Crustacea: Cladocera), and the results of these revisions have become a valuable confirmation of the non-cosmopolitanism in the cladoceran distribution. But, to date, delineation between several chydorid genera (Pleuroxus Baird, 1843, Picripleuroxus Frey, 1993, Alonella Sars, 1862 and Disparalona Fryer, 1968) has been intuitive rather than based on careful diagnostics. Disparalona is a cladoceran genus with a complicated and confused taxonomy. We compiled a checklist of all formal taxa belonging to this genus in current understanding. Our study comprises a taxonomic revision of the North American, African and East Asian populations of D. cf. hamata with the aim of clarifying their species and generic status. We redescribe D. hamata (Birge, 1879) based on material from North America and D. chappuisi (Brehm, 1934) based on material from Africa. The latter is common in tropical–subtropical Asia, with a distribution range reaching the Far East of Russia. The second taxon from Africa is provisionally identified as D. cf. striatoides (?rámek-Hu?ek, 1946), which was described initially from the Czech Republic. Further comparison is needed for a final conclusion on conspecifity of European and African populations provisionally placed to this taxon. At the current level of knowledge Mixopleuroxus Hudec, 2010 must be accepted as a subgenus of the genus Disparalona. The diagnoses of Disparalona s. str. and D. (Mixopleuroxus) are provided. Disparalona s. str. includes D. ikarus Kotov and Sinev, 2011, D. leei (Chien Shing-ming, 1970), D. rostrata (Koch, 1841) and D. smirnovi Sinev, 2015, while D. (Mixopleuroxus) includes D. hamata, D. chappuisi and D. striatoides. D. leptorhyncha (Daday, 1905) and D. caudata Smirnov, 1996 are not described adequately, but they also probably belong to the latter subgenus. The status of D. acutirostris (Birge, 1879) must be clarified in the future.

www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:971811AE-DF72-47E9-AED9-DEE835D1D412     

Copepods of the genus Colobomatus (Poecilostomatoida: Philichthyidae) from fishes of the family Sillaginidae (Teleostei: Perciformes)

Six species of Colobomatus, five of which are new to science, were found in a survey of 26 species of sillaginid fishes in the Indo-west Pacific. Three of the species are closely related and occur in the head cavities of various species of their hosts. Colobomatus sillaginis West, 1983 is recorded in Sillaginodes punctata and 12 species of Sillago, from around the coast of Australia and in the Gulf of Thailand, representing many new host and locality records. Female C. asiaticus sp. nov. are described from southeast Asia and the Persian Gulf, in three species of Sillago. Female C. arabicus sp. nov. are described from two species of Sillago occurring only in the Persian Gulf. A second intrageneric grouping of three species of Colobomatus inhabits a different microhabitat: tubes of the lateral line scales. Each of these species infects several sillaginid fishes, and in contrast to members of the first species-group they are entirely allopatric with each other. In Australia, female C. fulloonae sp. nov. are described from three species of Sillago in northern waters, and female C. charleah sp. nov. are described from two species of Sillago and Sillaginodes punctata in southern waters. Female C. westi sp. nov. are described from three species of Sillago in the waters of eastern Asia (Japan, Korea and China). Only one male specimen of each of C. arabicus sp. nov., C. charleah sp. nov. and C. westi sp. nov. was found.     

Systematic study on the barracudas (Pisces: Sphyraenidae) from a northern sector of the South China Sea

Summary

The paper here provides an effective key for separation of species of the genus Sphyraena Röse from the northern part of the South China Sea for both taxonomic and field identifications. Six species, namely S. barracuda (Walbaum, 1792), S. jello Cuvier, 1829, S. novaehollandiae Günther, 1860, S. pinguis Günther, 1874, S. toxeuma Fowler, 1904, and S. africana Gilchrist and Thompson, 1909, are listed in the key. All except S. barracuda were found during this study. Generic and species problems are discussed and comparisons of each species are made with closely related forms. The species names adopted in this paper are also explained. The first record of S. novaehollandiae from this area is reported.