Some European Processidae (Crustacea,Decapoda, Caridea)

Summary

The name Processa canaliculata Leach has been applied to a species other than that to which the holotype belongs. The species P. canaliculata Nouvel & Holthuis non Leach has no valid name; it is re-named P. nouveli, with type material from Monaco.

P. nouveli and P. canaliculata have been considered to be conspecific by one recent author. New characters for their separation are described from Irish Sea material.

The northern form of P. nouveli differs from the Mediterranean form sufficiently to be placed in a separate subspecies. The name P. nouveli holthuisi is proposed for it, with type material from the Irish Sea.

The distribution of the four species and subspecies of Processa known to occur in northern Europe is reviewed.     

Subspeciation or none? The hardun in the Aegean (Reptilia: Sauria: Agamidae: Laudakia stellio)

A study aimed at testing the contested validity of the subspecies Laudakia stellio daani yielded novel insights into the essence of subspecies. We examined morphologically museum specimens from Greece, Aegean islands, and Anatolia (n?=?118; not all could be used in all analyses). Beyond the conventional mensural, meristic and qualitative characters we quantified 14 coloration characters, thus totalling 34 characters (including sex). Biometry was statistically analysed within and between the two geographically defined presumed subspecies, L. s. daani and L. s. stellio. Excluding or including broken‐tailed specimens changed the outcome of tests. Significant minor directional asymmetry occurred in one of four character‐taxon combinations. Phenetic cluster analysis poorly separated the two presumed subspecies when all characters, including those with discordant variation, were included; after selection of characters, the separation improved. Some biometric characters distinguish the two presumed subspecies, confirming their validity. The associations of significant inter‐character correlations differed between the two subspecies. Additionally, the two differed in parameters reflecting selection pressures and social structure: L. s. stellio is more colourful than L. s. daani; its sexual dimorphism is mainly chromatic, versus mensural in L. s. daani; and its population seems to include many males with underdeveloped callous scales, presumably socially subordinate, versus very few in L. s. daani.     

I.—Notes on the Natural History of East Finmark

Synopsis

A new species of Argyrophylax, parasitic on the Banana Scab-Moth Nacoleia octasema Meyrick, is described and the Oriental and Australasian species of this genus are reviewed; a key is given for their identification. Six species and a subspecies hitherto placed in other genera are here assigned to Argyrophylax, and seven new combinations are established; two specific names are newly placed in synonymy.     

Current studies on the rare Chinese black muntjac

Summary

For several decades there have been no reports on the black muntjac (Muntiacus crinifrons), and it has been listed as an endangered species. During the past few years we have discovered there are black muntjac in 37 countries of four provinces in east China. The geographical distribution is very narrow, and limited to the eastern part of China which lies between 28°–31°N. lat. and 117°–120°E. long. This paper describes the results of our study of the black muntjac. Details are given of the habitat and distributions of the 43 adult specimens captured and studied recently.     

II.—Association between sessile colonial hydroids and fishes

Résumé

1. 1. There is a symbiosis between Sertularia operculata and Squalus acanthias, and between Seralia lendigera and Hippocampus ramulosus—there being but a single case reported for each pair of organisms. It is probable that these associations are entirely accidental.

2. 2. Of Stylactis minoi and Minous inermis, no fewer than twenty-nine specimens of the fish (presumably all ever taken) wherever found—and they have been taken from five widely distant stations on both coasts of India, and from Japan—were infested with the hydroid. Furthermore, so far as known, this particular hydroid has never been found save on this particular fish (inermis). These facts would seem to indicate that this is a purposive or obligate symbiosis.

3. 3. About one hundred specimens of Hypsagonus quadricornis were taken in Puget Sound. Thirty-seven of these were preserved, and ten of them were found to be sparsely covered with Perigonimus pugetensis. Other specimens of the fish taken outside Puget Sound and in Behring Sea all lacked the hydroid. Consideration of all these facts leads to the conclusion that the association is symbiotic and more or less accidental.

4. 4. One case has been presented of Hydrichthys mirus attached to Seriola zonata in Narragansett Bay. Parasitism is alleged, but the proofs offered, that there was some apparent degeneration on the part of the hydroid and some slight evidence of wasting away of the muscles of the fish at the point of attachment, are at best inconclusive, there being no evidence from sections presented to show actual anastomosis of the tissues of the two organisms. From the evidence presented one must conclude that this is only a case of symbiosis.

5. 5. One case is known of the attachment of a Nudiclava to a fish, Monacanthus, from the Andaman Sea. Parasitism is alleged in the title of the paper, but disclaimed in the text, since, in sections cut through the basal plate and the skin to which it was attached, such was not proven. Furthermore, the finding of food in the hydranths discounts the idea of parasitism. This case also must be classed as a symbiosis.

6. 6. True parasitism has been repeatedly shown to exist between an aberrant hydroid, Polypodium hydriforme, and the ovarian eggs of the Volga sterlet, Acipenser ruthenus. This has been definitely established by the work of four investigators, extending in time from 1872 to 1922—a half century. Except in its earliest stages, Polypodium has the nutritive cell-layer of its stolon, the endoderm, on the outside bathed in the egg-yolk. Later this becomes inverted and a large amount of yolk is carried into the common cavity. The egg is used up in nourishing the parasite.

7. 7. True parasitism has been shown between Hydrichthys boycei and numerous individuals of three species of fishes—Ambassis natalensis, Mugil sp., and an undetermined fish belonging to the Glyphidodontidæ—in Durban Bay, South Africa. The parasites were attached to various parts of the fishes, especially the fins. At the points of attachment, haustoria were sent down into flesh and into blood-vessels, and by means of these the parasite fed on the tissues of its host. Furthermore, on none of the hydranths were tentacles ever found, nor was any food ever found in them. Strange to say, the parasite never covers any large area of the fish, and apparently presently drops off leaving a scar behind.

     

Meristic studies of the Gulf of California species of Merluccius,with a description of a new species

Two distinct species of hake are found in the Gulf of California, and in view of the commercial importance of at least one of these, a detailed taxonomical study was carried out. A new species of hake is described from the northern Gulf of California: Merluccius hernandezi. A new population of Merluccius angustimanus was located off the coast of the state of Sinaloa, Mexico. A provisional examination of specimens from this population shows that it differs in important characteristics from the specimens described by Garman (1899) from Panama.

Merluccius hernandezi and M. angustimanus from Sinoloa are immediately separable by the shape of their caudal fin and the lengths of their pectoral fins: in M. hernandezi the caudal fin has a central lobe and in larger specimens it is truncate, while in M. angustimanus it is emarginate; the pectoral fin projects well beyond the anus in M. hernandezi but not in M. angustimanus.

A meristic index was devised which can be used successfully to distinguish between the two species in the field: only 4·13% of specimens studied would have been wrongly identified using this index.     

The songs and taxonomy of the grasshoppers of the Chorthippus biguttulus group in the Iberian Peninsula (Orthoptera: Acrididae)

The Chorthippus biguttulus group includes a number of common European species that are difficult to distinguish morphologically but are easily recognized in the field by the distinctive calling songs of the males. These song-patterns have not previously been studied in Spain and as a result the Iberian members of the group have been misidentified in almost all the extensive Spanish literature on the ecology and cytogenetics of these insects. In this study the male calling songs of all six members of the group known from the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa and fully described and illustrated with oscillograms at several different speeds. The songs of the three species known only from Iberia or North Africa, jacobsi, yersini and marocanus, are fully described for the first time (marocanus is here raised in rank from subspecies). Notes on recognition, using both morphology and song, are given for each species, and two identification keys are provided, one based on morphology and the other on song. It is shown that the three species biguttulus, brunneus and mollis, previously believed to be widespread in Iberia, are absent from most of the peninsula.     

An overview of the mite fauna (Acari) associated with eumenine wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) found in Brazilian collections

ABSTRACT

Mites can be associated with other organisms as parasites, commensals, phoretic, among others, such as some Winterschmidtiidae that present cooperative relationships with solitary wasps (Eumeninae). These wasps have one or more cavities in their body surface that are capable of carrying mites, called acarinaria. Studies carried out in the northern hemisphere suggest that these relationships are species-specific. However, in South America, there are few studies in this field. Aiming to recognize and increase our knowledge of the species of solitary wasps from Brazil that are associated with mites, we examined 61 wasps belonging to 29 species and four genera from Brazilian museum collections. All of the specimens studied presented at least one type of acarinarium in their bodies. There were mites in all specimens of wasps, but not all of them were associated with an acarinarium. The mites belong to 11 different genera: six in Winterschmidtiidae (possibly cooperation relationships); one in Oplitidae (phoresy); one in Erythraeidae (parasitism); two in Acaridae (phoresy); and one in Histiostomatidae (phoresy). Detrended correspondence analysis and indicator species analysis were conducted to test the preference of the mite genera for species of wasp and for site (regions of the wasp’s body). These tests were significant only for the mite genus Vespacarus preferring Parancistrocerus wasp species and the metasomal acarinaria. Some of the mites did not have a specific host, and some wasps carried more than one species of mite, differing from the specific interactions reported for the northern hemisphere.     

The systematics of Microtus (Terricola) savii group: an odonthometrical perspective (Mammalia,Rodentia, Cricetidae)

ABSTRACT

The morphology of the first lower molar of Microtus savii group (M. brachycercus, M. nebrodensis, M. savii) is complex and highly variable. A morphometrical analysis done by grouping the samples into large geographical sets reveals the differentiation between northern, central and southern populations. The specific status of M. nebrodensis is confirmed while it is not possible to separate M. brachycercus. The subspecies M. savii tolfetanus and M. brachycercus niethammericus are, respectively, not well and moderate distinguished from the other populations. Finally, the distinction of M. savii group from other species of European voles is also confirmed.     

XXVIII.—Les Trechus [Coleoptera,Carabidæ] de l'Everest Expedition, 1924, et Remarques sur quelques espèces de l'Himalaya

Summary

Chorthippus m. montanus and C. p. parallelus are often difficult and sometimes impossible to separate using existing keys. Eleven potentially useful characters are re-evaluated in the male and six in the female. In males the best characters are found to be the number of stridulatory pegs on the hind femur, the length of the stridulatory file, cercus and anterior medial area, and the distance of the stigma from the fore wing tip; these characters are closely correlated with each other. In females the shape and length of the ventral valves of the ovipositor are found to be the most useful characters. The acoustic behaviour, cytology, serology, ecology and distribution of the two species are discussed.

A lectotype is designated for C. caffer Ramme, which is newly synonymised with C. p. parallelus. C. erythropus Faber is reduced in status to a subspecies of C. parallelus. The status of the following is also discussed: C. montanus tatrae Harz, C. parallelus aemulus Mishchenko, C. p. geminus Mishchenko, C. p. tenuis (Brullé), C. turanicus Tarbinskii and C. curtipennis (Harris).

A key is given to the Western European species and subspecies of this group.     

Is the valid species Synchaeta monopus Plate, 1889 (Rotifera: Monogononta) a product of preparation artefacts?

The morphology of soft-bodied rotifers, including those of Synchaeta spp, can be strongly affected by preparation artefacts including contraction and deformation. The long-standing, valid species Synchaeta monopus is known exclusively from ethanol- or formaldehyde-preserved material and no live specimens of it have ever been described. Although this alone is cause for concern, we could also reproduce unique characteristics diagnostic for this species (e.g. the swollen body and the rudimental foot) by subjecting specimens of Synchaeta pectinata to the preservation conditions under which it was first described. This proxy experiment and comparisons to other Synchaeta species indicate that literature occurrences of S. monopus likely represent preserved and deformed specimens of Synchaeta cecilia or other marine species of Synchaeta, thereby highlighting the importance of thorough morphological investigations of the habitus using live specimens and of features that are unaffected by preservation (e.g. the trophi). We therefore recommend that S. monopus be listed as a species inquirenda until topotypes are examined. Furthermore, in ecological studies including rotifers, where the examination of preserved material is often unavoidable, we stress that light-microscopical images of the habitus and trophi of the specimens minimally be included to facilitate independent verification of the species assignments.     

First record of the hyperparasite Liriopsis pygmaea (Cryptoniscidae,Isopoda) from a rhizocephalan parasite of the false king crab Paralomis granulosa from the Beagle Channel (Argentina), with a redescription

The Cryptoniscidae are epicaridean isopod parasites or hyperparasites of other crustaceans. Liriopsis Schultze in Müller, , one of the genera included in this family, now contains two nominal species: L. pygmaea (Rathke, ) and L. monophthalma (Fraisse, ). Both of these species infest rhizocephalan cirripeds, which are in turn parasites of hermit crabs. Among the false king crabs, Paralomis granulosa (Jacquinot, 1847), captured commercially in the Beagle Channel in 1996–1998, we found 31 specimens of the rhizocephalan Briarosaccus callosus Boschma, 1930 infested by one or more specimens of L. pygmaea. Neither L. pygmaea nor L. monophthalma has been reported previously for the southern seas. Although unidentified isopod hyperparasites have been found on B. callosus infesting other lithodids from Crozet Islands, South Georgia Island and Canadian Atlantic waters, this is the first time that one of these hyperparasites has been identified as a member of the genus Liriopsis. Since the differences between L. pygmaea and L. monophthalma remain obscure, the epicaridium and cryptoniscus larvae and three females stages of L. pygmaea are herein described from the material collected in the Beagle Channel.     

Morphometric and allozyme variation in the black-chinned tilapia Sarotherodon melanotheron (Perciformes,Cichlidae), with a revision of the subspecies complex

Based on morphometric and allozyme data of a large sample of black-chinned tilapia, Sarotherodon melanotheron, originating from over its entire geographical distribution range, the subspecific classification of this species has been revised. One subspecies, S. m. paludinosus, is synonymized with S. m. heudelotii. The validity of another subspecies, S. m. leonensis, is questioned. The remaining three subspecies, S. m. melanotheron, S. m. heudelotii and S. m. nigripinnis are clearly distinguished as separate taxa.     

Mites of the superfamily raphignathoidea (Acarina: Prostigmata) associated with South African plants

Abstract

Nine new species and one new subspecies of the superfamily Raphignathoidea are described and figured. These are: Fam. Caligonellidae: Neophyllobius natalensis and N. cavumarboris; fam. Stigmaeidae: Ledermülleria neomaculata, L. lineolata, Villersia oudemanis, Mediolata africana and Eupalopsis brevipilus; fam. Raphignathidae: Raphignathus bathursti and Acheles aethiopica; fam. Cryptognathidae: Cryptognathus cucurbita cucurbitella. Apostigmaeus navicella is recorded for the first time from South Africa. Keys to the genera and species associated with plants are given.     

Phylogeography of the Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris orientis) on the boreal island of Hokkaido,Japan

To test postglacial population expansion in small arboreal mammals dependent on boreal and subboreal forests, we used complete mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences (1140 bases) to investigate the phylogeography of the Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris orientis) on the Hokkaido Island of Japan. This subspecies is common in the boreal and subboreal forests of Hokkaido. We examined 61 specimens from 27 localities in Hokkaido. Phylogenetic relationships among 29 haplotypes found in the Hokkaido populations were not associated with geographic distribution of sampling localities. There were four mitochondrial DNA phylogroups. Phylogeographic analyses support sudden expansion of S. vulgaris orientis from restricted refugium in the southern part of Hokkaido during the last glacial period. The phylogeographic structure of this subspecies directly reflects the boreal and subboreal forest dynamics occurring in Hokkaido.