North American encyrtid fauna (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae): taxonomic changes and new taxa

We present preliminary taxonomic information necessary for a generic key to North American Encyrtidae. Fourteen new generic synonymies, one new specific synonymy, 67 new combinations and three replacement names are proposed. Twenty one genera and 18 species are described as new.     

A new subfamily of Rhynchohydracaridae (Acari,Hydrachnellae) from the island of Coiba (Panama) with descriptions of new taxa

During an intensive study of the water mite fauna of the island of Coiba (Panama) the following new taxa were found: a new subfamily of Rhynchohydracaridae Lundblad, 1936 with two new genera and species, and a new subgenus of Rhynchohydracarus Lundblad, 1936 with a new species. The female of this genus is described for the first time.     

A new family of octocorals (Anthozoa: Octocorallia) from Cameroon waters

Acanthoaxis wirtzi, a new genus and new species of octocoral, is described and depicted for specimens collected in shallow water off Botha Island, Cameroon, West Africa. A new family, Acanthoaxiidae, is proposed to accommodate the new genus. The characters of this family are the total lack of sclerites; the axis having a narrow, hollow, soft, cross-chambered central core; and the axis surface having prominent spines.     

XCI.—New Brachiopoda from the Eocene of England,France and Africa

Abstract

Six new species of Eocene brachiopods are described, one being referred to a new genus. One previously-described species is named and referred to a new genus; additional records are given for an eighth species. Five of these are from England, two from France and one from Africa.     

Bryozoa collected by the United States Antarctic Research Program: new taxa and new records

Thirty-two species of cheilostomate Bryozoa are described and illustrated from 26 stations sampled by the United States Antarctic Research Program, including 29 new species and two new genera. A further new genus is introduced for two species formerly attributed to Osthimosia Jullien, 1888. One station was located in the Ross Sea and three in the cold temperate South Pacific; 14 stations were sampled in the region of the Scotia Arc, south of the Antarctic Convergence, and eight from the subantarctic southwest Atlantic, mostly in the vicinity of Tierra del Fuego. Nine new species were present in the Antarctic samples, whereas those from the southwest Atlantic yielded 18 new species and the two new genera. Three of the new subantarctic species are attributed to genera formerly considered to be Antarctic endemics, while the two newly assigned species of Osthimosia are presently known only from Antarctic localities.     

Distributional records for the Colorado flora

Nine new records of vascular plants indigenous to western North America, six new records of adventive taxa, and six significant range extensions are reported for the flora of Colorado.     

Distribution and ecology of freshwater Ostracoda (Crustacea) collected from springs of Nevada, Idaho, and Oregon: a preliminary study

Fourteen freshwater ostracod species collected from 24 springs in Nevada, Idaho, and Oregon between 1991 and 1994 were classified. Their ecology, based on major water parameters (i.e., temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity), and biogeographical distribution in North America were studied. Among these 14 species, 9 ( Ilyocypris bradyi , I. gibba , Darwinula stevensoni , Candona candida , Heterocypris incongruens , Herpetocypris reptans , H. chevreuxi , Prionocypris canadensis , P. longiforma ) are new records for Nevadas ostracod fauna, while 3 ( H. reptans , P. canadensis , and Cypria turneri ) are new species for Oregon. H. reptans , P. canadensis , and Heterocypris salina are also recorded as new for the ostracod literature of Idaho. Scottia pseudobrowniana , collected from Nevada, is a new ostracod species for the United States. The occurrence of 5 Holarctic species in the northern Great Basin area may suggest a possible historical relationship with the European ostracod fauna.     

New species and records of North American Pityophthorus (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), Part IV: the Scriptor group

Six new species of Pityophthorus from Mexico are described. The new species, all in the Scriptor group, are: atkinsoni, diminutivus, equihuai, thamnus, trunculus and zexmenivora . An additional locality record for P. coronarius Blackman is included. A new key to the 22 species included in the Scriptor group is presented.         

Six new Scolytidae (Coleoptera) from Mexico

Alniphagus africanus Schedl, 1963, and Hylesinus africanus Schedl, 1965, were both transferred to Hylesinopsis and thereby become junior homonyms of H. africanus (Eggers, 1933). The new name H. acaciolens is proposed as a replacement for Schedl's 1963 name and H. secutus as a new name for Schedl's 1965 name. Six species from Mexico are described as new to science, including: Hylocurus atkinsoni, H. crotonis, Monarthrum xalapensis, Pseudochramesus jaliscoensis, Pseudopityophthorus durangoensis , and P. xalapae .     

New species and new records of North American Pityophthorus (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), Part V: the Juglandis group

Six new species of Pityophthorus from Mexico are described. The new species, all in the Scriptor group, are: atkinsoni, diminutivus, equihuai, thamnus, trunculus and zexmenivora . An additional locality record for P. coronarius Blackman is included. A new key to the 22 species included in the Scriptor group is presented.         

New synonymy and records of American bark beetles (Coleoptera: Scolytidae)

Alniphagus africanus Schedl, 1963, and Hylesinus africanus Schedl, 1965, were both transferred to Hylesinopsis and thereby become junior homonyms of H. africanus (Eggers, 1933). The new name H. acaciolens is proposed as a replacement for Schedl's 1963 name and H. secutus as a new name for Schedl's 1965 name. Six species from Mexico are described as new to science, including: Hylocurus atkinsoni, H. crotonis, Monarthrum xalapensis, Pseudochramesus jaliscoensis, Pseudopityophthorus durangoensis , and P. xalapae .     

Oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) of the maritime Antarctic and Antarctic Peninsula

Eleven species of oribatid mites are reported from 26 maritime Antarctic islands. The oribatid faunas of Fredriksen, Atriceps (South Orkney Is.), Cockburn, Seymour, Vega, Brabant, Adelaide, Lagoon, Léonie, Horseshoe, Alexander Islands and Peter I Øy were studied for the first time. Austroppia crozetensis (Richters, 1908) and Magellozetes processus Hammer, 1962 are first records for the Antarctic Region. Halozetes belgicae longiseta Wallwork, 1967 is a new record for the South Orkney Is., Edwardzetes dentifer Hammer, 1962, is new for the South Shetland Is., Magellozetes processus Hammer, 1962 is new for Graham Land whilst Globoppia loxolineata longipilosa Covarrubias, 1968 and Magellozetes antarcticus (Michael, 1895) are new records for Palmer Land. The distribution patterns of the 11 species of oribatid mites are figured and their zoogeographical relationships are discussed.     

A new higher classification of planarian flatworms (Platyhelminthes,Tricladida)

This paper presents a revised classification for the higher taxa within the Tricladida. A historical sketch is provided of the higher classificatory systems of triclad flatworms. As far as possible, the new classification is based on published phylogenetic studies. A phylogenetic tree generalizing currently available hypotheses on the higher-taxon relationships of the Tricladida forms the backbone of the new classification. There is no longer any room in formal classifications for the taxon names Terricola and Paludicola, previously used to indicate the suborders of freshwater and land planarians, respectively. It is a consequence of the new classification that the taxonomic rank of the terrestrial planarians is now at the level of family. A new diagnosis of this family is provided. The taxon name Continenticola denotes a monophyletic group consisting of the freshwater planarians and the terrestrial planarians. At this stage it is difficult to find unequivocal morphological apomorphies enabling a diagnosis for the Continenticola.     

Parashiinoa mackayi gen. nov., sp. nov. (Poecilostomatoida: Shiinoidae), a new parasitic copepod from two Australian species of Pomadasys (Haemulidae)

A new genus, Parashiinoa, is proposed for a new species of parasitic copeepod found attached at the base of the dorsal fins of two species of Australian haemulid fishes, Pomadasys maculatus (Bloch) and P. argenteus (Forsskål). The new species, P. mackayi, is described and illustrated. One species of the genus Shiinoa, S. bakeri Cressey and Cressey, is transferred to the new genus. A redefinition of the family Shiinoidae is provided.     

A new pontoniine shrimp genus (Crustacea: Decapoda) from the Yemen,with a note on other species

An unusual new genus and species of coral inhabiting pontoniine shrimp from the Yemen is described and illustrated. The new shrimp is remarkable for its very small size and the unique form of its telson. Three other pontoniine shrimps are also reported from the Yemen for the first time, raising the number of such shrimp species known from southern Arabia to 18.     

Pseudonemesia tabiskey,a new species of Pseudonemesia Caporiacco 1955 and new ultramorphological data for the Microstigmatinae (Araneae: Microstigmatidae)

Pseudonemesia tabiskey sp. nov. is described from an Andean Forest in Trujillo, Venezuela. The new species is the third for the genus and differs from the other two species by the presence of one short and apically rounded modified seta on the retrolateral distal portion of the male tibia I and clavate setae on the dorsal and lateral sides of abdomen in both sexes. A new diagnosis is given to Pseudonemesia and new morphological data based on scanning electron microscopy for the Microstigmatinae are presented. The presence of posterior median spinnerets in Pseudonemesia is discussed.     

New and unusual abyssal gammaridean Amphipoda from the north-east Pacific

Seventeen species of gammaridean amphipods were identified from sediment trap collections in the north-east Pacific, off the central California coast from depths of 3450–4050 m. Four new monotypic genera, Anisocallisoma (Family Scopelocheiridae), Triquetramana (Family Eusiridae), Octomana and Macroarthrus (Family Pardaliscidae) and eight new species, Cyphocaris latirama, Schisturella spinirama, Paracallisoma spinipoda, Anisocallisoma armigera, Triquetramana brevipalpa, Octomana hadromischa, Macroarthrus victoriae, Oedicerina denticulata are described. A number of new and unusual morphological characteristics were discovered, most notably in the family Pardaliscidae, where two of the new genera belong. In addition, new distributional and/or depth records are established for the following species: Procyphocaris indurata (K. H. Barnard, 1925), Scopelocheiropsis abyssalis Schellenberg, 1926a, Rhachotropis distincta (Holmes, 1908), Cleonardo biscayensis Chevreux, 1908b, Cleonardo macrocephala Birstein and Vinogradov, 1955, Pardaliscopsis tenuipalpa Chevreux, 1911, Halice aculeata Chevreux, 1912 and the genus Oedicerina Stephensen, 1931. In order to assist future identification, the new species are fully diagnosed and illustrated. Three tables for comparing characters and a key to the species of Oedicerina are also provided. Additional morphological information and figures are given for existing species that hitherto were poorly described and illustrated. Sediment traps normally employed in studying organic matter fluxes are herewith used for the first time as a source of deep-sea amphipods, and this potentially exciting method is discussed. The high proportion of new taxa illustrates the deficiencies in our knowledge of the abyssal fauna in this area, emphasizes the importance of continued collecting in the deep-sea, and demonstrates the need for increased taxonomic effort to document this diversity.