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Solenogastres (Aplacophora) is a small clade of marine, shell-less worm-molluscs with close to 300 valid species. Their distribution ranges across all oceans, and whereas the vast majority of species has been collected and described from the continental shelf and slope, only few species are known from depths below 4,000 m. Following traditional taxonomy, identification of specimens to species level is complex and time-consuming and requires detailed investigations of morphology and anatomy—often resulting in the exclusion of the clade in biodiversity or biogeographic studies. During the KuramBio expedition (Kuril-Kamchatka Biodiversity Studies) to the abyssal plain of the Northwest Pacific and the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench, 33 solenogaster specimens were sampled from 4,830 m to 5,397 m. Within this study we present an efficient workflow to address solenogaster diversity, even when confronted with a high degree of singletons and minute body sizes, hampering the use of single individuals for multiple morphological and molecular approaches. We combine analyses of external characters and scleritome with molecular barcoding based on a self-designed solenogaster specific set of mitochondrial primers. Overall we were able to delineate at least 19 solenogaster lineages and identify 15 species to family level and beyond. Based on our approach we identified three key lineages from the two regionally most species-rich families (Acanthomeniidae and Pruvotinidae) for deeper taxonomic investigations and describe the novel abyssal species Amboherpia abyssokurilensis sp. nov. (Cavibelonia, Acanthomeniidae) using microanatomical 3D-reconstructions. Our study more than doubles the previous records of solenogaster species from the Northwest Pacific and its marginal seas. Almost all lineages are reported for the first time from the region of the (Northwest) Pacific, vastly expanding distribution ranges of the respective clades. Moreover it doubles the number of Solenogastres collected from abyssal depths on a global scale and underlines the lack of exploratory α-diversity work in the abyssal zone for reliable species estimates in marine biodiversity.
Aim: The identification of the mechanisms determining spatial variation in biological diversity along elevational gradients is a central objective in ecology and biogeography. Here, we disentangle the direct and indirect effects of abiotic drivers (climatic conditions, and land use) and biotic drivers (vegetation structure and food resources) on functional diversity and composition of bird and bat assemblages along a tropical elevational gradient. Location: Southern slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, East Africa. Methods: We counted birds and recorded bat sonotypes on 58 plots distributed in near-natural and anthropogenically modified habitats from 700 to 4,600 m above sea level. For the recorded taxa, we compiled functional traits related to movement, foraging and body size from museum specimens and databases. Further, we recorded mean annual temperature, precipitation, vegetation complexity as well as the number of fruits, flowers, and insect biomass as measures of resource availability on each study site. Results: Using path analyses, we found similar responses of bird and bat functional diversity to the variation in abiotic and biotic drivers along the elevational gradient. In contrast, the functional composition of both taxa showed distinct responses to abiotic and biotic drivers. For both groups, direct temperature effects were most important, followed by resource availability, precipitation and vegetation complexity. Main Conclusions: Our findings indicate that physiological and metabolic constraints imposed by temperature and resource availability determine the functional diversity of bird and bat assemblages, whereas the composition of individual functional traits is driven by taxon-specific processes. Our study illustrates that distinct filtering mechanisms can result in similar patterns of functional diversity along broad environmental gradients. Such differences need to be taken into account when it comes to conserving the functional diversity of flying vertebrates on tropical mountains.
This review covers Parageron Paramonov s. lat., including 36 species. Three new genera are proposed: Ectopusia gen. nov., Protypusia gen. nov. and Parusia gen. nov.; Parageron s. str. more narrowly defined. Eleven new species are described: Parageron longilingua sp. nov., Protypusia argentata gen. et sp. nov., Pro. separata Gibbs & Theodor gen. et sp. nov., Pro. flavipalpis gen. et sp. nov., Pro. kerkini gen. et sp. nov., Pro. strymonas gen. et sp. nov., Parusia almeria gen. et sp. nov., Pru. benoisti gen. et sp. nov., Pru. cyrenaica gen. et sp. nov., Pru. faesae gen. et sp. nov. and Pru. propinqua gen. et sp. nov. Two species raised from synonymy Par. orientalis Paramonov stat. rev. and Pru. taeniolata (Costa) stat. rev. Two species synonymised Pro. major Macquart syn. nov. and Usia arida Báez syn. nov. Eight species removed from Usiini to Apolysini, Apolysis bicolor (Efflatoun) comb. nov., A. elbae (Efflatoun) comb. nov., A. flavipes (Efflatoun) comb. nov., A. marginata (Brunetti) comb. nov., A. minuscula (Efflatoun) comb. nov., A. parvula (Efflatoun) comb. nov., A. turkmenica (Paramonov) comb. nov. and A. volkovitshi (Zaitzev) comb. nov. Apolysis melanderi Gibbs nom. nov. replaces A. bicolor (Melander) (was in Oligodranes) and A. hessei Gibbs nom. nov. replaces A. minuscula Hesse. Two neotypes and nine lectotypes are designated.
We present an updated, subjective list of the extant, non-marine ostracod genera and species of the world, with their distributions in the major zoogeographical regions, as well as a list of the genera in their present hierarchical taxonomic positions. The list includes all taxa described and taxonomic alterations made up to 1 July 2018. Taxonomic changes include 17 new combinations, 5 new names, 1 emended specific name and 11 new synonymies (1 tribe, 4 genera, 6 species). Taking into account the recognized synonymies, there are presently 2330 subjective species of non-marine ostracods in 270 genera. The most diverse family in non-marine habitats is the Cyprididae, comprising 43.2% of all species, followed by the Candonidae (29.0%), Entocytheridae (9.1%) and the Limnocytheridae (7.0%). An additional 13 families comprise the remaining 11.8% of described species. The Palaearctic zoogeographical region has the greatest number of described species (799), followed by the Afrotropical region with 453 species and the Nearctic region with 439 species. The Australasian and Neotropical regions each have 328 and 333 recorded species, respectively, while the Oriental region has 271. The vast majority of non-marine ostracods (89.8%) are endemic to one zoogeographical region, while only six species are found in six or more regions. We also present an additional list with 'uncertain species', which have neither been redescribed nor re-assessed since 1912, and which are excluded from the main list; a list of taxonomic changes presented in the present paper; a table with the number of species and % per family; and a table with numbers of new species described in the 20-year period between 1998 and 2017 per zoogeographical region. Two figures visualize the total number of species and endemic species per zoogeographical region, and the numbers of new species descriptions per decade for all families and the three largest families since 1770, respectively.
Erebaces woodruffi Anderson, new species (Curculionidae: Molytinae: Cryptorhynchini), from Palawan (Philippines) is described and illustrated. This is the second species of the genus Erebaces Pascoe described from the Philippines. It can be separated from Erebaces kidapawanus Pancini by the pair of divergent dorsal pale-scaled lines on the pronotum extended onto the elytra and by the form of the elytral tubercles.
The concept of the jumping spider genus Pochytoides Berland & Millot, 1941 is reviewed, based on the examination of described and undescribed species. Pochytoides is elevated from the subgeneric to the generic rank and a short diagnosis and description of the genus are presented. Redescriptions or descriptions of all species are provided together with a key to the species. Two new combinations are proposed: Pochytoides perezi (Berland & Millot, 1941) comb. nov. and P. poissoni (Berland & Millot, 1941) comb. nov. (both from Pochyta). Pochyta remyi Berland & Millot, 1941 originally placed in the subgenus Pochytoides is excluded; new combination Thiratoscirtus remyi (Berland & Millot, 1941) comb. nov. is proposed for it (but its generic status is uncertain). Six new species are described: Pochytoides monticola sp. nov., P. obstipa sp. nov., P. lamottei sp. nov., P. patellaris sp. nov., P. securis sp. nov. and P. spiniger sp. nov. The genus has a West African distribution.
The Bittacidae fauna in Guizhou Province, China is reviewed. Eleven species in the genera Terrobittacus Tan & Hua, 2009 and Bittacus Latreille, 1805 of Bittacidae are documented in Guizhou, including three new species: Bittacus dilobus sp. nov. and Bittacus leigongshanicus sp. nov. from Leigongshan, and Bittacus multisetus sp. nov. from Yushe. A key to species of Bittacidae in Guizhou is provided.
Australia is predicted to have a high number of currently undescribed ostracod taxa. The genus Bennelongia De Deckker & McKenzie, 1981 (Crustacea, Ostracoda) occurs in Australia and New Zealand, and has recently shown potential for high speciosity, after the description of nine new species from Western Australia. Here, we focus on Bennelongia from eastern Australia, with the objectives of exploring likely habitats for undiscovered species, genetically characterising published morphological species and scanning classical species for cryptic diversity. Two traditional (morphological) species are confi rmed to be valid using molecular evidence (B. harpago De Deckker & McKenzie, 1981 and B. pinpi De Deckker, 1981), while three new species are described using both morphological and molecular evidence. Two of the new species belong to the B. barangaroo lineage (B. dedeckkeri sp. nov. and B. mckenziei sp. nov.), while the third is a member of the B. nimala lineage (B. regina sp. nov.). Another species was found to be genetically distinct, but is not formally described here owing to a lack of distinguishing morphological features from the existing species B. cuensis Martens et al., 2012. Trends in diversity and radiation of the genus are discussed, as well as implications these results have for the conservation of temporary pool microfauna and our understanding of Bennelongia’s evolutionary origin.
Harpactea dufouri (Thorell, 1873) was collected in the Gavarres protected natural area in Catalonia, Spain. The specimens were compared with specimens from Mallorca, Balearic Islands,
and found to be conspecific. The female of the species is described here for the first time. The new finding proves that Harpactea dufouri occurs outside the Balearic Islands. The species, however, may be endemic to Catalonia.