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A new species of the genus Mesopolobus Westwood, 1833, Mesopolobus robiniae Lakatos & László sp. nov., is described and illustrated from east-central Europe (Romania and Hungary). The species was reared from black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) seedpod samples, where it most likely parasitizes the black locust’s seed predator Bruchophagus robiniae Zerova, 1970. Here we present the new species and report on its ecological relationships within the European seed predator community of black locust. We also give details regarding type material and type locality, a detailed description with images, a differential diagnosis of the new species, and a modification to the identification key published by Graham (1969), that distinguishes this new species from closely related species. In addition, we provide information on the distribution, biology and results of barcoding analysis. We also provide the DNA sequence data to complement the morphological taxonomy.
Pinna rudis Linnaeus, 1758 (Bivalvia: Pinnidae) has an Atlantic-Mediterranean distribution. Habitat degradation is considered the main cause of population declines in the recent past, raising the conservation status of the species to the category of vulnerable in some places. Population dynamics studies of P. rudis are still necessary to fully understand its conservation requirements. Moreover, new methods of individual data collection should be developed as individuals are highly sensitive to extraction and manipulation. In the present study, we propose a non-invasive method to collect P. rudis morphometric data in situ. For this, we sampled 900 m2 of the sea bed at Matiota Beach on São Vicente Island, Cabo Verde Archipelago, and collected 18 individuals to compute the relationship between shell length and width. The regression equation between the parameters allowed us to estimate the total size of 59 P. rudis individuals obtained from the beach. The non-invasive method adopted allowed determination of the total size of the individuals without removing them from the substratum and, thereby, allowing the comparative study of the species in different zones.
Paramacrobiotus bengalensis sp. nov. was discovered in a moss sample collected from a tree in West Bengal, India. We describe this new species using detailed morphological and morphometric data obtained from phase contrast microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, along with molecular and phylogenetic data analyses. Due to the presence of a cap-like structure at the distal portion of egg processes, the new species showed the highest similarity with Paramacrobiotus garynahi (Kaczmarek, Michalczyk & Diduszko, 2005), Paramacrobiotus alekseevi (Tumanov, 2005), Paramacrobiotus filipi Dudziak, Stec & Michalczyk, 2020, Paramacrobiotus sagani Daza, Caicedo, Lisi & Quiroga, 2017, Paramacrobiotus vanescens (Pilato, Binda & Catanzaro, 1991) and Paramacrobiotus gadabouti Kayastha, Stec, Mioduchowska & Kaczmarek, 2023. However, it can be differentiated from them by some morphological and morphometric characteristics. The genetic data corroborated our phenotypic outcome further supporting the new species hypothesis.
Four earthworm species, the endogeic Octolasion tyrtaeum (Savigny, 1826), the anecic Lumbricus terrestris Linnaeus, 1758 as well as the epigeic Eisenia fetida (Savigny, 1826) and Dendrobaena veneta (Rosa, 1886), were examined for the presence of astome ciliates. Based on the integrative taxonomic approach, five ciliate species were recognized in their gastrointestinal tracts: Metaradiophrya lumbrici (Dujardin, 1841), M. varians (de Puytorac, 1954), Anoplophrya lumbrici (Schrank, 1803), A. vulgaris de Puytorac, 1954 and A. nodulata (Dujardin, 1841). Their distinctness was assessed using the multivariate morphometric approach and molecular phylogenetic analyses. Although the two species of Metaradiophrya Jankowski, 2007 on the one hand and the two former species of Anoplophrya Stein, 1860 on the other, were not distinctly separated by the multivariate morphometric analyses, they were clearly delimited by the 18S rRNA gene sequences. Species within each genus also differed by their hosts, M. lumbrici and A. lumbrici occurred only in anecic earthworms while M. varians and A. vulgaris occured exclusively in epigeic earthworms. Only a single species, A. nodulata, was detected in endogeic earthworms. It was morphologically distinct from and did not cluster with the two other species of Anoplophrya but was nested within the paraphyletic assemblage containing other astomes from endogeic earthworms. This indicates that the evolution of endosymbiotic ciliates from earthworms has very likely proceeded through a specialization to various ecological groups of their host organisms.
Background: To volumetrically assess the bone microstructure following vertical alveolar ridge augmentation using differently conditioned autogenous tooth roots (TR) and second‐stage implant placement.
Materials and methods: The upper premolars were bilaterally extracted in n = 4 beagle dogs and randomly assigned to either autoclavation (TR‐A) or no additional treatment (TR‐C). Subsequently, TR were used as block grafts for vertical alveolar ridge augmentation in both lower quadrants. At 12 weeks, titanium implants were inserted and left to heal 3 weeks. Microcomputed tomography was used to quantify bone volume per tissue volume (BV/TV), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th), and trabecular spacing (Tb.Sp) at vestibular (v) and oral (o) aspects along the implant and in the augmented upper half of the implant, respectively.
Results: Median BV/TV [TR‐C: 51.33% (v) and 70.42% (o) vs TR‐A: 44.05% (v) and 64.46% (o)], Tb.th [TR‐C: 0.22 mm (v) and 0.27 mm (o) vs TR‐A: 0.23 mm (v) and 0.29 mm (o)] and Tb.Sp [TR‐C: 0.26 mm (v) and 0.13 mm (o) vs TR‐A: 0.29 μm (v) and 0.15 mm (o)] values were comparable in both groups.
Conclusion: Both TR‐C and TR‐A grafts were associated with a comparable bone microstructure within the grafted area.
Adult females of the five Central European wolf spiders Trochosa hispanica Simon, 1870, T. robusta (Simon, 1876), T. ruricola (De Geer, 1778), T. spinipalpis (F. O. P.-Cambridge, 1895), and T. terricola Thorell, 1856 were morphologically analysed. We defined sets of continuous and binary (presence/absence) variables. Continuous data of various epigynal and carapace dimensions were subjected to Principal Components Analysis (PCA). Using the PC loadings each individual was plotted along the PC axis in order to find gaps/overlaps between the species. The binary data sets were subjected to Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) in order to find characters that clearly separate the five Trochosa species. Using PCA only individuals of T. robusta and T. ruricola and of T. robusta and T. hispanica could be separated from each other. Using HCA all five species could clearly be separated by epigynal and vulval characteristics.
Erythemis Hagen, 1861 (Odonata: Libellulidae: Sympetrinae) is a Neotropical genus with ten species in which morphological characters vary widely. The aim of this paper is to study the taxonomic diversity of the genus Erythemis and to test the diagnostic value of morphological characters used to discriminate species. The diagnostic value of the morphometric characters is tested using discriminant function analysis, principal component analysis, and graphical exploration of the data. A total of 134 characters were studied; of those, 53 are recoded and 81 are proposed in this work. Discrete characters such as color, genitalia, ventral teeth of male cercus, extension of dark basal area in hind wing, and morphometric characters of abdominal carinae and antenodal wing venation are the most useful for species determination. In contrast, abdomen length/HW length ratio, vulvar lamina length, and spines of femoral structure are highly variable. A lectotype is designated for Diplax credula Hagen, 1861. Taxonomic keys for males and females are included, and variation in several characters is presented.
The endozoic ciliates of the family Clevelandellidae Kidder, 1938 typically inhabit the hindgut of wood-feeding panesthiine cockroaches. To assess the consistency of species delimitation in clevelandellids, we tested the utility of three sources of taxonomic data: morphometric measurements, cell geometrical information, and 18S rRNA gene sequences. The morphometric and geometrical data delimited the clevelandellid morphospecies consistently and unambiguously. However, only Paraclevelandia brevis Kidder, 1937 represented a homogenous taxon in both morphological and molecular analyses; the morphospecies Clevelandella constricta (Kidder, 1937) and C. hastula (Kidder, 1937) contained two or three distinct, more or less closely related genotypes each; and the genetic homogeneity of the morphospecies C. panesthiae (Kidder, 1937) and C. parapanesthiae (Kidder, 1937) was not corroborated by the 18S rRNA gene sequences at all. Moreover, the 18S rRNA gene phylogenies suggested the C. panesthiae-like morphotype to be the ancestral phenotype from which all other clevelandellid morphotypes arose. The only exception was the C. constricta-like morphotype, which very likely branched off before the diversification of the C. panesthiae-like progenitor. The present molecular analyses also suggested that a huge proportion of the clevelandellid diversity still waits to be discovered, since examination of only four panesthiine populations revealed 10 distinct clevelandellid genotypes/molecular species.
Recent collections of pseudoscorpions resulted in a first record and a new species from Iran. Olpium omanense Mahnert, 1991 originally described from Oman is recorded for the first time from Iran. Three congeneric species with similar morphometric characters and trichobothrial patterns, Olpium intermedium Beier, 1959, O. lindbergi, Beier, 1959 and O. omanense can be separated by the setal numbers on the posterior margin of the carapace and tergite I. Also, specimens reported as Olpium lindbergi Beier, 1951 from Pakistan were probably misidentified and belong to O. omanense. The new species Cardiolpium bisetosum sp. nov. is described based on males from Markazi province, western Iran. Morphometric data are given in comparison to related species.
The future physiology of marine phytoplankton will be impacted by a range of changes in global ocean conditions, including salinity regimes that vary spatially and on a range of short- to geological timescales. Coccolithophores have global ecological and biogeochemical significance as the most important calcifying marine phytoplankton group. Previous research has shown that the morphology of their exoskeletal calcified plates (coccoliths) responds to changing salinity in the most abundant coccolithophore species, Emiliania huxleyi. However, the extent to which these responses may be strain-specific is not well established. Here we investigated the growth response of six strains of E. huxleyi under low (ca. 25) and high (ca. 45) salinity batch culture conditions and found substantial variability in the magnitude and direction of response to salinity change across strains. Growth rates declined under low and high salinity conditions in four of the six strains but increased under both low and high salinity in strain RCC1232 and were higher under low salinity and lower under high salinity in strain PLYB11. When detailed changes in coccolith and coccosphere size were quantified in two of these strains that were isolated from contrasting salinity regimes (coastal Norwegian low salinity of ca. 30 and Mediterranean high salinity of ca. 37), the Norwegian strain showed an average 26% larger mean coccolith size at high salinities compared to low salinities. In contrast, coccolith size in the Mediterranean strain showed a smaller size trend (11% increase) but severely impeded coccolith formation in the low salinity treatment. Coccosphere size similarly increased with salinity in the Norwegian strain but this trend was not observed in the Mediterranean strain. Coccolith size changes with salinity compiled for other strains also show variability, strongly suggesting that the effect of salinity change on coccolithophore morphology is likely to be strain specific. We propose that physiological adaptation to local conditions, in particular strategies for plasticity under stress, has an important role in determining ecotype responses to salinity.