590 Tiere (Zoologie)
Refine
Year of publication
Document Type
- Article (49)
- Part of Periodical (31)
Language
- English (80) (remove)
Has Fulltext
- yes (80)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (80)
Keywords
- biodiversity (80) (remove)
The bee fauna of the Greater Puerto Rico area was studied. A review of the previous relevant studies is presented. An annotated catalog and information about the origin and distributional patterns are also provided. Thirty-nine species of bees occur in Puerto Rico and adjacent islands. This fauna is composed of four elements: exclusive Puerto Rican endemics (26.5%); Antillean endemics occurring on multiple islands (76.5%); continental species that have also colonized the Antilles (23.5%); and species introduced through human activity (12.8%). The bee fauna was both low in its diversity and showed the highest level of disharmony in relation to other faunas of the Greater Antilles. A lectotype is here designated for Agapostemon krugii Wolcott, 1936.
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.
Three different male and female super-specific types are distinguished according to variations in the morphology of the bulb and spermathecae within the genus Nemesia Audouin, 1826. Plotting the distributions of these sexual types on a map of the Mediterranean indicates the existence of geography-related sub-generic diversity in which the Nemesia fauna of the eastern Mediterranean differs markedly from that of the western Mediterranean. While the eastern Mediterranean Nemesia fauna is highly homogeneous, the fauna of the western Mediterranean is very diverse. The eastern and western Nemesia faunae appear to overlap in the central Mediterranean. Efforts to relate the specific bulb types to the particular types of spermathecae described here were only partly successful.
The genus Bennelongia De Deckker & McKenzie, 1981 is most likely endemic to Australia and New Zealand and, up to now, only two described species in this genus had been reported from Western Australia. Extensive sampling in Western Australia revealed a much higher specifi c diversity. Here, we describe nine new species in three lineages, within the genus Bennelongia: B. cygnus sp. nov. and B. frumenta sp. nov. in the B. cygnus lineage, B. gwelupensis sp. nov., B. coondinerensis sp. nov., B. cuensis sp. nov., B. lata sp. nov. and B. bidgelangensis sp. nov. in the B. australis lineage, and B. strellyensis sp. nov. and B. kimberleyensis sp. nov. (from the Pilbara and Kimberley regions respectively) in the B. pinpi-lineage. For six of the nine species, we were also able to construct molecular phylogenies and to test for cryptic diversity with two different methods based on the evolutionary genetic species concept, namely Birky’s 4 x rule and the GYMC model. These analyses support the specifi c nature of at least four of the fi ve new species in the B. australis lineage and of the two new species in the B. pinpi lineage. We also describe Bennelongiinae n.subfam. to accommodate the genus. With the nine new species described here, the genus Bennelongia now comprises 15 species, but several more await formal description.
The ostracod genus Bennelongia De Deckker & McKenzie, 1981 is endemic to Australia and New Zealand. Extensive sampling in Western Australia (WA) revealed a high specific and largely undescribed diversity. Here, we describe seven new species belonging to the B. barangaroo lineage: B. timmsi sp. nov., B. gnamma sp. nov., B. hirsuta sp. nov., B. ivanae sp. nov., B. mcraeae sp. nov., B. scanloni sp. nov. and B. calei sp. nov., and confirm the presence of an additional species, B. dedeckkeri, in WA. For five of these eight species, we could construct molecular phylogenies and parsimonious networks based on COI sequences. We also tested for cryptic diversity and specific status of clusters with a statistical method based on the evolutionary genetic species concept, namely Birky’s 4 theta rule. The analyses support the existence of these five species and a further three cryptic species in the WA B. barangaroo lineage. The molecular evidence was particularly relevant because most species described herein have very similar morphologies and can be distinguished from each other only by the shape, size and position of the antero-ventral lapel on the right valve, and, in sexual populations, by the small differences in shape of the hemipenes and the prehensile palps in males. Four species of the WA B. barangaroo lineage occur in small temporary rock pools (gnammas) on rocky outcrops. The other four species are mainly found in soft bottomed seasonal water bodies. One of the latter species, B. scanloni sp. nov., occurs in both claypans and deeper rock pools (pit gnammas). All species, except for B. dedeckkeri, originally described from Queensland, have quite clearly delimited distributions in WA. With the seven new species described here, the genus Bennelongia now comprises 25 nominal species but several more await formal description.
New Zealand species of Iphimediidae, Amphipoda, are revised. Based on new material from the Chatham Rise, east of New Zealand, two new species are described in detail: Labriphimedia meikae sp. nov. and Labriphimedia martinae sp. nov. A key to the six species belonging to three genera of New Zealand Iphimediidae is provided.
The study of the Portuguese marine ichthyofauna has a long historical tradition, rooted back in the 18th Century. Here we present an annotated checklist of the marine fishes from Portuguese waters, including the area encompassed by the proposed extension of the Portuguese continental shelf and the Economic Exclusive Zone (EEZ). The list is based on historical literature records and taxon occurrence data obtained from natural history collections, together with new revisions and occurrences. It comprises a total of 1191 species, distributed among 3 superclasses, 4 classes, 42 orders, 212 families and 617 genera. If considering only the EEZ and present territorial waters, this list represents an increase of 230 species (27.8%) and of 238 species (29.0%), when compared to the information available in FishBase (2012) and in the last checklist of marine and estuarine fishes of Portugal (1993), respectively. The order Perciformes shows the highest diversity, with 54 families, 162 genera and 299 species. Stomiidae (80 species), Myctophidae (71 species) and Macrouridae (37 species) are the richest families. From the listed species, 734 are present off mainland Portugal, 857 off the Azores and 766 off Madeira. Within the limits of the examined area, three species are reported for the first time in mainland Portugal and twenty-nine records are identified as doubtful. A total of 133 species have been recorded from the extended Portuguese continental shelf (2 off mainland Portugal, 117 off the Azores and 14 off Madeira), two of which are common to the Azores and Madeira extensions. Biogeographically, the Atlantic group is the most important (548 species – 46.01%), followed by the Lusitanian group (256 species – 21.49%), the African group (71 species – 5.96%), the Boreal group (34 species – 2.85%), the Mediterranean group (31 species – 2.60%), the Macaronesian group (21 species – 1.76%), the Atlantic/African group (19 species – 1.60%) and the Mediterranean/African and the Arctic groups, each with only 1 species (0.08%). Regarding the preferences for vertical habitat, the demersal fishes are the most important group (305 species – 25.61%), followed by the mesopelagic group (228 species – 19.14%), the bathypelagic group (164 species – 13.77%), the benthopelagic group (147 species – 12.34%), the bathydemersal group (115 species – 9.66%), the reef-associated group (88 species – 7.39%), the pelagic group (74 species – 6.21%), the epipelagic group (58 species – 4.87%) and 1 species (0.08%) of the benthic group. The oceanic habitat is the best represented group comprising 446 species (37.45%), followed by the shelf group (199 species – 16.71%), the slope group (164 species – 13.77%), the inner shelf group (89 species – 7.47%), the coastal group (70 species – 5.88%), the outer shelf group (29 species – 2.43%) and the oceanic/shelf group (7 species – 0.59%).
Results of an Odonata survey carried out in the peatlands of Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, in 2012
(2014)
The results of a survey of Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) in the peat lands of Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, in 2012 are presented. Fifty four species of Odonata found in the area in June-July 2012 are listed, along with brief notes and the locations in which they were found. Of the species found, twelve had not been recorded in Central Kalimantan previously, and of these at least four are completely new to science. Six species, originally described from Central Kalimantan and not recorded any- where since 1953, were rediscovered. At least sixteen of the species found during the survey are considered to be of conservation concern. The discovery of at least four new species to science in a relatively short survey indicates a high probability of occurrence of many more species that are awaiting discovery, and that many un-discovered species may be lost or highly threatened because of the rapid demise of peat swamp forest habitats. A checklist of the Odonata known from Central Kalimantan is provided in an appendix.
Four species of Bradysia Winnertz (Diptera, Sciaridae) from the Northern Holarctic are described and illustrated for the first time: Bradysia bigeminata sp. nov. (Finland, Canada), B. falciceps sp. nov. (Finland, Canada), B. oelandica sp. nov. (Sweden) and B. plusiospina sp. nov. (Finland). A few Bradysia species, described previously and now found in Northern Europe, are also redefined and illustrated.
The ostracod genus Bennelongia De Deckker & McKenzie, 1981 occurs in Australia and New Zealand. We redescribe B. nimala from the Northern Territory and describe six new species from Western Australia belonging to the B. nimala (five species) and B. triangulata sp. nov. (one species) lineages: B. tirigie sp. nov., B. koendersae sp. nov., B. pinderi sp. nov., B. muggon sp. nov., B. shieli sp. nov. and B. triangulata sp. nov. For six of these seven species, we could construct molecular phylogenies and parsimonious networks based on COI sequences. We tested for specific status and for potential cryptic diversity of clades with Birky’s 4 theta rule. The analyses support the existence of these six species and the absence of cryptic species in these lineages. Bennelongia triangulata sp. nov. is a common species in the turbid claypans of the Murchison/Gascoyne region. Bennelongia nimala itself is thus far known only from the Northern Territory. Bennelongia tirigie sp. nov., B. pinderi sp. nov. and B. muggon sp. nov. occur in the Murchison/Gascoyne region, whereas B. koendersae sp. nov. and B. shieli sp. nov. are described from the Pilbara. With the six new species described here, the genus Bennelongia now comprises 31 nominal species.