A new species of Astronesthes (Actinopterygii, Stomiidae, Astronesthinae) snaggletooth from the tropical western Pacific, with comments on the occurrence of Astronesthes luetkeni Regan and Trewavas in Japanese waters
A new species of azooxanthellate solitary Scleractinia, Placotrochides yapensis n. sp., is described from the foot of a seamount near the Yap Trench in the tropical Western Pacific at the water depth of 2,700–2,734 m. The specimens are assigned to the genus Placotrochides Alcock, 1902 on account of possessing a solitary corallum, a trabecular columella and the transverse division resulting in a free anthocyathus with a basal scar. The new species differs from its four congeners by (1) the larger corallum size (greater calicular diameter 15.2–15.7 mm, greater basal scar diameter 9.0–12.2 mm, and height 13.3–17.1 mm), (2) the larger edge angle (20–25°), (3) the arrangement of septa (S1–2>S3>S4), and (4) the number of septa (48). Until now, five species of Placotrochides have been known from deep waters and Placotrochides yapensis n. sp. is the deepest record of the genus.
A new species of a stalked ascidian (genus Polycarpa, family Styelidae) is described from living and preserved material. Living specimens of the new and some sympatric species were observed and photographed in situ and specimens of the former were collected by the manned submersible "JAGO" at depths between 200 and 277 m off Sangihe Island between Sulawesi (Indonesia) and the Philippines. Specimens display a number of adaptations known previously from a range of ascidian taxa recorded from deeper waters, including a stalk from the anterior end of the body, the loss of ciliated pharyngeal perforations and wide atrial apertures exposing extensive areas of the branchial sac.
Leptochelia Vatulelensis(Crustacea: Tanaidacea), A New Species From Anchialine Caves of the South-Western PacificLeptochelia vatulelensisn. sp., discovered on the small islands of Vatulele (Fijian group) and Ouvéa (Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia), is described and illustrated. The new species is distinguished from the others of the"Leptochelia-dubiagroup" (to which it is generally similar) by the following combination of morphological characteristics: (1) the presence of three to four distal setae on the maxilliped basis; (2) merus of pereopods III and IV with only a distosternal seta; (3) endopod of the uropods formed of four (rarely three) articles; (4) males with two (sometimes three) relatively short aesthetascs on the first five articles of the antennular flagellum; (5) male cheliped with a diminished dimorphism; (6) males with a vertical comb-row of setae on the cheliped propodus. Although it inhabits inland, anchialine caves, the new species lacks morphological features that are characteristic of some cave species.
A new species of portunid crab from the genus Cycloachelous Ward, 1942 is described from Vietnamese waters. Cycloachelous levigatus sp. nov. is morphologically most similar to C. orbitosinus (Rathbun, 1911), which was originally described from the syntype series collected from Western Pacific area (Cargados Carajos Islands, Amirante Islands, Seychelles) and C. octodentatus (Gordon, 1938) described from one single male from Singapore. There are differences in the sternal segments, third maxilliped, chela, abdomen and male gonopode shapes. The specific status of C. levigatus sp. nov. is also clearly supported by molecular data. Aside from a comparison of this new species with other known congeners, new photographs of syntypes of C. orbitosinus and the holotype of C. octodentatus are also provided.
The taxonomy and distribution of Pacific Annonaceae are reviewed in light of recent changes in generic delimitations. A new species of the genus Monoon from the Solomon Archipelago is described, Monoon salomonicum I.M.Turner & Utteridge sp. nov., together with an apparently related new species from New Guinea, Monoon pachypetalum I.M.Turner & Utteridge sp. nov. The confirmed presence of the genus in the Solomon Islands extends the generic range eastward beyond New Guinea. Two new species of Huberantha are described, Huberantha asymmetrica I.M.Turner & Utteridge sp. nov. and Huberantha whistleri I.M.Turner & Utteridge sp. nov., from the Solomon Islands and Samoa respectively. New combinations are proposed: Drepananthus novoguineensis (Baker f.) I.M.Turner & Utteridge comb. nov., Meiogyne punctulata (Baill.) I.M.Turner & Utteridge comb. nov. and Monoon merrillii (Kaneh.) I.M.Turner & Utteridge comb. nov. One neotype and four lectotypes are designated. The geographic patterns exhibited by nine native Annonaceae genera, that range in the Pacific beyond New Guinea, are discussed.
Dysommina orientalis, a new species of Ilyophine eel from off Taiwan and Japan is described and illustrated. The species had long been recognized as Dysommina rugosa in the western Pacific and is distinguished from D. rugosa by a lower number of predorsal vertebrae, a higher number of total vertebrae, shorter head length, smaller eye size, reduced vomerine dentition, and an increased number of both mandibular and maxillary teeth, as well as significant differences in DNA sequence in COI and 16S.
New morphological and distributional information on Homolodromiidae and Homolidae (Decapoda: Brachyura) from the Americas, with description of a new species and comments on western Pacific species