Demosponges from Ascension Island with a description of nine new species

Author(s):  
Claire Goodwin ◽  
Judith Brown ◽  
Rachel Downey ◽  
Nhu Trieu ◽  
Paul E. Brewin ◽  
...  

Abstract We surveyed the shallow-water sponges of Ascension Island using scuba diving. In total, we collected 58 sponge specimens from 17 locations at depths of 0.5–30 m. In addition, we compiled historical records of sponges. We describe nine species new to science: Niphates verityae sp. nov., Petrosia (Petrosia) ernesti sp. nov., Monanchora downesae sp. nov., Svenzea weberorum sp. nov., Erylus williamsae sp. nov., Ircinia nolanae sp. nov., Ircinia richardsoni sp. nov., Ircinia simae sp. nov. and Chondrosia browningorum sp. nov. We provide molecular sequences for three of the new species. We have added 50% to the number of known species and added two new genera and one family to the known Ascension Island sponge fauna. Twenty-six species, from 16 genera, and 13 families, are now reported from Ascension's shallow waters. Many of these may be endemic to the island. We discuss the biogeographic affinities of Ascension Island and emphasize the need for additional survey of the sponge fauna of remote islands such as Ascension.

1992 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin R. Langer

Abstract. Two new genera and eight new species of benthic foraminifera are described from the shallow water, tropical lagoon of Madang, Papua New Guinea. The new hauerinid genus Pseudolachlanella is characterized by juvenile cryptoquinqueloculine, adult almost massiline arranged chambers, and a slitlike, curved aperture with parallel sides and a long, slender, curved miliolid tooth. Pitella haigi n. gen., n. sp. is a new foraminifera with cryptoquinqueloculine arranged chambers, an almost entirely pitted shell surface (pseudopores) and a rounded aperture with a short simple tooth. Among the other species described as new are four hauerinids and two agglutinated foraminifera All new species described here occur sporadically in the shallow water back- and forereef environments of the lagoon (0–55m), and live infaunally and epifaunally in well-oxygenated, fine and coarse grained biogenic sediments. They are absent in muddy, organic-rich, low-oxygen sedimentary environments within bay inlets where variations of salinity are considerable.


Zootaxa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3528 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
JEAN JUST

Two new genera and eight new species of bubocorophiid Siphonoecetini are described from north-eastern and northernAustralia: Belkginoecetes bullockyensis gen. et sp. nov. B. cooee sp. nov. (type species), B. darwiniense sp. nov., B. fleu-rae sp. nov., B. solea sp. nov., B. springthorpei sp. nov., Tropicoecetes carinata gen. et sp. nov., Rhinoecetes anneae sp.nov. The concept of bubocorophiid siphonoecetids and their distribution along eastern and northern Australia is briefly discussed. A key to species of Belkginoecetes gen. nov. is presented.


Author(s):  
Javier Souto ◽  
Oscar Reverter-Gil ◽  
Eugenio Fernández-Pulpeiro

Three sampling surveys were carried out, by SCUBA diving, in the Algarve (southern Portugal) in December 2007. A total of 57 species of gymnolaemate Bryozoa were identified. Of these, eight species were new to science (Mollia cristinae sp. nov., Hippoporina teresae sp. nov., Schizoporella spinosa sp. nov., Fenestrulina inesae sp. nov., Celleporina derungsi sp. nov., Dentiporella saldanhai sp. nov., Rhynchozoon celestinoi sp. nov. and Rhynchozoon rosae sp. nov.). Another 16 species are cited for the first time in Portuguese waters; of these, Stephanollona contracta is cited for the first time in European continental waters. Reference material deposited in several collections was also revised, and lectotypes and paralectotypes were selected for Mollia multijuncta and Dentiporella sardonica, species subjected to diverse interpretations. In addition Rhynchozoon revelatus was found to be a junior synonym of D. sardonica. The species collected in the study area reflect the existence of Lusitanian, Mauretanian and Mediterranean influences; the latter influence is of interest as the Mediterranean species found were previously considered endemic to the Mediterranean Sea and are usually found in shallow waters. Finally, a large degree of intracolonial variability was observed in some of the species studied, especially in Stephanollona armata, which may be taken into account in studies of the geographical variability and differentiation of cryptic species.


Zootaxa ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 1930 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
FERNANDA M. D. AMARAL ◽  
ANDREA Q. STEINER ◽  
MATT K. BROADHURST ◽  
STEPHEN D. CAIRNS

Five species of calcified hydroids occur in shallow waters along the Brazilian coast: four milleporids –Millepora alcicornis Linnaeus, Millepora braziliensis Verrill, Millepora nitida Verrill, and a new species, Millepora laboreli – and one stylasterid – Stylaster roseus (Pallas). Compared to the scleractinian corals, the calcified hydroids of Brazil have received little attention. Nevertheless, Milleporidae are an important component of Brazilian reefs, with colonies that can reach up to 2 m in diameter. Among the aspects that have been studied for Millepora spp, their distributions and skeletal morphometries are the most distinctive. Due to their complex taxonomy, several morphometric characters have been used to facilitate their identification. Molecular systematics has also been used as a complementary technique to traditional taxonomic tools. Other aspects of Brazilian Millepora spp, such as their nematocysts, medusae and ecology, have received less attention; nevertheless, the few existing studies reveal several remarkable features of this genus. Comprehensive studies of Brazilian stylasterids are still lacking.


2004 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Just ◽  
George D. F. Wilson

This paper presents a global review of the current unwieldy concept of the genus Paramunna Sars, 1866. The study is based mainly on large new collections of material from Australia and subantarctic islands south of Tasmania and New Zealand. Of the four genera previously synonymised with Paramunna, Austrimunna Richardson, 1906 is revived (type species A. antarctica), Leptaspidia Bate & Westwood, 1867 and Metamunna Tattersall, 1905 are considered indeterminable, while Austronanus Hodgson, 1910 is not considered part of the Paramunna complex. Forty-three species, 27 new, are treated, mostly from Australia and adjacent subantarctic islands. Fifteen species currently in Paramunna do not belong in this complex. The type genus Paramunna Sars, 1866 comprises four known species, P. bilobata Sars, 1866, P. capensis Vanh�ffen, 1914, P. integra Nordenstam, 1933 and P. koreana Malyutina & Ushakova, 2001, and four new species. Nine new genera are created based on a cladistic analysis (type species, original combination): Ascionana (A. darwinia, sp. nov.), Epipedonana (E. profunda, sp. nov.), Harrietonana (Austrimunna subtriangulata Richardson, 1908), Kiklonana (Paramunna arnaudi Amar & Roman, 1974), Omonana (O. brachycephala, sp. nov.), Pagonana (Paramunna rostrata Hodgson, 1910), Palanana (Austrimunna serrata Richardson, 1908), Spiculonana (S. platysoma, sp. nov) and Sporonana (S. robusta, sp. nov.). Six species of Paramunna are transferred to other genera in the complex: P. simplex Menzies, 1962 and P.�parasimplex Winkler, 1994 to Omonana, gen. nov.; P. dilatata Vanh�ffen, 1914 to Pagonana, gen. nov.; P. gaini (Richardson, 1913) to Palanana gen. nov.; P. laevifrons Stebbing, 1910 and P. rhipis Shimomura & Mawatari, 1999 to Ascionana, gen. nov. Paramunna shornikovi Malyutina & Ushakova, 2001, is synonymised with P. rhipis. Keys to genera and species (if more than two in a genus) are given. Terminal males (males with elongated cephalon and massively enlarged pereonite 1) are documented in several genera. The distribution of the complex confirms that this part of the Paramunnidae is a Southern Hemisphere, shallow water group. Species previously thought to be circumpolar prove to be species complexes, with each species having a small distribution.


Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2891 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
GRAHAM J. BIRD

Three new genera and seven new species of paratanaoidean tanaidaceans are described from a variety of littoral and shallow sublittoral habitats around New Zealand, from the Snares Islands to Northland. These include a new leptocheliid genus, Parakonarus, closely allied to Konarus Bamber, and three paratanaids: two species of Paratanais Dana and a new genus, Atemtanais, which appears to show characters intermediate between Metatanais Shiino and Paratanais. The remaining three taxa belong either to the Tanaellidae (a new species of Araphura Bird & Holdich) or are of incertae sedis family status: Kanikipa n. gen. and a new species of Tanaopsis G.O. Sars.This study has almost doubled the known, published records of shallow-water tanaidomorphan species in New Zealand and all of the species are likely to be recorded more widely than the records here imply.


2021 ◽  
pp. 18-27
Author(s):  
Carlos Varela ◽  
Heather D. Bracken-Grissom

The genus Oediceroides Stebbing, 1888 represents a group of 23 species of amphipods that live from shallow coastal areas to abyssal plains. Most of these species have been collected in deep waters from localities in the South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and only one species has been found in the Mediterranean Sea. Many oediceroids inhabit waters more than 200 meters deep with only four species confined to shallow waters. This is the first occasion in which a species belonging to the genus Oediceroides is recorded for the Gulf of Mexico. Here, we describe O. improvisus sp. nov., a species of marine deep-water amphipod collected in 925 meters of water. This species has carapace, mouthpart and pereopodal characters that unite it with other members of the genus. It differs from all other species due to unique rostral and pereopod seven characters, all discussed in detail further in this description. To date, only 20 deep-sea (>200 meters) benthic amphipods have been recorded in the Gulf of Mexico, in comparison with more than 200 species of shallow water representatives from the same region. Our study provides evidence that the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico still hold undescribed biodiversity.


2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-173
Author(s):  
A.P. Kassatkina

Resuming published and own data, a revision of classification of Chaetognatha is presented. The family Sagittidae Claus & Grobben, 1905 is given a rank of subclass, Sagittiones, characterised, in particular, by the presence of two pairs of sac-like gelatinous structures or two pairs of fins. Besides the order Aphragmophora Tokioka, 1965, it contains the new order Biphragmosagittiformes ord. nov., which is a unique group of Chaetognatha with an unusual combination of morphological characters: the transverse muscles present in both the trunk and the tail sections of the body; the seminal vesicles simple, without internal complex compartments; the presence of two pairs of lateral fins. The only family assigned to the new order, Biphragmosagittidae fam. nov., contains two genera. Diagnoses of the two new genera, Biphragmosagitta gen. nov. (type species B. tarasovi sp. nov. and B. angusticephala sp. nov.) and Biphragmofastigata gen. nov. (type species B. fastigata sp. nov.), detailed descriptions and pictures of the three new species are presented.


Zootaxa ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2205 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
MICHAEL HOFFMANN ◽  
PETER GRUBB ◽  
COLIN P. GROVES ◽  
RAINER HUTTERER ◽  
ERIK VAN DER STRAETEN ◽  
...  

We provide a synthesis of all mammal taxa described from the African mainland, Madagascar and all surrounding islands in the 20 years since 1988, thereby supplementing the earlier works of G.M. Allen (1939) and W.F.H. Ansell (1989), and bringing the list of African mammals described over the last 250 years current to December 2008. We list 175 new extant taxa, including five new genera, one new subgenus, 138 new species and 31 new subspecies, including remarks, where relevant, on the current systematic position of each taxon. Names of seven species of primates are emended, according to the requirements of the ICZN. The taxonomic group in which the largest number of new taxa has been described is the Primates, with two new genera, 47 new species and 11 new subspecies, while geographically the biggest increase in new species descriptions has been on the island of Madagascar, accounting for roughly half (67) of all new species described in the past 20 years. Nearly half of all new species listed currently are assessed as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (49 of 101 listed species) suggesting further research is urgently needed to help clarify the status of those recently described species.


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