Widespread infection of the Eastern red-spotted newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) by a new species of Amphibiocystidium, a genus of fungus-like mesomycetozoan parasites not previously reported in North America

Parasitology ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 135 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. R. RAFFEL ◽  
T. BOMMARITO ◽  
D. S. BARRY ◽  
S. M. WITIAK ◽  
L. A. SHACKELTON

SUMMARYGiven the worldwide decline of amphibian populations due to emerging infectious diseases, it is imperative that we identify and address the causative agents. Many of the pathogens recently implicated in amphibian mortality and morbidity have been fungal or members of a poorly understood group of fungus-like protists, the mesomycetozoans. One mesomycetozoan, Amphibiocystidium ranae, is known to infect several European amphibian species and was associated with a recent decline of frogs in Italy. Here we present the first report of an Amphibiocystidium sp. in a North American amphibian, the Eastern red-spotted newt (Notophthalmus viridescens), and characterize it as the new species A. viridescens in the order Dermocystida based on morphological, geographical and phylogenetic evidence. We also describe the widespread and seasonal distribution of this parasite in red-spotted newt populations and provide evidence of mortality due to infection.

1994 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 451-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick R. Racheboeuf ◽  
Paul Copper ◽  
Fernando Alvarez

Cryptonella? cailliaudi Barrois, 1889, from the Lower Devonian of the Armorican Massif, is tentatively assigned to the athyridid brachiopod genus Planalvus Carter, thus far known only from the Lower Carboniferous of eastern North America. In addition, a new species, Planalvus rufus, is described from the Bois-Roux Formation (Pragian) of Brittany, France. These French species are small brachiopods with complex spiralial and jugal structures, which permit assignment to the order Athyridida.


Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4375 (3) ◽  
pp. 409
Author(s):  
PAUL E. MAREK ◽  
JACKSON C. MEANS ◽  
DEREK A. HENNEN

Millipedes of the genus Apheloria Chamberlin, 1921 occur in temperate broadleaf forests throughout eastern North America and west of the Mississippi River in the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains. Chemically defended with toxins made up of cyanide and benzaldehyde, the genus is part of a community of xystodesmid millipedes that compose several Müllerian mimicry rings in the Appalachian Mountains. We describe a model species of these mimicry rings, Apheloria polychroma n. sp., one of the most variable in coloration of all species of Diplopoda with more than six color morphs, each associated with a separate mimicry ring.


Zootaxa ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 3620 (3) ◽  
pp. 483-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID EVANS WALTER ◽  
SARAH LATONAS

The oribatid mite genus Protoribates Berlese (Haplozetidae) is reviewed for North America and the genus diagnosis is revised to account for the North American species, Protoribates robustior (Jacot, 1937) is redescribed and newly reported from western North America and a new species from Alberta is described. Protoribates haughlandae sp. n. is bisexual, heterotridactylous, and lives primarily in the peat soils of fens and bogs. Protoribates robustior is all-female, monodactylous, and occurs primarily in dry forests or in dry, treeless sites dominated by grasses, sedges, and shrubs. Both species feed on fungal hyphae and spores, but P. haughlandae also is an opportunistic predator and/or necrophage of small arthropods and P. robustior gut contents often include material that resembles plant cell walls. Examination of type specimens confirms that Protoribates prionotus (Woolley, 1968) is a junior synonym of the widespread Protoribates lophotrichus (Berlese, 1904). A key to differentiate Lagenobates from Protoribates and to identify the 7 species of the latter that are known or reported from North America is provided.


1964 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 522-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. R. Underwood ◽  
R. E. Balch

AbstractA new anholocyclic species from the coastal region of western North America on Abies amabilis (Dougl.) Forbes and A. grandis (Dougl.) Lindl. is described. This is the first species of Pineus found on true firs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-33
Author(s):  
Antonio Arnaiz-Villena ◽  
Valentín Ruiz-del-Valle ◽  
Fabio Suarez-Trujillo ◽  
Adrian Lopez-Nares ◽  
Alvaro Callado ◽  
...  

Introduction: South American siskins (Genus Carduelis/Spinus) are the outcome of regional evolutionary radiation from an extant (or other extinct) species: C. notata, a North America siskin, which thrives in Mexico subtropical areas and is parental of one of the three described North American siskin radiations. Methods: Speciation and/or subspeciation of this South American siskin radiation have probably occurred during Pleistocene Epoch. In the present paper, a new species/subspecies akin to C./S. atrata is described by genetic and phenotypic parameters: this new species/subspecies was previously considered a subspecies of C./S. xanthogastra, which thrives further North and is separated about 1,762 km, 1,094 miles, from this described subspecies, Carduelis/ Spinus xanthogastra stejnegeri. Results: Our genetic study using mt cyt b, phenotypic and behavior observations show that this putative C./S. xanthogastra subspecies is either a different species or a C./S. atrata subspecies; we have proposed a provisional name for this finch, C./S. lapazensis, instead of C./S. x. stejnegeri. Conclusion: Species definition is movable and controversial, and it is uncertain in South American siskins, which all show a close genetic and phenotypical relationship, which may be still immersed in speciation processes since Pleistocene Epoch.


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