First record of Litarachna caribica (Acari, Pontarachnidae) from the Pacific coast of Panama

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Pešić ◽  
Tapas Chatterjee ◽  
Nikolaos V. Schizas

We documented the existence of a population of the southern Caribbean pontarachnid miteLitarachna caribicafor the first time on the Pacific coast of Panama. Based on morphological observations, this is the first record of a pontarachnid mite with a trans-isthmian distribution, which can be explained by either modern biological dispersal or historical vicariance hypotheses.Litarachna caribicahad either passed through the Panama Canal, successfully colonizing the opposite coast, or previously continuously distributed populations had become disjunct after the rise of the Central American land.

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilfredo Sosa-Ochoa ◽  
Javier Varela Amador ◽  
Yokomi Lozano-Sardaneta ◽  
Gabriela Rodriguez Segura ◽  
Concepcion Zúniga Valeriano ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The two most abundant sand fly species on the Honduran Pacific coast are Lutzomyia (Lutzomyia) longipalpis and Pintomyia (Pifanomyia) evansi. Both species are known vectors of Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum, the etiological agent of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in the Americas. Although VL and non-ulcerative cutaneous leishmaniasis (NUCL) are endemic on the Pacific versant of the Central American Pacific, the latter is the most frequent manifestation of leishmaniasis there. We evaluated the circulation of Leishmania spp. in the sand fly species on El Tigre Island, an endemic area of NUCL. Results We collected 222 specimens of six sand fly species. Lu. longipalpis (180 specimens; 81%) and Pif. (Pi.) evansi (35 specimens; 16%) were the most abundant species. L. (L.) infantum DNA was detected in nine of the 96 specimens analyzed; seven of these specimens were identified as Lu. longipalpis, and the remaining two were Pi.evansi, with an infection rate of 9.4% and 2.7%, respectively. Conclusion We present the first record of L. (L.) infantum DNA in Pi.evansi from a NUCL endemic region of Central America. Our results suggest that Pi. evansi could be a secondary vector of L. (L.) infantum in the transmission cycle of leishmaniasis. The detection of natural infections of L. (L.) infantum in sand flies in this region contributes to an understanding of the epidemiology of leishmaniasis in Honduras.


Zootaxa ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 1908 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
NIEL L. BRUCE ◽  
REGINA WETZER

Collections made along the coast of California have revealed the presence of a species of Pseudosphaeroma Chilton, 1909, a genus common in New Zealand coastal waters. The genus is entirely Southern Hemisphere in distribution, and this record reports the introduction of a species of Pseudosphaeroma into the San Francisco and Central Coast region of California, the first reported occurrence of the genus as an invasive taxon, and the first record of the genus from the Northern Hemisphere. The genus is also recorded for the first time from the Galapagos and Argentina.


Check List ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1754 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco O. López-Fuerte ◽  
Ismael Gárate-Lizárraga ◽  
David A. Siqueiros-Beltrones ◽  
Ricardo Yabur

The coccolithophorid Scyphosphaera apsteinii is here reported for the first time from waters off the west coast of the Baja California Peninsula. Scypho­sphaera apsteinii is the type species of the genus Scyphosphaera and had hitherto been recorded only in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean, and the Caribbean Seas. Specimens were found in samples collected in nets off Isla de Guadalupe in January 2013. This recording thus extends the geographical distribution of S. apsteinii from the Central Pacific (Hawaii) to the Eastern Pacific (NW Mexico).


2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 322-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. López-Peraza ◽  
M. Hernández-Rodríguez ◽  
B. Barón-Sevilla ◽  
L. F. Bückle-Ramírez ◽  
M. I. Grano-Maldonado

SummaryThe occurrence of the parasitic marine leech Stibarobdella moorei (Oka, 1910) (Hirudinea: Piscicolidae) along the northwest Mexican Pacific coast is described for the first time. This ectoparasite was collected from the skin of the Octopus bimaculatus (Verril, 1983) (Mollusca: Octopodidae). Stibarobdella loricata (Hardig, 1924) is synonymized with S. moorei as this species resembles other species of the genus based on tubercle patterns and the presence of papillae and a marginal fringe on the oral sucker. The present finding throws new light on the biodiversity and host preference of the ectoparasite and suggests a successful migration to unusual host. The coast of the Pacific Ocean, particularly in the Bay of Los Angeles, Baja California, Mexico is a new geographical distribution area for S. moorei, and O. bimaculatus is a new host reported for this leech. The morphology of this ectoparasite is briefly described.


Check List ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amruta Prasade ◽  
Deepak Apte ◽  
Purushottam Kale ◽  
Otto M.P. Oliveira

The benthic ctenophore Vallicula multiformis Rankin, 1956 is recorded for the first time in the Arabian Sea, from the Gulf of Kutch, west coast of India in March 2013. This occurrence represents a remarkable extension of its geographic distribution that until now included only known the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.


Zootaxa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3368 (1) ◽  
pp. 91 ◽  
Author(s):  
TOMISLAV KARANOVIC ◽  
JOO-LAE CHO

Ameiridae Monard, 1927 was previously known from Korea only after one endemic and four cosmopolitan species of the genus Nitokra Boeck, 1865, and a single widely distributed species of the genus Ameira Boeck, 1865, all from brackish enviroments. After a survey of 22 sampling sites and close to 3,500 harpacticoid specimens from various marine enviroments, we report on two new endemic species of Ameira, A. zahaae sp. nov. and A. kimchi sp. nov., from the West Sea and the South Sea respectively. They are both relatively closely related to the previously recorded cosmopolitan A. parvula (Claus, 1866), but show many novel morphological structures in the caudal rami shape and ornamentation. The identity of the cosmopolitan A. parvula in Korea is questioned, and an alternative hypothesis of a species-complex proposed. The fine ornamentation of body somites (especially the pores/sensilla pattern) is studied in detail, and proves to be a very useful new morphological tool in distinguishing closely related spacies in this genus. The genus Pseudameira Sars, 1911 is reported for the first time in Korea, after four females of P. mago sp. nov. from the South Sea. A single damaged female of Proameira cf. simplex (Norman & Scott, 1905) represents the first record of the genus Proameira Lang, 1944 in Korea, Asia, and anywhere in the Pacific. A key to Korean ameirids is also provided, and their apparent rarity in this part of the world noticed.


2010 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 165-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
José L. Carballo ◽  
José A. Cruz-Barraza

Knowledge about the sponge fauna from the Mexican Pacific Ocean has increased substantially in recent years, but most of these modern taxonomic studies have been focused on hadromerids. The aim of this study was to contribute to the knowledge of the order Poecilosclerida. At present, seven species of Mycale have been described or recorded from the Pacific coast of Mexico, but only three of them are considered valid: M. contax, M. cecilia and M. aff. magnirhaphidifera. After a revision of the material collected during the last eight years throughout the East Pacific coast of Mexico, along with the type material, and the literature available, eight species of Mycale are considered valid, three of them; M. magnitoxa sp. nov., M. dickinsoni sp. nov., and M. ramulosa sp. nov., are proposed as new to science. In addition, M. adhaerens is reported for the first time from the Mexican Pacific Ocean. Another Mycale-species that was identified was M. psila, which constitutes its seconLamberd record for the Mexican Pacific Ocean. The systematic, distribution and detailed species descriptions are based on newly collected material and previous descriptions from the literature.


Wetlands ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 757-769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren N. Brown ◽  
Jordan A. Rosencranz ◽  
Katherine S. Willis ◽  
Richard F. Ambrose ◽  
Glen M. MacDonald

Abstract This paper presents the first record of fire in Pacific coast salt marshes; the 1993 Green Meadows Fire and the 2013 Camarillo Springs Fire burned an area of Salicornia-dominated salt marsh at Point Mugu, CA. These fires inspire concern about resiliency of ecosystems not adapted to fire, already threatened by sea-level rise (SLR), and under stress from extreme drought. We monitored vegetation percent cover, diversity, and soil organic carbon (SOC) in burned and unburned areas of the salt marsh following the 2013 Camarillo Springs Fire and used remotely sensed Normalized Vegetation Difference Index (NDVI) analysis to verify the in situ data. Two years following the fire, vegetation percent cover in burned areas was significantly lower than in unburned areas, with dominant-species change in recovered areas, and NDVI was lower than pre-fire conditions. Multi-year disturbance, such as fire, presents challenges for salt marsh resilience and dependent species, especially in sites facing multiple stressors. With anticipated higher temperatures, increased aridity, extreme drought, and higher frequency fires becoming a reality for much of the Pacific coast, this study indicates that fire in Salicornia-dominated marshes is a vulnerability that will need to be addressed differently from other grass- or reed-dominated marsh systems.


2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 1889-1903 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Brizuela ◽  
A. Armigliato ◽  
S. Tinti

Abstract. Central America (CA), from Guatemala to Panama, has been struck by at least 52 tsunamis between 1539 and 2013, and in the extended region from Mexico to northern Peru (denoted as ECA, Extended Central America in this paper) the number of recorded tsunamis in the same time span is more than 100, most of which were triggered by earthquakes located in the Middle American Trench that runs parallel to the Pacific coast. The most severe event in the catalogue is the tsunami that occurred on 2 September 1992 off Nicaragua, with run-up measured in the range of 5–10 m in several places along the Nicaraguan coast. The aim of this paper is to assess the tsunami hazard on the Pacific coast of this extended region, and to this purpose a hybrid probabilistic-deterministic analysis is performed, that is adequate for tsunamis generated by earthquakes. More specifically, the probabilistic approach is used to compute the Gutenberg–Richter coefficients of the main seismic tsunamigenic zones of the area and to estimate the annual rate of occurrence of tsunamigenic earthquakes and their corresponding return period. The output of the probabilistic part of the method is taken as input by the deterministic part, which is applied to calculate the tsunami run-up distribution along the coast.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document