Colonisation of the Pacific by Bembidion beetles (Coleoptera : Carabidae), with description of Bembidion tahitiense, sp. nov. from Tahiti, French Polynesia

2013 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 439 ◽  
Author(s):  
James K. Liebherr ◽  
David R. Maddison
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Nuclear Protein ◽  
Mitochondrial Protein ◽  
Hawaiian Islands ◽  
Sister Group ◽  
French Polynesia ◽  
Carabid Beetles ◽  
Dispersal Patterns ◽  
Protein Coding ◽  
The Pacific

Bembidion (Sloanephila) tahitiense, sp. nov. is described from Mont Mauru, an isolated massif of Tahiti Nui volcano. Based on evidence from seven genes (four nuclear protein-coding, one mitochondrial protein-coding, two nuclear ribosomal), its sister group is the Australian B. jacksoniense Guérin-Méneville, with which it shares a synapomorphic spur on the ostium of the male genitalia. In contrast to B. jacksoniense, B. tahitiense is brachypterous, with rounded humeri, constricted posterior pronotal margins and convex body form. Examination of the seven genes in two species of the Hawaiian subgenus Nesocidium Sharp reveals that the sister group of Nesocidium is subgenus Zecillenus Lindroth from New Zealand. These two subgenera belong to the Ananotaphus complex, a clade inhabiting Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii. The relationships of the second Hawaiian subgenus, Gnatholymnaeum Sharp, are less clear, although Gnatholymnaeum belongs to the Bembidion series (along with Sloanephila and the Ananotaphus complex). Bembidion beetles colonised the Society and Hawaiian islands independently from source areas in the south-west Pacific. Based on parsimonious reconstructions of flight-wing configuration, the Tahitian and Hawaiian colonisations involved winged individuals. Colonisation of the Society and Hawaiian islands by carabid beetles of two other tribes – Platynini and Moriomorphini – follow the dispersal patterns hypothesised for Bembidion.

scholarly journals The Mitochondrial Genome of Amara aulica (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Harpalinae) and Insights into the Phylogeny of Ground Beetles

Genes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 181
Author(s):  
Zhenya Li ◽  
Xinxin Li ◽  
Nan Song ◽  
Huiji Tang ◽  
Xinming Yin
Keyword(s):  
Ribosomal Rna ◽  
Mitochondrial Protein ◽  
Carabid Beetles ◽  
Protein Coding ◽  
Sequencing Method ◽  
The Family ◽  
Outgroup Species ◽  
Complete Mitogenome ◽  
Rna Genes ◽  
Generation Sequencing

Carabidae are one of the most species-rich families of beetles, comprising more than 40,000 described species worldwide. Forty-three complete or partial mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) from this family have been published in GenBank to date. In this study, we sequenced a nearly complete mitogenome of Amara aulica (Carabidae), using a next-generation sequencing method. This mitogenome was 16,646 bp in length, which encoded the typical 13 mitochondrial protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, and a putative control region. Combining with the published mitogenomes of Carabidae and five outgroup species from Trachypachidae, Gyrinidae and Dytiscidae, we performed phylogenetic estimates under maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference criteria to investigate the phylogenetic relationships of carabid beetles. The results showed that the family Carabidae was a non-monophyletic assemblage. The subfamilies Cicindelinae, Elaphrinae, Carabinae, Trechinae and Harpalinae were recovered as monophyletic groups. Moreover, the clade (Trechinae + (Brachininae + Harpalinae)) was consistently recovered in all analyses.

The Tahitian Mission

2019 ◽  
pp. 103-112
Author(s):  
David O. McKay
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
South Pacific ◽  
The United States ◽  
French Polynesia ◽  
The South ◽  
Profound Impact ◽  
Missionary Work ◽  
The Pacific

McKay and Cannon’s unanticipated repose in the United States was bittersweet; the surprise of seeing loved ones momentarily alleviated their homesickness, yet both knew more than eight months would pass before they would reunite with their families. After returning to San Francisco, they resumed their journey to the South Pacific. They arrived in Papeete, French Polynesia, on April 9, 1921, for their tour of the Tahitian Mission, which included several islands across the Pacific. McKay and Cannon’s stay in Tahiti was brief; they spent only three days traveling through Papeete and Rarotonga before heading onward to New Zealand. The archipelago had a profound impact on McKay, who observed firsthand the challenges of missionary work, costly transportation, and the severity of the weather.

Not endemic after all: Imparipecten Freeman, 1961 (Diptera: Chironomidae) described from the Neotropical Region

Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4532 (3) ◽  
pp. 396 ◽  
Author(s):  
LÍVIA MARIA FUSARI ◽  
GALILEU P.S. DANTAS ◽  
NEUSA HAMADA ◽  
VANDERLY ANDRADE-SOUZA ◽  
KÁTIA M. LIMA ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Protein ◽  
Mitochondrial Protein ◽  
Neotropical Region ◽  
Genetic Distances ◽  
Ribosomal Gene ◽  
Monotypic Genus ◽  
Bayesian Phylogenetics ◽  
Protein Coding ◽  
Gene Coi ◽  
First Time

Imparipecten, a previously monotypic genus, was considered endemic to Australia. Here, we report Imparipecten from the Neotropical region for the first time and describe Imparipecten sychnacanthus sp. n. from Brazil. The association between larvae and adults was established by sequencing a fragment of one ribosomal gene (28S), two fragments of a nuclear protein-coding gene (CAD1 and CAD4), and one mitochondrial protein-coding gene (COI). We also show the close molecular proximity with Imparipecten pictipes through analyses of genetic distances and Bayesian phylogenetics. 

Two new species of Foa (Apogonidae) from the Pacific Plate, with redescriptions of Foa brachygramma and Foa fo

Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2988 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
THOMAS H. FRASER ◽  
JOHN E. RANDALL
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Hawaiian Islands ◽  
French Polynesia ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Pacific Plate ◽  
Marshall Islands ◽  
Gill Rakers ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Anterior Body ◽  
A New Species

Species of the Indo-Pacific apogonid fish genus Foa known from the Pacific Plate are reviewed. The type species of Foa, F. brachygramma, is redescribed including information on the distribution of lateralis canal pores and free neuromasts on the head, body and caudal fin. This species, formerly ascribed as having a wide Indo-Pacific distribution, is restricted to the Hawaiian Islands. Foa fo, type locality Philippines, with an apparent Indo-Pacific distribution (but not the Hawaiian Islands), has 12–15 gill rakers (14–16 for F. brachygramma), and four or five irregular dark bars and whitish spots on the head and body (F. brachygramma has dark edging on the scales and lacks whitish spots). A lectotype from the Philippines is selected for Foa fo. Foa leisi is described as a new species from French Polynesia, olivaceous with three faint brown bars on body, one under each dorsal fin and on anterior on caudal peduncle; head and anterior body with dark-edged whitish spots. Foa nivosa is described as new species from Palau, Marshall Islands and Fiji, pale yellowish tan with numerous red-edged whitish spots, smaller on head. The axial skeletons are compared for Foa brachygramma, F. fo, F. hyalina, F. leisi, and F. nivosa. Foa madagascariensis and its synonym Apogonichthys zuluensis are not treated here, but Petit’s species is recognized as valid. The following characters can be used to identify species: color patterns, pored lateral-line scales as they vary with standard length, number of gill rakers and rudiments, mandibular pore and certain free neuromast patterns.

scholarly journals Decolonisation Processes in the South Pacific Islands: A Comparative Analysis between Metropolitan Powers

1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 355
Author(s):  
Paul De Deckker
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
New Caledonia ◽  
Free Association ◽  
South Pacific ◽  
French Polynesia ◽  
The South ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
South Pacific Islands

The South Pacific islands came late, by comparison with Asia and Africa, to undertake the decolonising process. France was the first colonial power in the region to start off this process in accordance with the decision taken in Paris to pave the way to independence for African colonies. The Loi-cadre Defferre in 1957, voted in Parliament, was applied to French Polynesia and New Caledonia as it was to French Africa. Territorial governments were elected in both these Pacific colonies in 1957. They were abolished in 1963 after the return to power of General de Gaulle who decided to use Moruroa for French atomic testing. The status quo ante was then to prevail in New Caledonia and French Polynesia up to today amidst statutory crises. The political evolution of the French Pacific, including Wallis and Futuna, is analysed in this article. Great Britain, New Zealand and Australia were to conform to the 1960 United Nations' recommendations to either decolonise, integrate or provide to Pacific colonies self-government in free association with the metropolitan power. Great Britain granted constitutional independence to all of its colonies in the Pacific except Pitcairn. The facts underlying this drastic move are analysed in the British context of the 1970's, culminating in the difficult independence of Vanuatu in July 1980. New Zealand and Australia followed the UN recommendations and granted independence or self-government to their colonial territories. In the meantime, they reinforced their potential to dominate the South Pacific in the difficult geopolitical context of the 1980s. American Micronesia undertook statutory evolution within a strategic framework. What is at stake today within the Pacific Islands is no longer of a political nature; it is financial.

Dissecting the major African snake radiation: a molecular phylogeny of the Lamprophiidae Fitzinger (Serpentes, Caenophidia)

Zootaxa ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 1945 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
NICOLAS VIDAL ◽  
WILLIAM R. BRANCH ◽  
OLIVIER S. G. PAUWELS ◽  
S. BLAIR HEDGES ◽  
DONALD G. BROADLEY ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Protein ◽  
Sister Group ◽  
Molecular Data ◽  
Rrna Genes ◽  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Protein Coding ◽  
Mitochondrial Rrna ◽  
Protein Coding Genes ◽  
History Of

The Elapoidea includes the Elapidae and a large (~60 genera, 280 sp.) and mostly African (including Madagascar) radiation termed Lamprophiidae by Vidal et al. (2007), that includes at least four major groups: the psammophiines, atractaspidines, lamprophiines and pseudoxyrhophiines. In this work, we reviewed the recent taxonomic history of the lamprophiids, and built a data set including two nuclear protein-coding genes (c-mos and RAG2), two mitochondrial rRNA genes (12S and 16S rRNA) and two mitochondrial protein-coding genes (cytochrome b and ND4) for 85 species belonging to 45 genera (thus representing about 75% of the generic diversity and 30% of the specific diversity of the radiation), in order to clarify the phylogenetic relationships of this large and neglected group at the subfamilial and generic levels. To this aim, 480 new sequences were produced. The vast majority of the investigated genera fall into four main monophyletic clusters, that correspond to the four subfamilies mentioned above, although the content of atractaspidines, lamprophiines and pseudoxyrhophiines is revised. We confirm the polyphyly of the genus Stenophis, and the relegation of the genus name Dromophis to the synonymy of the genus name Psammophis. Gonionotophis brussauxi is nested within Mehelya. The genus Lamprophis Fitzinger, 1843 is paraphyletic with respect to Lycodonomorphus Fitzinger, 1843. Lamprophis swazicus is the sister-group to Hormonotus modestus, and may warrant generic recognition. Molecular data do not support the traditional placement of Micrelaps within the Atractaspidinae, but its phylogenetic position, along with that of Oxyrhabdium (previously considered to belong to the Xenodermatidae), requires additional molecular data and they are both treated as Elapoidea incertae sedis. The interrelationships of Psammophiinae, Atractaspidinae, Lamprophiinae, Pseudoxyrhophiinae, Prosymna (13 sp.), Pseudaspis (1 sp.) and Pythonodipsas (1 sp.), Buhoma (2 species), and Psammodynastes (1 sp.) remain unresolved. Finally, the genus Lycognathophis, endemic to the Seychelles, does not belong to the African radiation, but to the Natricidae.

Charles Francis Adams: diary of a young American taxidermist visiting New Zealand, 1884–1887

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. Gill
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Marine Invertebrates ◽  
Working Life ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Detailed Account ◽  
East Indies ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Set Up ◽  
White Island

In December 1884 Charles Francis Adams (1857–1893) left Illinois, USA, by train for San Francisco and crossed the Pacific by ship to work as taxidermist at Auckland Museum, New Zealand, until February 1887. He then went to Borneo via several New Zealand ports, Melbourne and Batavia (Jakarta). This paper concerns a diary by Adams that gives a daily account of his trip to Auckland and the first six months of his employment (from January to July 1885). In this period Adams set up a workshop and diligently prepared specimens (at least 124 birds, fish, reptiles and marine invertebrates). The diary continues with three reports of trips Adams made from Auckland to Cuvier Island (November 1886), Karewa Island (December 1886) and White Island (date not stated), which are important early descriptive accounts of these small offshore islands. Events after leaving Auckland are covered discontinuously and the diary ends with part of the ship's passage through the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), apparently in April 1887. Adams's diary is important in giving a detailed account of a taxidermist's working life, and in helping to document the early years of Auckland Museum's occupation of the Princes Street building.

Cytisine as an alternative smoking cessation product for Pacific smokers in New Zealand

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-95
Author(s):  
Vili Nosa ◽  
Kotalo Leau ◽  
Natalie Walker
Keyword(s):  
Smoking Cessation ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Partial Agonist ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Liquid Form ◽  
Pacific People ◽  
The Pacific

ABSTRACT Introduction: Pacific people in New Zealand have one of the highest rates of smoking.  Cytisine is a plant-based alkaloid that has proven efficacy, effectiveness and safety compared to a placebo and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) for smoking cessation.  Cytisine, like varenicline, is a partial agonist of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, and blocks the rewarding effects of nicotine. Cytisine is naturally found in some plants in the Pacific region, and so may appeal to Pacific smokers wanting to quit. This paper investigates the acceptability of cytisine as a smoking cessation product for Pacific smokers in New Zealand, using a qualitative study design. Methods: In December 2015, advertisements and snowball sampling was used to recruit four Pacific smokers and three Pacific smoking cessation specialists in Auckland, New Zealand. Semi-structured interviews where undertaken, whereby participants were asked about motivations to quit and their views on smoking cessation products, including cytisine (which is currently unavailable in New Zealand). Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim, with thematic analysis conducted manually. Findings: Pacific smokers reported wanting to quit for loved ones and family, but did not find currently available smoking cessation products effective. Almost all participants had not previously heard of cytisine, but many of the Pacific smokers were keen to try it. Participants identified with cytisine on a cultural basis (given its natural status), but noted that their use would be determined by the efficacy of the medicine, its cost, side-effects, and accessibility. They were particularly interested in cytisine being made available in liquid form, which could be added to a “smoothie” or drunk as a “traditional tea”.  Participants thought cytisine should be promoted in a culturally-appropriate way, with packaging and advertising designed to appeal to Pacific smokers. Conclusions: Cytisine is more acceptable to Pacific smokers than other smoking cessation products, because of their cultural practices of traditional medicine and the natural product status of cytisine.

Polyphyletic Origins of Schizothoracinae Fishes (Cyprinidae) in Respect to Their Mitochondrial Protein-Coding Genes

2019 ◽  
Vol 07 (02) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saira Bibi ◽  
Muhammad Fiaz Khan ◽  
Aqsa Rehman ◽  
Faisal Nouroz
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Protein ◽  
Protein Coding ◽  
Protein Coding Genes
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