Astrocoryne cabela, gen. nov. et sp. nov. (Hydrozoa : Sphaerocorynidae), a new sponge-associated hydrozoan

The family Sphaerocorynidae includes two valid genera and five species, most of which have a confusing taxonomic history. Here, a new genus and species, Astrocoryne cabela, gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Maldives and the Red Sea, based on both morphological and molecular evidence. Astrocoryne cabela has an apomorphy represented by the type of tentacles, here named ‘dicapitate’, and consisting of capitate tentacles with a proximal capitulum-like cluster of nematocysts. Molecular analyses confirmed the monophyly of this species, as well as its belonging to the Sphaerocorynidae, together with Sphaerocoryne spp. and Heterocoryne caribbensis Wedler & Larson, 1986, for which we present molecular data for the first time. Moreover, the high divergence of A. cabela from other species of the family justifies the establishment of a new genus. Interestingly, specimens from the Maldives and the Red Sea showed marked morphological variation in the polyp stage, although only a slight genetic divergence was detected. This study highlights that a comprehensive morpho-molecular assessment of Sphaerocorynidae is strongly needed in order to clarify the taxonomic issues and the diversity of this taxon.

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Kootenaia burkei, a new genus and species of slug from northern Idaho, United States (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Arionidae)

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.355.1.1 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 355 (1) ◽

pp. 1 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

WILLIAM P. LEONARD ◽

LYLE CHICHESTER ◽

JIM BAUGH ◽

THOMAS WILKE

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

New Genus ◽

Molecular Data ◽

Mitochondrial Genes ◽

New Genus And Species ◽

Molecular Analyses ◽

The Family ◽

Taxonomic Decision ◽

Northern Idaho ◽

High Degree

A new genus and species of arionid slug, Kootenaia burkei n. gen. et n. sp., are formally described from northern Idaho, United States. This taxonomic decision is based on comparative anatomical and molecular data involving representatives of a total of ten species and three additional genera (Hemphillia, Prophysaon, and Zacoleus) of the family Arionidae. The anatomical analyses show that the new genus is characterized by a major autapomorphy, the complete absence of an epiphallus, which is found in all other arionids. The molecular analyses using two mitochondrial genes and the anatomical data produce congruent topologies. Overall, there is a high degree of concordance between the anatomical and molecular datasets.

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Deniquelata barringtoniae gen. et sp. nov., associated with leaf spots of Barringtonia asiatica

Phytotaxa ◽

10.11646/phytotaxa.105.1.2 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 105 (1) ◽

pp. 11 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

HIRAN A. ARIYAWANSA ◽

SAJEEWA S.N. MAHARACHCHIKUMBURA ◽

SAMANTHA C.KARUNARATHNE ◽

EKACHAI CHUKEATIROTE ◽

ALI H. BAHKALI ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Phylogenetic Analysis ◽

New Genus ◽

Sequence Data ◽

Molecular Data ◽

The Other ◽

New Genus And Species ◽

Leaf Spots ◽

The Family ◽

Pathogenicity Testing

Deniquelata barringtoniae gen. et sp. nov. (Montagnulaceae) forms numerous ascomata on distinct zonate leaf spots of Barringtonia asiatica (Lecythidaceae). We isolated this taxon and sequenced the 18S and 28S nrDNA. The result of phylogenetic analysis based on 18S and 28S nrDNA sequence data indicate that the genus belongs in the family Montagnulaceae, Dothideomycetes, Ascomycota. The ascomata are immersed, dark brown to black, with bitunicate asci and brown, muriform ascospores. Deniquelata is distinguished from the other genera in Montagnulaceae based on its short, broad, furcate and pedicellate asci, verruculose ascospores with short narrow pseudoparaphyses with parasitic naturee and this is also supported by molecular data. A new genus and species is therefore introduced to accommodate this taxon. We used isolates of this species to show via pathogenicity testing that the taxon is able to cause leaf spots when leaves are pin pricked.

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Brittle stars looking like starfish: the first fossil record of the Astrophiuridae and a remarkable case of convergent evolution

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.8008 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. e8008

Author(s):

Ben Thuy ◽

Andy Gale ◽

Lea Numberger-Thuy

Keyword(s):

Fossil Record ◽

Upper Cretaceous ◽

New Genus ◽

Parallel Evolution ◽

Molecular Evidence ◽

New Genus And Species ◽

Brittle Stars ◽

Remarkable Case ◽

The Family ◽

A New Species

The genus Astrophiura, which ranks among the most extraordinary of modern brittle stars, is the type genus of the recently resurrected family Astrophiuridae within the order Ophiurida. On account of its absurdly enlarged and strongly modified lateral arm plates, Astrophiura bears a closer resemblance to a pentagonal starfish than to a typical ophiuroid. Although molecular evidence suggests an ancient origin of the Astrophiuridae, dating back at least to the Early Jurassic, not a single fossil astrophiurid has been reported so far. Here, we describe dissociated lateral arm plates from the Campanian of Cringleford near Norwich, UK, and the Maastrichtian of Rügen, Germany (both Upper Cretaceous) with unambiguous astrophiurid affinities and assign these to a new species, Astrophiura markbeneckei. This represents the first fossil record of the family. In addition, the Rügen material included lateral arm plates that superficially resemble those of A. markbeneckei sp. nov. but differ in having spine articulations that are typical of the ophionereidoid family Amphilimnidae. We assign these plates to a new genus and species, Astrosombra rammsteinensis, an extinct amphilimnid with morphological modifications similar to those of Astrophiura, and thus representing a remarkable case of parallel evolution amongst brittle stars looking like starfish.

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Undiscovered Biodiversity of the European Moss Flora: Neodicranella hamulosa (Aongstroemiaceae), a New Genus and Species from SW Portugal

Plants ◽

10.3390/plants10112289 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. 2289

Author(s):

Ronald D. Porley ◽

Vladimir Fedosov ◽

Vítězslav Plášek ◽

Alina Fedorova

Keyword(s):

New Genus ◽

Novel Species ◽

Molecular Data ◽

New Taxon ◽

New Genus And Species ◽

The Family ◽

Bioclimatic Zone ◽

Morphological And Molecular Data ◽

Sw Portugal

A new genus is described to accommodate Neodicranella hamulosa, a novel species resolved in the family Aongstroemiaceae, from the Monchiquense district in SW Portugal. Characterized by its small size, erect spreading to subsecund non-sheathing leaves, plane bistratose leaf margins, and rhizoidal gemmae with slightly protruberant cells, it differs from all other European Dicranellaceae in the uniquely patterned distal peristome segments with backward-pointing papillae resembling hooked barbs. The species appears to be endemic to the sub-Mediterranean bioclimatic zone, in wooded biomes where humidity remains relatively high throughout the year. Morphological and molecular data strongly support the singularity of this new taxon. The species is illustrated by photomicrographs and SEM, and its ecology and conservation are discussed.

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Phylogenetic position of Coronastrum ellipsoideum and description of Parachlorella hussii sp. nov.

Biologia ◽

10.2478/s11756-011-0056-8 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 66 (4) ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Christina Bock ◽

Marie Pažoutová ◽

Lothar Krienitz

Keyword(s):

Molecular Data ◽

Phylogenetic Position ◽

Rrna Gene ◽

Combined Approach ◽

Molecular Analyses ◽

Phylogenetic Studies ◽

The Family ◽

Its Rrna Gene ◽

Molecular Phylogenetic ◽

First Time

AbstractFollowing traditional morphological concepts, the genus Coronastrum is considered to be a rare member of the Scenedesmaceae (Chorophyceae). This classification may be called into question when molecular data are taken into account as well. Recent molecular phylogenetic studies revealed the polyphyletic origin of the family Scenedesmaceae within the Chlorophyceae and Trebouxiophyceae. In a combined approach of morphological analyses, SSU/ITS rRNA gene phylogeny and comparison of the ITS secondary structure, we analysed the systematics of Coronastrum strains available in public strain collections. Our molecular analyses revealed a new subclade within the Chlorella clade of the Chlorellaceae consisting of Coronastrum ellipsoideum, two strains with Dictyosphaerium-like morphology and one strain which fits the description of the genus Parachlorella. Four additional strains formed together a new lineage within the genus Parachlorella in the Parachlorella clade of the Chlorellaceae. These strains differ from the already known Parachlorella species in complementary base changes within the ITS2 and are here described for the first time as Parachlorella hussii sp. nov.

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Fossil crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda) from the Late Cretaceous cárdenas Formation, east-central Mexico

Journal of Paleontology ◽

10.1017/s0022336000034661 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 69 (2) ◽

pp. 340-350 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Francisco J. Vega ◽

Rodney M. Feldmann ◽

Francisco Sour-Tovar

Keyword(s):

Late Cretaceous ◽

Fossil Record ◽

New Genus ◽

Gulf Coast ◽

Central Mexico ◽

New Genus And Species ◽

East Central ◽

The Family ◽

Marine Lagoon ◽

First Time

Twenty-four nearly complete carapace samples were collected at three different localities of the Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) Cárdenas Formation in San Luis Potosí, east-central Mexico. The material has been assigned to five families: the Callianassidae, Dakoticancridae, Carcineretidae, ?Majidae, and Retroplumidae. Two genera of callianassid shrimp are described, Cheramus for the first time in the fossil record. Dakoticancer australis Rathbun is reported as the most abundant crustacean element; one new genus and species of carcineretid crab, Branchiocarcinus cornatus, is erected, and a single, fragmentary specimen is questionably referred to the Majidae. The three localities reflect paleoenvironmental differences, exhibited by different lithologies, within marginal marine, lagoon environments. The record of dakoticancrid crabs in the Cardenas Formation extends the paleobiogeographic range of the family and the genus Dakoticancer. Carcineretid crabs, although not abundant, seem to have been a persistent element of crustacean assemblages in clastic environments during the Late Cretaceous of the ancestral Gulf Coast of Mexico.

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Two new cirroidean genera (Vetigastropoda, Archaeogastropoda) from the Emsian (Late Early Devonian) of Alaska with notes on the early phylogeny of Cirroidea

Journal of Paleontology ◽

10.1017/s0022336000036271 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 72 (2) ◽

pp. 265-273 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Jiří Frýda ◽

Robert B. Blodgett

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Lower Devonian ◽

New Genus ◽

New Genus And Species ◽

Early Devonian ◽

West Central ◽

The Family ◽

First Time ◽

Stratigraphic Range

Two new cirroidean gastropod genera, Alaskiella (family Porcelliidae) and Alaskacirrus (family Cirridae), from the Emsian (late Early Devonian) of west-central Alaska (Medfra B-4 quadrangle) are described. The shell of Alaskiella medfraensis new genus and species exhibits inclined heterostrophic coiling. This shell character is known among other members of the subclass Archaeogastropoda, but is recorded for the first time within members of the superfamily Cirroidea. Inclined heterostrophic coiling of the shell was probably developed independently in several different groups of the subclass Archaeogastropoda. The new genus Alaskacirrus, represented by Alaskacirrus bandeli new species, is the oldest and only known Paleozoic member of the family Cirridae. This suggests that the family Cirridae was separated from the family Porcelliidae since at least Early Devonian time and that it most probably developed from the subfamily Agnesiinae of the family Porcelliidae. Thus, the stratigraphic range of the family Cirridae is at least from Lower Devonian to Cretaceous, an interval of about 350 million years.

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Some thecate hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from off New Caledonia collected during KANACONO and KANADEEP expeditions of the French Tropical Deep-Sea Benthos Program

European Journal of Taxonomy ◽

10.5852/ejt.2019.562 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Horia R. Galea ◽

Peter Schuchert

Keyword(s):

Deep Water ◽

Deep Sea ◽

New Genus ◽

New Records ◽

New Caledonia ◽

Molecular Data ◽

Systematic Position ◽

Male And Female ◽

The Family ◽

First Time

Thirty-six species of various thecate hydroids occur in two recent, deep-water collections from off New Caledonia. Of these, nine are new, namely Solenoscyphus subtilis Galea, sp. nov., Hincksella immersa Galea, sp. nov., Synthecium rectangulatum Galea, sp. nov., Diphasia alternata Galea, sp. nov., Dynamena opposita Galea, sp. nov., Hydrallmania clavaformis Galea, sp. nov., Symplectoscyphus acutustriatus Galea, sp. nov., Symplectoscyphus elongatulus Galea, sp. nov. and Zygophylax niger Galea, sp. nov. The male and female gonothecae of Caledoniana decussata Galea, 2015, the female gonothecae of Caledoniana microgona Galea, 2015, as well as the gonothecae of both sexes of Solenoscyphus striatus Galea, 2015 are described for the first time. The systematic position of the genera Solenoscyphus Galea, 2015 and Caledoniana Galea, 2015 is discussed on both morphological and molecular grounds, and both are confidently placed within the family Staurothecidae Maronna et al., 2016. In light of the molecular data, the genera Billardia Totton, 1930 and Dictyocladium Allman, 1888 are assigned to the families Syntheciidae Marktanner-Turneretscher, 1890 and Symplectoscyphidae Maronna et al. , 2016, respectively. The previously undescribed gonothecae of Hincksella neocaledonica Galea, 2015, and the male gonothecae of Sertularella tronconica Galea, 2016, were found. Thyroscyphus scorpioides Vervoort, 1993, a peculiar hydroid with putative stem nematothecae, is redescribed and assigned to the new genus Tuberocaulus Galea, gen. nov. Noteworthy new records from the study area are: Tasmanaria edentula (Bale, 1924), Hincksella sibogae Billard, 1918, Dictyocladium reticulatum (Kirchenpauer, 1884), Salacia sinuosa (Bale, 1888) and Billardia hyalina Vervoort & Watson, 2003. Most species are illustrated to facilitate their identification, and the morphology of the new ones is compared to that of their related congeners.

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Cretaceous weevils from southern Africa, with description of a new genus and species and phylogenetic and zoogeographical comments (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea)

Insect Systematics & Evolution ◽

10.1163/187631294x00261 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 25 (2) ◽

pp. 137-149 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

R.J. Rayner ◽

G. Kuschel ◽

R.G. OBERPRIELER

Keyword(s):

Southern Africa ◽

New Genus ◽

New Genus And Species ◽

Insect Fauna ◽

Fossil Insect ◽

The Family ◽

First Time ◽

Fossil Genus ◽

Evolutionary Stasis

AbstractThe mid-Cretaceous weevil fossils from the Orapa Diamond Mine in Botswana are studied, and a new genus and species, Orapaeus cretaceus Kuschel & Oberprieler, is described. This fossil genus is placed in the tribe Eurhynchini of Brentidae and compared with the two extant genera of the tribe. With the discovery of Orapaeus, the family Brentidae can, for the first time, be traced back to Cretaceous times, and there is evidence that the brentid subfamilies and perhaps also the tribes were already differentiated by the Middle Cretaceous. By contrast, the modern families of angiosperm plants were evidently not yet established by then. In consideration of the palaeoflora of Orapa, it is concluded that the environment probably was tropical and the area well vegetated, but that no clues are present as to the likely hostplant(s) of Orapaeus. The differences between Orapaeus and the extant Eurhynchini suggest that the fossil insect fauna of Orapa is generally assignable to extinct forms, and these differences do not support a hypothesis of prolonged evolutionary stasis.

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A new genus and species of Baissidae in Late Cretaceous amber from New Jersey (Hymenoptera: Evanioidea)

Novitates Paleoentomologicae ◽

10.17161/np.v0i3.4570 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 1 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Michael S. Engel

Keyword(s):

New Jersey ◽

Late Cretaceous ◽

New Genus ◽

New Genus And Species ◽

The Family ◽

First Time

The extinct Mesozoic wasp family Baissidae is described from Late Cretaceous amber for the first time. Electrobaissa omega Engel, new genus and species, is described from an isolated male preserved in Turonian amber from New Jersey, and represents the latest occurrence of the family in the Mesozoic.

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