Revision of the Parasesarma guttatum species complex reveals a new pseudocryptic species in south-east African mangroves

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Fratini ◽  
Stefano Cannicci ◽  
Francesca Porri ◽  
Gianna Innocenti

Parasesarma De Man, 1895 is the most speciose genus in the family Sesarmidae (Decapoda: Brachyura: Thoracotremata). In the western Indian Ocean, Parasesarma is represented by five species only, although some genetic evidence suggests that P. guttatum could be a species complex comprising two cryptic species. Accordingly, P. guttatum is here split into two pseudocryptic species, and a new species, Parasesarma capensis, sp. nov., is described. P. capensis, sp. nov. fills the same ecological niche as P. guttatum south of the Mozambique Channel. While variation in mitochondrial DNA and morphological differences clearly distinguish the two species, there is no nuclear genetic variation. This may reflect a short history of reproductive isolation. The distinguishing morphological characters of the new species are the 13–15 rounded tubercles on the movable finger, the upper surface of the palm with three transverse crests (one regularly tuberculate and two pectinated), and the shape of the first gonopod. Phylogenetic inference analyses show a sister-species relationship between P. guttatum and P. capensis, sp. nov., and strongly suggest that at least two East African Parasesarma species need a taxonomic revision. The description of this new sesarmid species from the south-eastern African coast sheds new light on the overall biogeographic patterns and general biodiversity of this taxon within the western Indian Ocean.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 327 (3) ◽  
pp. 201
Author(s):  
JEAN-YVES DUBUISSON ◽  
LUCIE BAURET ◽  
AURELIE GRALL ◽  
BRUNO SENTERRE ◽  
AHAMADA H. SAID ◽  
...  

Recent studies on both genera Abrodictyum and Trichomanes (Hymenophyllaceae) in western Indian Ocean (Madagascar and neighbouring islands) resolved many taxonomic problems and led to the identification of new species. We propose here to finalize the taxonomic revision of both genera for the region, by completing and combining an expanded rbcL molecular phylogeny with morphological investigations and field observations on all the recognized species. Our results confirm the distinction of the supposedly six species of Abrodictyum and three species of Trichomanes. They also reveal the polyphyly of the highly polymorphic A. meifolium. Additional investigations on A. meifolium suggest the existence of at least two distinct taxa: the true highly variable and widespread A. meifolium which is renamed A. parviflorum comb. nov. and the newly described A. cylindratum sp. nov. restricted to Madagascar. A key and updated descriptions (including new diagnostic characters for A. tamarisciforme) are provided for the seven Abrodictyum and three Trichomanes species present in the western Indian Ocean.



2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 1388
Author(s):  
Yara Tibiriçá ◽  
Marta Pola ◽  
Juan Lucas Cervera

The species of the genus Halgerda Bergh, 1880, are restricted to the Indo-Pacific; some being common inhabitants of reefs off the coast of Mozambique. These species have been relatively well studied morphologically, but few molecular data are available. During a seven-year period surveying the reefs of Mozambique, 11 Halgerda spp. were collected, six of which are described here. We provide details on their morphology, anatomy, novel genetic markers and additional information about their colour variation. The new species described herein are Halgerda leopardalis, sp. nov., H. mozambiquensis, sp. nov., H. jennyae, sp. nov., H. meringuecitrea, sp. nov., H. nuarroensis, sp. nov. and H. indotessellata, sp. nov., the last of which was found to be a pseudocryptic species of H. tessellata. Moreover, we identified two species complexes, one composed mainly of specimens from the Western Indian Ocean and another with specimens mostly from the Pacific Ocean and Western Australia.



Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2782 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID G. CHAPPLE ◽  
TRENT P. BELL ◽  
STEPHANIE N. J. CHAPPLE ◽  
KIMBERLY A. MILLER ◽  
CHARLES H. DAUGHERTY ◽  
...  

The New Zealand skink fauna is highly diverse and contains numerous cryptic, undescribed or hitherto undiscovered species. We completed a taxonomic revision of the cryptic skink (Oligosoma inconspicuum) species complex using molecular (550 bp of the ND2 mitochondrial gene) and morphological analyses. Four new species are described, with each diagnosable by a range of morphological characters and genetic differentiation from several closely related species: O. inconspicuum (sensu stricto), O. notosaurus, O. maccanni, O. stenotis and O. grande. Oligosoma tekakahu sp. nov. is restricted to Chalky Island in Fiordland, and is most closely related to O. inconspicuum and O. notosaurus. The other three new species are restricted to particular mountainous regions in central and western Otago (O. burganae sp. nov., Lammermoor and Rock and Pillar Ranges; O. toka sp. nov., Nevis Valley; O. repens sp. nov., Eyre Mountains) and are most closely related to O. stenotis and O. grande. We also re-described O. inconspicuum. Two proposed new taxa, the ‘Big Bay’ skink and ‘Mahogany’ skink, were found to represent Westland/Fiordland populations of O. inconspicuum rather than distinct taxa. We discuss the evolutionary and phylogeographic implications of cryptic and ‘anti-cryptic’ species within the O. inconspicuum species complex, and suggest that morphologically aberrant populations are the result of local adaptation to novel selective regimes.



2002 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 293 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Johnson

An immaculate square-nosed acanthurid fish of the genus Naso, previously misidentified as N. tuberosus, is described as a new species, N. mcdadei. The species is widespread, but appears uncommon, being known from only 10 specimens and five underwater photographs. It is described from specimens from tropical eastern and western Australia, southern Indonesia, Mauritius, and Natal, South Africa. Its occurrence is confirmed from off western Sumatra, the Maldives, Chagos Archipelago and southern Taiwan by photographs. It differs from N. tuberosus (Lacèpede, 1801) and N. tonganus (Valenciennes, 1835) most notably through smaller, more numerous teeth and a generally uniform greyish colouration. The head, body and fins all lack numerous small dark spots that are variously present in the latter two species. In adults, it also differs through a squarish rather than rounded tuberosity on the snout, a shorter straighter nasal groove, lack of a discernible hump in the dorsal profile, smaller-scale tubercles, non-prominent jaws, and first rather than last dorsal spine longest.The species previously recognised as N. tuberosus is split into two closely related taxa, N. tonganus (Valenciennes) from the western Pacific and Indian Oceans and N. tuberosus Lac�pede from the central and western Indian Ocean. These species differ mainly in the size and shape of the nasal tuberosity, dorsal profile, body depth, and colouration.



Author(s):  
Susumu Ohtsuka ◽  
David V.P. Conway

A new species of the copepod genus Tortanus (Atortus) (Copepoda: Calanoida), T. (A.) insularis, is described from the coastal region of Rodrigues Island, Mauritius, an isolated island in the south-western Indian Ocean. This new species can be assigned to an Indian faunal element, the recticauda species group, in the Indo-West Pacific recticauda species complex. It exhibits the closest relationship to T. (A.) recticauda recorded from the southern Red Sea and Arabian Gulf, rather than the closer distributed T. (A.) capensis, recorded from off South Africa.



Author(s):  
Susumu Ohtsuka ◽  
David V.P. Conway

A new species of the planktonic copepod Tortanus (Atortus) (Calanoida: Tortanidae), T. (A.) magnonyx is described from the Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar. This is the sixth species of the Indian Ocean recticauda species group, of the Indo-West Pacific recticauda species complex, that has been described from the western Indian Ocean. The inshore areas where these copepods are found have been poorly surveyed, so the number of species found implies a high diversity.



Nematologica ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 39 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 450-465
Author(s):  
J. Heyns ◽  
Antoinette Swart ◽  
J.P. Furstenberg


Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4526 (3) ◽  
pp. 251 ◽  
Author(s):  
VIRGINIA LEÓN-RÈGAGNON ◽  
JANET TOPAN

Lung flukes of the genus Haematoloechus Looss, 1899 are common parasites of anurans worldwide, but the taxonomy of the group has been confusing. In this taxonomic revision, 89 species of Haematoloechus (= Pneumonoeces Looss, 1902, Ostioloides Odening, 1960, Ostiolum Pratt, 1903, Skrjabinoeces Sudarikov, 1950, Neohaematoloechus Odening, 1960, Metahaematoloechus Yamaguti, 1971) are listed. Of these, 70 are considered valid, three are species inquirendae (H. legrandi Mañé–Garzón & Gil, 1959, H. latoricensis Kozák, 1968 & H. vitelloconfluentum (Rai, 1962) Saeed, Al–Barwari & Al-Harmni, 2007), one is a nomen nudum H. sudarikovi Belouss, 1962, 14 are junior synonyms and one belongs to Ostioloides. This publication also describes three new species, H. occidentalis n. sp., H. veracruzanus n. sp. and H. mexicanus n. sp., parasitizing species of Rana Linnaeus in Mexico and redescribes Haematoloechus caballeroi (Skrjabin & Antipin, 1962) Yamaguti, 1971. The phylogenetic hypotheses based on sequences of mitochondrial and ribosomal DNA of Haematoloechus spp. show that genera proposed on the basis of morphological characters are not supported. The host records for species of Haematoloechus, together with the phylogenetic hypothesis of the genus, suggest that this host-parasite association predates the ranid diversification in the Cretaceous. 



Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4816 (4) ◽  
pp. 439-456
Author(s):  
ADNAN SHAHDADI ◽  
CHRISTOPH D. SCHUBART

Two new species of Leptarma, L. dispersum n. sp. and L. reunionense n. sp. are described from Europa Island and Réunion Island, respectively. Genetically, based on the mitochondrial COX1 gene, both species are markedly divergent from other congeneric species. Phylogenetically, L. dispersum n. sp. shows close relationship with L. lenzii (De Man, 1895) while L. reunionense n. sp. clusters with L. aurifrons (Li, Ng & Shih, 2019) and the species pair L. moluccense (De Man, 1892) and L. paucitorum (Rahayu & Ng, 2009). Morphologically, the new species differ most significantly from congeners by the relative length of the ambulatory legs and the shapes of the first gonopods and carapace. After the description of these two new species, the number of species comprised in the genus Leptarma is raised to 20, four of them being distributed in and off East Africa. 



Zootaxa ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 3630 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
NAOMI R. DELVENTHAL ◽  
RANDALL D. MOOI

Callogobius winterbottomi new species is described from the 33.8 mm SL holotype and two paratypes (32.2 mm SL and 22.9 mm SL) from the Comoros, Western Indian Ocean. It is distinguished from all other known Callogobius species by the following combination of characters: sensory pores absent, 23–26 scales in lateral series, and sensory papillae pre-opercular row not continuous with transverse opercular row. One additional specimen of Callogobius winterbottomi was located from South Africa. A new standardized naming system for Callogobius sensory papillae rows is presented for identification and clarification of character states among Callogobius species. The new species is tentatively placed among what we term the “sclateri group”, a clade including C. sclateri (Steindachner) and three other species that exhibit a modified female urogenital papilla with lateral distal flaps and elongate ctenii on the caudal peduncle scales. Callogobius tutuilae (Jordan & Seale) is removed from synonymy with C. sclateri because it has partially united pelvic fins (vs separate) and the preopercular sensory papillae row is continuous with the transverse opercular row (vs separate).



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