Taxonomic status of male salamanders of the Ambystoma jeffersonianum complex from an Ontario population, with the first record of the Jefferson salamander, A. jeffersonianum (Green), from Canada

1976 ◽  
Vol 54 (8) ◽  
pp. 1270-1276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne F. Weller ◽  
W. Gary Sprules

Nine morphological criteria were used to determine the taxonomic status of the male salamanders of the Ambystoma jeffersonianum complex from a population near Streetsville, Toronto Township, Peel County, Ontario: (a) snout–vent length; (b) ratio of tail length to snout–vent length; (c) internarial width; (d) extent of separation or overlap of the toes of adpressed limbs; (e) total length; (f) ratio of tail length to total length; (g) ratio of internarial width to snout–vent length; (h) colouration of dorsal, lateral, and ventral body surfaces; and, (i) extent and distribution of the bluish spotting. The results indicate that all of these males resemble A. jeffersonianum or A. platineum rather than A. latérale. Since A. platineum males occur very rarely in nature, these Streetsville individuals are logically assigned to A. jeffersonianum. This represents the first record of this species from Canada. Based upon this new distributional datum of A. jeffersonianum and of the two Diploid species from the literature, we suggest that these triploid species may have originated in post-Wisconsin times and subsequently dispersed northward.

Author(s):  
Antonio Zurita ◽  
Cristina Cutillas

AbstractCtenophthalmus is considered the largest genus within the Order Siphonaptera. From a morphological point of view, only males of this genus can be identified at species and subspecies levels using morphological keys, whereas there are no morphological criteria in order to classify females at these taxonomical levels. Furthermore, the amount of available molecular and phylogenetic data for this genus is quite scarce so far. The main objective of this work was to assess the utility of the combination of nuclear and mitochondrial markers with respect to their ability to differentiate among different subspecies within the Ctenophthalmus genus. With this purpose, we carried out a comparative morphological and molecular study of three different subspecies (Ctenophthalmus baeticus arvernus, Ctenophthalmus nobilis dobyi, and Ctenophthalmus andorrensis catalaniensis) in order to clarify and discuss its taxonomic status. In addition, our study complemented the molecular data previously provided for Ctenophthalmus baeticus boisseauorum and Ctenophthalmus apertus allani subspecies. We sequenced five different molecular markers: EF1-α, ITS1, ITS2, cox1, and cytb. Our results confirmed that morphological data by themselves are not able to discriminate among Ctenophthalmus female taxa; however, the combination of the nuclear marker EF1-α together with mtDNA markers cytb and cox1 constituted a useful taxonomical and phylogenetic tool to solve this issue. Based on these results, we consider that the use of this molecular approach should be gradually used within Ctenophthalmus genus in order to complement its classical taxonomy and clarifying the complex taxonomy of other congeneric species of fleas.


Author(s):  
J.A. Reina-Hervás ◽  
J.E. García Raso ◽  
M.E. Manjón-Cabeza

The capture of a specimen of Sphoeroides spengleri (Osteichthyes: Tetraodontidae), 17 December 2000 and 29·7 mm total length, from the Málaga coast (Alborán Sea, western Mediterranean) represents the first record of a new alien species for Mediterranean waters.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taiza Andrade Braga ◽  
Aline Cordeiro Loureiro ◽  
José Bento Pereira Lima ◽  
Ademir J Martins

Abstract Background: Although there is a vast literature concerning insecticide resistance (IR) in Plasmodium vectors from African and Asian continents, similar studies with Neotropical anophelines are scares. Herein we evaluated the IR profile of Anopheles albitarsis s.s. of a laboratory colony and a natural population collected around a rice plantation field. The laboratory colony is original from a collection performed in this same region more than two decades ago. Methods: We collected An. albitarsis females while resting after blood feeding, around rice field plantations in Massaranduba, SC, Brazil. These females laid their eggs in the laboratory, and the larvae were raised in parallel with our lab colony. To be sure about the field samples’ taxonomic status, we amplified and sequenced the mitochondrial COI gene of a sampling of field captured mosquitoes. We performed a simplified knockdown test with larvae exposed to permethrin and deltamethrin and submitted adult females to a WHO like tube test with the pyrethroids permethrin, deltamethrin, and etofenprox, in addition to the organophosphate malathion. A segment of the voltage-gated sodium channel gene (NaV) was amplified and cloned. Based on the observed sequences, we developed a TaqMan genotyping assay for the variation L1014F and calculated the genotypic and allelic frequencies concerning this SNP in the field population.Results: The COI analyses confirmed the taxonomic status of An. albitarsis s.s in laboratory and field samples. The field population was resistant to pyrethroids but not to malathion. We observed the substitutions L1019R, F1020S, and the classical kdr L1014F in the NaV gene. This classical kdr allele was present under low frequencies in the overall field population (2%), although more frequent in pyrethroid-resistant insects.Conclusions: The An. albitarsis s.s. population from Massaranduba was resistant to pyrethroids, likely due to selection pressure exerted by agrochemical pesticides. We registered the classical kdr mutation in a Brazilian Anopheles species for the first time. Further investigations are necessary to disclose additional resistance mechanisms.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (15) ◽  
pp. 12986-12989
Author(s):  
K. K. Idreesbabu ◽  
C.P. Rajool Shanis ◽  
S. Sureshkumar

Two female specimens of the Furry Lobster Palinurellus wieneckii (De Man, 1881) with a total length of 118mm and 114mm, respectively, were obtained from the coral reefs off Kavaratti Island, Laccadive Islands, west of India.  Only two species are currently recognized in this genus, which were described from a small number of specimens.  As P. wieneckii is very rare, the present report from the Lakshadweep Archipelago provides a valuable new distribution point, which is the first record for the Arabian Sea.  Illustrations and photographs are provided for this rare lobster.


Check List ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 1855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kordiyeh Hamidi ◽  
Jamshid Darvish ◽  
Maryam M. Matin

Paralactaga williamsi, a five-toed jerboa, is known to occur in Anatolian Turkey, northern Lebanon, Armenia, Azerbaijan and western Iran. Here, we report the first record of this species in Kopet-Dag Mountains, northeastern Iran. Species identification was based on external morphology, skull and molar teeth morphology and morphometrics studies, as well as molecular an­al­yses. Brief notes on the ecology of the species are also provided. This new record expands the distribution of P. williamsi in Iran about 850 km eastward, however further sampling will be needed for a better judgment on the taxonomic status of this species in eastern Iran and to determine the patterns of its distribution. Since the specimen did not group with other P. williamsi in the cytochrome b analysis, we provisionally classify the specimens as P. cf. williamsi.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Martin ◽  
Chiara Romano

To date, the genus Amphiduros (Annelida: Hesionidae: Amphidurine) is considered as monotypic. Its single species, Amphiduros fuscescens (Marenzeller, 1875), is well characterised by lacking proboscideal papillae and emerging acicular chaetae, as well as by having three antennae, eight pairs of tentacular cirri and inflated dorsal cirri with characteristic alternating length and colour (transparent, with median orange band and white tips) in live animals. Three specimens, one male and two females, were found below boulders at 5–7 m depth in Punta Santa Anna, Blanes and Cala Maset, Sant Feliu de Guixols (Catalan Sea, NW Mediterranean, Iberian Peninsula). Our finding allowed us to describe different, unreported morphological traits and lead us to support the existence of sexual dimorphism (in terms of colouring, cirri morphology and distribution of sexual products along the body). Despite A. fuscescens having been previously reported from the Atlantic and the Mediterranean (particularly in SE French coasts), the specimens from Blanes represent the first record of the species from the Iberian Peninsula. In addition, our molecular results strongly support that Amphiduros pacificus Hartman, 1961 from California (currently synonymised with A. fuscescens) requires to be re-described and reinstalled as a valid species. In turn, our morphological observations support suggesting all other non-Mediterranean reports of A. fuscescens, including the species still under synonymy (i.e. Amphidrornus izukai Hessle, 1925 and Amphidromus setosus Hessle, 1925) as likely being a cryptic species complex whose the taxonomic status requires further assessment.


2004 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 1927-1931 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akiko Kageyama ◽  
Katsukiyo Yazawa ◽  
Akira Mukai ◽  
Mari Kinoshita ◽  
Nobukatsu Takata ◽  
...  

Three actinomycete strains isolated from soils and one strain isolated from a patient with lung nocardiosis in 1999 and 2001 in Japan have been provisionally assigned to the genus Nocardia on the basis of morphological criteria. These isolates were further investigated to determine their specific taxonomic status. Detailed chemotaxonomic characterization and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis of these isolates confirmed that they belong to the genus Nocardia. The 16S rRNA gene sequences of the four strains were most similar to that of Nocardia farcinica. However, the sequence similarity values between these four strains and N. farcinica were <98·9 %. These four strains were susceptible to 5-fluorouracil, and they have the ability to decompose urea, which is a very characteristic trait. Furthermore, DNA–DNA relatedness data revealed that IFM 10311T, IFM 10312 and IFM 10313 comprise a single novel species of Nocardia, that IFM 10084T represents another novel species of Nocardia and that these two novel species could be distinguished from N. farcinica. The names Nocardia shimofusensis sp. nov. and Nocardia higoensis sp. nov. are proposed, with IFM 10311T (=NBRC 100134T=JCM 12122T=DSM 44733T) and IFM 10084T (=NBRC 100133T=JCM 12121T=DSM 44732T) as the respective type strains.


Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5026 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-76
Author(s):  
XUE-LING SUN ◽  
JING-YU ZHANG ◽  
NING WANG ◽  
MIN ZHAO ◽  
XUE-GANG LUO

A newly identified tardigrade species from China, Pilatobius nuominensis sp. nov., belongs to the group of species with cuticle of the dorsal and lateral caudal region with evident irregular polygonal sculpture. Nucleotide sequences of two nuclear (18S rRNA, 28S rRNA) and one mitochondrial (COI) DNA fragments of the new species are provided, which allows an independent verification of the taxonomic status of the new species. This is the first record of the genus Pilatobius in the Great Hinggan Mountains.  


Author(s):  
Mariana L Santana-Cisneros ◽  
Rossanna Rodríguez-Canul ◽  
Jesús Alejandro Zamora-Briseño ◽  
Monica Améndola-Pimenta ◽  
Roxana De Silva-Dávila ◽  
...  

Paralarvae (PL) are crucial to understanding the life cycle and population dynamics of cephalopods. Misidentification of species with similar morphology is a problem that hampers understanding of cephalopod composition and distribution. In this study, we used morphological and molecular approaches to carry out a comprehensive identification of Octopoda PL that inhabit two main areas (Tamaulipas and Yucatán) in the southern Gulf of Mexico (GoM). A total of 189 paralarvae were identified using morphological criteria. Of these, 52 PL were analyzed molecularly by sequencing the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene. We identified four species and five morphotypes. The molecular tools corroborated three of four species, while the molecular sequences of three out of four morphotypes indicated that they belong to three different species. All the genetic sequences had high similarities (99.3%–100%) with previous records. One species and one morphotype could not be sequenced because of unsatisfactory fixation; one morphotype remained as such after the molecular analysis. An identification tree was constructed for the species identified with the molecular approach. The species found off the Yucatán platform were Octopus vulgaris Type I, Octopus americanus, Macrotritopus defilippi, Amphioctopus burryi, A. cf. burryi, Octopus sp., and Callistoctopus furvus. The species identified off the Tamaulipas coast were Octopus insularis and M. defilippi. Paralarvae of O. vulgaris Type I and M. defilippi were the most abundant during 2016–2017. This study provides the first record of Octopoda PL in the southern GoM, including morphological descriptions and molecular sequences of the analyzed taxa.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siti Raudah Abdul Kadir ◽  
Mohamad Hafiz Farhan Abdul Rasid ◽  
Li Lian Wong ◽  
Kok Onn Kwong ◽  
Takaomi Arai

This study reports the first occurrence of partial albinism in a tropical anguillid eelAnguilla bengalensis bengalensisfrom Malaysia. This paper also describes the first record of albinism in the genusAnguilla. The occurrence of albinism in our specimen ofAnguillamight have been caused by three factors: (1) contamination effects; (2) random genetic alterations; or (3) genetic alteration due to small population size. The present results suggest that the albinism inA. bengalensis bengalensisis probably caused by random genetic alteration. Partial albinism may not be a handicap in the life of the present specimen because the eel could still potentially grow to more than 1 m in total length, just like a normal adult eel.


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