New Species of Blindsnakes (Squamata: Gerrhopilidae) from the offshore islands of Papua New Guinea

Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4299 (1) ◽  
pp. 75 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRED KRAUS
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Eye Development ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Museum Collections ◽  
Additional Specimen

I describe four new species of blindsnake of the genus Gerrhopilus from islands off the southeastern tip of New Guinea and from New Ireland to the northeast. All have ventral keels on the rostral scale, and most have previously been assigned in their respective museum collections to the species G. depressiceps. Examination of available specimens shows G. depressiceps to be a composite of species, and I emend the diagnosis of that species based on the holotype and one additional specimen from northeastern New Guinea. The species described as new here differ from G. depressiceps and from each other in a series of features, including shape of the snout, shape of the rostral scale, numbers of mid-dorsal scale rows, reduction patterns in longitudinal scale rows, body mass, degree of eye development, and color pattern. The new species all inhabit islands remote from the known range of G. depressiceps on New Guinea and have likely been separated from that species for millions of years. 

scholarly journals Conus hughmorrisoni, a new species of cone snail from New Ireland, Papua New Guinea (Gastropoda: Conidae)

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Lorenz ◽  
Nicolas Puillandre
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Genetic Distances ◽  
Coi Gene ◽  
Cone Snail ◽  
Biodiversity Survey ◽  
Mitochondrial Coi ◽  
A New Species

Based on newly collected material from the Kavieng Lagoon Biodiversity Survey, we describe a new species of cone snail, Conus hughmorrisoni sp. nov., from the vicinity of Kavieng, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. It closely resembles the New Caledonian C. exiguus and the Philippine C. hanshassi, but differs from these species by having more numerous shoulder tubercles, by the shell’s sculpturing and details of the color pattern. We also sequenced a fragment of the mitochondrial COI gene of five specimens collected alive. All possessed very similar sequences (genetic distances < 0.3%), different from all the COI sequences of cone snails available in GenBank (genetic distances > 10%).

Gastrointestinal nematodes of Paramelomys levipes and P. mollis (Rodentia: Muridae) from Papua, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea with the descriptions of three new genera and nine new species (Nematoda)

Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4861 (4) ◽  
pp. 544-572
Author(s):  
LESLEY SMALES
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Gastrointestinal Nematodes ◽  
Museum Collections ◽  
Bishop Museum ◽  
Female Tail ◽  
Putative Species ◽  
Host Habitat ◽  
The Right

Nematodes from four families comprising 18 species identified to species level, six to subfamily level as well as larval and adult heligmonellids and juvenile females of an undetermined family were recovered from eight individuals of Paramelomys levipes and 27 individuals of P. mollis (Muridae: Murinae: Uromys Division) from Papua New Guinea and Papua, Indonesia. Originally all the hosts were registered as P. levipes in the Australian and Bishop museum collections, but the probable identity of the host individuals was decided according to the altitude of the collection sites. A capillariid, Capillaria s. l., a putative species of the Nippostrongylinae and a small number of male and female nippostrongylins could not be identified further. The spirurid Protospirura kaindiensis had been previously reported from Sahulan Old Endemic fauna. The oxyurid Syphacia (Syphacia) dewiae n. sp. differed from all its congeners in having an oval laterally extended cephalic plate with a dorso-ventral constriction, cervical and lateral alae, a female tail up to 1400 long and a spicule up to 102 long. The remaining species, all heligmonellids included the brevistriatin Macrostrongylus ingens and 14 nippostrongylin species. Of these Hughjonestrongylus amplicauda, H. mirzai, H. singauwaensis, and Odilia mackerrasae had been reported previously in species of Paramelomys. Species of Flannerystrongylus and Parasabanema, possibly new species, could not be described further. Flannerystrongylus chisholmae n. sp., a smaller worm, differed from its congener F. abulus in having a spicule to body length ratio of 13.2% and only 6 eggs in utero. Helgenema keablei n. gen., n. sp. differed from the 44 nippostrongylin genera known to date in having a synlophe of 11– 15 small ridges and a left cuticular dilatation supported anteriorly by a single large ridge. Paramelomystrongylus dessetae n. gen., n. sp. differed from all other nippostrongylin genera in having a synlophe of 13–16 ridges with a type A carene supported by 2 hypertrophied ridges and the right lateral ridges larger than the dorsal and ventral ridges. Parasabanema sene n. sp. differed from its congener, P. szalayi, in having a synlophe of 30 ridges. Hughjonestrongylus alisoni n. sp., H. arfakiensis n. sp., H. digianiae n. sp. and H. spratti n. sp. were distinguished from all other species of Hughjonestrongylus and each other by a combination of characters including the number of synlophe ridges, 28, 21–26, 20–23, 22–25 respectively, in the mid body, spicule length, proportions of the ovejector and shape of the female posterior end. The combined helminth assemblage was dominated by heligmonellids, as has been reported for other paramelomys, with eight species as well as the oxyurid being unique to P. levipes and P. mollis. Overlapping of host habitat could account for the similarities of the nematode assemblages recorded for those species of paramelomys that have been studied. 

Ten new species of Oreophryne (Anura, Microhylidae) from Papua New Guinea

Zootaxa ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4195 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRED KRAUS
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Advertisement Call ◽  
Type I ◽  
Additional Species ◽  
Call Type ◽  
Species Groups ◽  
Three New Species

Oreophryne presently represents the second-most-diverse genus of microhylid frogs, with 57 named species, most occurring on New Guinea and its satellite islands. Nonetheless, a diversity of species remains to be described. Using morphological, color-pattern, and advertisement-call data, I describe ten new species of Oreophryne from the Papuan Peninsula of New Guinea and adjacent islands, which together form the East Papuan Composite Terrane. All but two of these species can be placed into two species groups based on call type. I refer to these species groups as the O. anser group and the O. equus group, both being based on species described herein. Members of the O. anser group produce calls reminiscent of a goose honk, whereas members of the O. equus group produce calls reminiscent of a horse’s whinny. Description of three new species in the O. anser group requires me to first rediagnose O. loriae, which has previously been interpreted as including the frogs named herein as O. anser sp. nov. The honk call type has not previously been reported within Oreophryne, and the whinny call may be novel as well, although it is possibly derived from other New Guinean species having calls consisting of a slower series of peeps. Based on their unique call types, I hypothesize that both species groups are monophyletic. If true, each would appear endemic to the East Papuan Composite Terrane. Only five additional species of Oreophryne are known from this region that do not belong to one or the other of these two species groups; hence, these newly identified species groups represent the majority of diversity in Oreophryne from the Papuan Peninsula and its satellite islands. 

A new species of Lobulia (Squamata: Scincidae) from Papua New Guinea

Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4779 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-214
Author(s):  
FRED KRAUS
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Type Locality ◽  
Morphological Data ◽  
Size And Shape ◽  
A New Species

I describe a new skink of the genus Lobulia from Mt. Simpson in southeasternmost New Guinea. This species differs from all other members of the genus in having only three pairs of enlarged chin shields and only the first pair in medial contact. It is most similar in scalation to L. elegans but is readily distinguished from that species by its color pattern, body size and shape, and numbers of lamellae. Morphological data on L. elegans have not been reported since the description of the holotype in 1897, so I provide a redescription of that species based on six specimens—including the holotype—of certain conspecificity and from within approximately 100 km of the type locality at Mt. Victoria. I also elevate Lygosoma elegantoides lobulus from synonymy with Lobulia elegans, from which it is readily distinguished on the basis of scalational and color-pattern features. The resurrected L. lobulus and the new species from Mt. Simpson represent the seventh and eighth recognized species of Lobulia, and the Mt. Simpson species is the fifth member of the Papuan herpetofauna that is apparently endemic to Mt. Simpson. Mt. Simpson appears to be a moderate center of local endemism within southeastern New Guinea. 

Identity of Nyctimystes cheesmani (Anura: Hylidae), with description of two new related species

Zootaxa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3493 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
FRED KRAUS
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Related Species ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Dominant Frequency ◽  
Exact Distribution ◽  
Type Locality ◽  
Morphometric Measurements ◽  
Two New Species

Using morphological and call data, I redescribe the taxonomically problematic Papuan hylid frog Nyctimystes cheesmanibased on specimens collected at similar elevation to and within 5 km of the type locality. It has long been known thatseveral species of Nyctimystes closely related to N. cheesmani remain to be described in New Guinea, but diagnosis anddescription of these species has languished for decades in the absence of a clear exposition of what constitutes true N.cheesmani. This species is characterized by having vocal slits; a small heel tubercle; basal webbing on hand; exposedtympanum; vertical lines of palpebral reticulum oriented obliquely and with relatively few horizontal cross-connections;pale-tan iris; rear of thighs barred/mottled with brown, caramel, or blue-gray; and call a single, quiet pulsed croak deliv-ered relatively slowly in long trains and with a dominant frequency around 1.9 kHz. It is currently known only from theimmediate vicinity of the type locality, and its exact distribution throughout the Owen Stanley Mts. remains to be deter-mined. I also describe two new species related to N. cheesmani from Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. Both aresimilar to N. cheesmani in morphometric measurements but are easily distinguished from that species by their advertise-ment calls and by details in color pattern. The first species is known only from the southernmost extent of the Owen Stanley Mts and the adjacent Cloudy Mts., the second is endemic to the D’Entrecasteaux Archipelago.

Taxonomy of Litoria graminea (Anura: Hylidae), with descriptions of two closely related new species

Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4457 (2) ◽  
pp. 264
Author(s):  
FRED KRAUS
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Oral Mucosa ◽  
Natural Variation ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Single Site ◽  
Central Province ◽  
Historical Material ◽  
Close Relatives

I clarify the correct provenance and taxonomic identity of the poorly known canopy-dwelling frog, Litoria graminea, from New Guinea. I base my redescription upon analysis of relevant historical material as well as upon more recently obtained specimens from several localities in Papua New Guinea. Determining the correct identity of L. graminea makes clear that one recently named species (L. dux Richards & Oliver) is a junior synonym of that taxon and that additional close relatives of that species remain undescribed, two of which I describe here. The first is known from a series of localities along the southern versant of the Central Dividing Range and the Owen Stanley Mountains. The second is known from a single site in the foothills of the Owen Stanley Mountains in Central Province, Papua New Guinea. Differences among the species are largely confined to pigmentation features and the shape of the male nuptial pads. Further, I show that several morphometric and color-pattern features earlier thought to distinguish among members of this complex are encompassed by natural variation within true L. graminea, making the characters taxonomically uninformative. The two newly described species share the unusual feature of having green oral mucosa, although their bones were white in life. This coloration is presumably due to sequestration of biliverdin, as seen in a few other tropical treefrogs, but the function of this sequestration remains unknown.

scholarly journals New Recent foraminiferal genera and species from the lagoon at Madang, Papua New Guinea

1992 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin R. Langer
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Shallow Water ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
New Genera ◽  
Low Oxygen ◽  
Shell Surface ◽  
Sedimentary Environments ◽  
Tropical Lagoon

Abstract. Two new genera and eight new species of benthic foraminifera are described from the shallow water, tropical lagoon of Madang, Papua New Guinea. The new hauerinid genus Pseudolachlanella is characterized by juvenile cryptoquinqueloculine, adult almost massiline arranged chambers, and a slitlike, curved aperture with parallel sides and a long, slender, curved miliolid tooth. Pitella haigi n. gen., n. sp. is a new foraminifera with cryptoquinqueloculine arranged chambers, an almost entirely pitted shell surface (pseudopores) and a rounded aperture with a short simple tooth. Among the other species described as new are four hauerinids and two agglutinated foraminifera All new species described here occur sporadically in the shallow water back- and forereef environments of the lagoon (0–55m), and live infaunally and epifaunally in well-oxygenated, fine and coarse grained biogenic sediments. They are absent in muddy, organic-rich, low-oxygen sedimentary environments within bay inlets where variations of salinity are considerable.

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