scholarly journals A new subspecies of microsnail from Masungi Georeserve, Rizal, Philippines

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  

A new subspecies of microsnail, Hypselostoma latispira masungiensis subsp. nov., is described based on shell morphology and molecular characters. This new subspecies is distinguished from H. l. latispira from Baguio City, Benguet Province by having relatively larger major width size, additional apertural teeth (interpalatal plica), larger body whorl and apertural width, and clustering based on location. The collected samples from Masungi Georeserve, Rizal Province appear to be an ecophenotype as indicated by the novel site congruent to the clade separation of Masungi and Baguio H. latispira. Neighbor-joining and maximum likelihood trees also demonstrated that the two sample groups clustered separately, with bootstrap support of 84% and 78%, respectively. However, pairwise distance comparison revealed that there is only an average of 0.0131 ± 0.0126 genetic distance (99.98%) between the two populations, suggesting that they are most likely similar species; thus, the proposal of making it a subspecies. This is the first report on the new distributional record outside the type locality and a new subspecies of H. latispira. KEYWORDS: land snail, karst, interpalatal plica, pairwise distance comparison

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander B. Odaibo ◽  
Suraj O. Olayinka

AbstractThe aim of this study was to determine the differences in the shell, radula and genital structures of 3 new invasive species, Achatina fulica Bowdich, 1822,Achatina albopicta E.A. Smith (1878) and Achatina reticulata Pfeiffer, 1845 collected from southwestern Nigeria and to determine features that would be of importance in the identification of these invasive species in Nigeria. This is the first report of Achatina albopicta and A. reticulata in Nigeria, but Achatina fulica have since been reported in Nigeria and other African countries outside coastal East Africa. No study has described the external or internal morphology of any of the invasive species in Nigeria. Five to ten live specimens of each species, with complete shell characters, of each species were used for this study. Vernier caliper was used to obtain all shell measurements, with the shell held vertically and the aperture facing the observer. The genital structures were dissected out and fixed in 70% alcohol for 10-15 minutes and examined. The buccal mass was dissected out and digested in 7.5% sodium hydroxide for 24 hrs to free the radula from snail tissues and then examined under the compound microscope.The shells of the 3 new species were dextral, conical with pointed spire and narrow apex. The whorls were separated by deep sutures. The parietal walls and the columella of the three species were white but columella of A. reticulata had a characteristic thick deposit of white porcelain-like material. There were dark brown markings on the whorls of the three species on dirty brown background for A. fulica and A. reticulata and dirty yellowish background for A. albopicta. The shell of A. albopicta was slightly glossy on the body whorl. The whorls of A. albopicta were much more convex than the whorls of A. fulica and A. reticulata. The columella of A. albopicta was truncate above the base of the peristome, moderately concave and slightly curved up at the base, while the columella of A. fulica was truncate sharply at the base of the peristome and straight and the columella of A. reticulata was slantly truncate at the base of the peristome and straight. The genitalia of the three species were very identical but differed slightly in the emergence of the basal vas deferens from the penis. The penes were slender and completely enclosed by the penial sheaths. The length of the penis varied from 10 to 12 mm. The vas deferens, free oviduct and the spermatheca duct were very long. The radula could be differentiated by the structure of central teeth and the first lateral tooth. The study showed that the shell morphology, radula and genital structures can be of importance in the identification of members of the family Achatinidae in Nigeria.


2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 794-801
Author(s):  
Caroline Oliveira Andrino ◽  
Marcelo Fragomeni Simon ◽  
Jair Eustáquio Quintino Faria ◽  
André Luiz da Costa Moreira ◽  
Paulo Takeo Sano

Abstract—We describe and illustrate Paepalanthus fabianeae, a new species of Eriocaulaceae from the central portion of the Espinhaço Range in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Previous phylogenetic evidence based on analyses of nuclear (ITS and ETS) and plastid (trnL-trnF and psba-trnH) sequences revealed P. fabianeae as belonging to a strongly supported and morphologically coherent clade containing five other species, all of them microendemic, restricted to the Espinhaço range. Due to the infrageneric classification of Paepalanthus being highly artificial, we preferred not assigning P. fabianeae to any infrageneric group. Paepalanthus fabianeae is known from two populations growing in campos rupestres (highland rocky fields) in the meridional Espinhaço Range. The species is characterized by pseudodichotomously branched stems, small, linear, recurved, and reflexed leaves, urceolate capitula, and bifid stigmas. Illustrations, photos, the phylogenetic position, and a detailed description, as well as comments on habitat, morphology, and affinities with similar species are provided. The restricted area of occurrence allied with threats to the quality of the habitat, mainly due to quartzite mining, justifies the preliminary classification of the new species in the Critically Endangered (CR) category using the guidelines and criteria of the IUCN Red List.


Author(s):  
Barbara Elizabeth Hanna ◽  
Peter Cowley

China Miéville’s 2009 'Weird' detective novel The City and The City is a tale of two city states, culturally distinct, between which unpoliced contact is forbidden. While residents of each city can learn about the other’s history, geography, politics, see photographs and watch news footage of the other city, relations between the two are tightly monitored and any direct contact requires a series of protocols, some of which might seem reasonable, or at least familiar: entry permits, international mail, international dialing codes, intercultural training courses. What complicates these apparently banal measures is the relative positioning of the two cities, each one around, within, amongst the other. The two populations live side by side, under a regime which requires ostentatious and systematic disregard or 'unnoticing' of the other in any context but a tightly regulated set of encounters. For all that interculturality is endemic to everyday life in the 21st century, what is striking is that critical and popular uptake of this novel so frequently decries the undesirability, the immorality even, of the cultural separation between the two populations, framing it as an allegory of unjust division within a single culture, and thus by implication endorsing the erasure of intercultural difference. We propose an alternative reading which sees this novel as exploring the management of intercultural encounters, and staging the irreducibility of intercultural difference. We examine how the intercultural is established in the novel, and ask how it compares to its representations in prevalent theoretical models, specifically that of the Third Place.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Baghdad Science Journal

The present work includes investigation of some features of shell morphology; shell size, shell thickness, shell colour of the land snail Monacha cantiana, in addition to the correlation between height and diameter of shell and between shell aperture diameter and shell diameter at four sites within Baghdad Province, Iraq. Also, measurements of three environmental variables were made; soil temperature, soil moisture and soil calcium content in adition to population density. Shell Aperture Index (Ia) and Shell Index (SI) for individuals from size class ranged between (9-12)mm were measured. The results showed that the deference in shell size by using (Ia) within population related to temperature, moisture and population density but, the value of Shell Index decreased in AL-Kadhimiya site (0.81-0.97) due to increase in population density. The species was characterized by shell colour variation (creamy white, white ,creamy). Also, The results showed strong and positive correlation between shell height and diameter and between shell aperture diameter and shell diameter for all size classes.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 347 (4) ◽  
pp. 251
Author(s):  
ANDREW HENDERSON ◽  
NGUYEN QUOC DUNG

Five new species and one new subspecies of Calamus (Arecaceae) from Vietnam are described and illustrated and compared with similar species.


Genome ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
D -H Kim ◽  
D Heber ◽  
D W Still

The taxonomy of Echinacea is based on morphological characters and has varied depending on the monographer. The genus consists of either nine species and four varieties or four species and eight varieties. We have used amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP) to assess genetic diversity and phenetic relationships among nine species and three varieties of Echinacea (sensu McGregor). A total of 1086 fragments, of which approximately 90% were polymorphic among Echinacea taxa, were generated from six primer combinations. Nei and Li's genetic distance coefficient and the neighbor-joining algorithm were employed to construct a phenetic tree. Genetic distance results indicate that all Echinacea species are closely related, and the average pairwise distance between populations was approximately three times the intrapopulation distances. The topology of the neighbor-joining tree strongly supports two major clades, one containing Echinacea purpurea, Echinacea sanguinea, and Echinacea simulata and the other containing the remainder of the Echinacea taxa (sensu McGregor). The species composition within the clades differs between our AFLP data and the morphometric treatment offered by Binns and colleagues. We also discuss the suitability of AFLP in determining phylogenetic relationships.Key words: Echinacea, AFLP, genetic distance, phylogeny.


Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 3063 (1) ◽  
pp. 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALEXANDRE DIAS PIMENTA ◽  
FRANKLIN NOEL DOS SANTOS ◽  
RICARDO SILVA ABSALÃO

A taxonomic revision of the pyramidellid genus Eulimella from Brazil was performed based on shell morphology. The holotype of Eulimella rudis Watson, 1886 is illustrated and compared to shells from the southeast Brazilian coast, this being the first confirmed record of this species after its original description. Eulimella smithii (Verrill, 1880), previously known from northern localities in the western Atlantic, is recorded from the southwestern Atlantic, along virtually the entire Brazilian coast; it is herein considered a distinct taxon from Eulimella unifasciata (Forbes, 1844), a very similar species from the eastern Atlantic, given the lack of data on development to consider an amphi-Atlantic distribution. Three new species are described: Eulimella torquata sp. nov., diagnosed by a constriction in the middle of each teleoconch whorl caused by a strong spiral furrow, producing a bilobed whorl profile; Eulimella cylindrata sp. nov., diagnosed by a large subcylindrical teleoconch; and Eulimella ejuncida sp. nov., characterized by its very slender shell, and small protoconch with only one whorl and with an “arc” shaped suture. The shells herein identified as Eulimella cf. calva from Brazil are conchologically identical to Eulimella calva Schander, 1994, from West Africa, but their taxonomic status should remain dubious because of lack of biological information to evaluate a possible amphi-Atlantic distribution pattern. All the species studied (except Eulimella ejuncida sp. nov.) have characteristic short microscopic axial threads organized in a spiral belt, varying in position and expression among species, but usually located in the middle of each teleoconch whorl or below the suture; this characteristic is also present in some species from the eastern Atlantic. Three South American species, originally or subsequently allocated in Eulimella, are herein considered as not belonging to this genus: Eulimella argentina Doello-Jurado, 1938; Eulimella bahiensis Castellanos, 1982; and Eulimella xenohyes (Melvill & Standen, 1912). The holotype of Eulimella lissa is illustrated with SEM micrographs.


1996 ◽  
Vol 351 (1337) ◽  
pp. 309-327 ◽  

A survey has been made of the land snail fauna of Porto Santo, Madeiran archipelago. Porto Santo is an isolated island about 12 km long by 5 km wide. The fauna is exceptionally species-rich and characterisied by radiations of species in several families, especially the Helicidae. Sixty-five samples from the mainland and five offshore islets yielded 56 species, 84% of them endemic, with a mean of 11.5 species per site, and marked regional differentiation in faunal composition. A given site produces on average only approximately one fifth of the number of species possible, equivalent to a value for Whittaker’s index of diversity of 4.5. Patterns of localization occur on the peaks to the east and west of the island, with numerous cases of replacement by congeneric and morphologically similar species. Local areas have assemblages of species differing in shell size and shape, which probably exploit different niches, the pattern in one area paralleling that in others. The low-lying sandy areas which separate these areas are now unfavourable to many endemic species; those which do occur in them tend to have island-wide distributions. Morphological variation in such species appears to have ecological rather than geographical correlates. We conclude that adaptive responses have occurred, but that much of the species richness can be interpreted as non-adaptive, that is, due to allopatric divergence in isolation by species which retain similar niches. Even on so small a land mass the topography is such that for many land molluscs it represents a cluster of refuges intermittantly connected through impermanent and often unfavourable sandy environments, on each of which evolution proceeds independently. Differences in distribution patterns between families probably arise because they evolved at different times in the island’s history. These results are compared with those from snail faunas in other parts of the world, some of which are similar to them.


Cryobiology ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annegret Nicolai ◽  
Philippe Vernon ◽  
Marcia Lee ◽  
Armelle Ansart ◽  
Maryvonne Charrier

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (10) ◽  
pp. 160299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jackie Lighten ◽  
Danny Incarnato ◽  
Ben J. Ward ◽  
Cock van Oosterhout ◽  
Ian Bradbury ◽  
...  

The relative importance of genetic versus epigenetic changes in adaptive evolution is a hotly debated topic, with studies showing that some species appear to be able to adapt rapidly without significant genetic change. Epigenetic mechanisms may be particularly important for the evolutionary potential of species with long maturation times and low reproductive potential (‘K-strategists’), particularly when faced with rapidly changing environmental conditions. Here we study the transcriptome of two populations of the winter skate ( Leucoraja ocellata ), a typical ‘K-strategist’, in Atlantic Canada; an endemic population in the southern Gulf of St Lawrence and a large population on the Scotian Shelf. The endemic population has been able to adapt to a 10°C higher water temperature over short evolutionary time (7000 years), dramatically reducing its body size (by 45%) significantly below the minimum maturation size of Scotian Shelf and other populations of winter skate, as well as exhibiting other adaptations in life history and physiology. We demonstrate that the adaptive response to selection has an epigenetic basis, cataloguing 3653 changes in gene expression that may have enabled this species to rapidly respond to the novel environment. We argue that the epigenetic augmentation of species evolutionary potential (its regulation though gene expression) can enable K-strategists to survive and adapt to different environments, and this mechanism may be particularly important for the persistence of sharks, skates and rays in the light of future climate change.


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