scholarly journals Assessment of Megadenus holothuricola Rosén, 1910 (Eulimidae), an endoparasite of Holothuria mexicana Ludwig, 1875 (Holothuriidae) in the southern Gulf of Mexico and the description a new species

ZooKeys ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1016 ◽  
pp. 49-61
Author(s):  
Norma Emilia González-Vallejo ◽  
Stephanie Amador-Carrillo

As part of a study on holothurians from the southern Gulf of Mexico, some Holothuria mexicana Ludwig, 1875 were obtained for gut analysis. In two of them, a couple of eulimids were located inside the main tube of the respiratory tree. They were identified as Megadenus holothuricola Rosén, 1910, described from the Bahamas Islands, based on five specimens attached to the respiratory tree of H. mexicana. The original description was brief with few details, the type material is lost, and the species has not been found again. In this contribution, this species is confirmed for Campeche Bay, Mexico. The adult shell is globular to conical, transparent, thin, and fragile. Megadenus smithisp. nov. from Palmyra Atoll, Central Pacific is described based on adult specimens. It differs from its congeneric species in its more robust shell, the pseudopallium does not cover the shell, and its short and contracted proboscis forms a thick disc. Further research on these eulimid parasites is now complicated in the southern Gulf of Mexico because of the holothurian population collapse due to over-exploitation of the fishery.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 793
Author(s):  
Abigail Uribe-Martínez ◽  
María de los Angeles Liceaga-Correa ◽  
Eduardo Cuevas

Marine turtles are globally endangered species that spend more than 95% of their life cycle in in-water habitats. Nevertheless, most of the conservation, recovery and research efforts have targeted the on-land habitats, due to their easier access, where adult females lay their eggs. Targeting the large knowledge gaps on the in-water critical habitats of turtles, particularly in the Large Marine Ecosystem Gulf of Mexico, is crucial for their conservation and recovery in the long term. We used satellite telemetry to track 85 nesting females from their beaches after they nested to identify their feeding and residency habitats, their migratory corridors and to describe the context for those areas. We delimited major migratory corridors in the southern Gulf of Mexico and West Caribbean and described physical features of internesting and feeding home ranges located mainly around the Yucatan Peninsula and Veracruz, Mexico. We also contributed by describing general aggregation and movement patterns for the four marine turtle species in the Atlantic, expanding the knowledge of the studied species. Several tracked individuals emigrated from the Gulf of Mexico to as far as Nicaragua, Honduras, and the Bahamas. This information is critical for identifying gaps in marine protection and for deciphering the spatial connectivity in large ocean basins, and it provides an opportunity to assess potential impacts on marine turtle populations and their habitats.


Zootaxa ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4012 (1) ◽  
pp. 156 ◽  
Author(s):  
ADRIANA RAMÍREZ­HERNÁNDEZ ◽  
PABLO HERNÁNDEZ-ALCÁNTARA ◽  
VIVIANNE SOLÍS-WEISS

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 683-690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo González-Muñoz ◽  
Agustín Garese ◽  
Fabián H. Acuña

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen M. Hart ◽  
Jacquelyn C. Guzy ◽  
Brian J. Smith

Abstract Background Satellite tags have revolutionized our understanding of marine animal movements. However, tags may stop transmitting for many reasons and little research has rigorously examined tag failure. Using a long-term, large-scale, multi-species dataset, we evaluated factors influencing tracking duration of satellite tags to inform study design for future tracking studies. Methods We leveraged data on battery status transmitted with location data, recapture events, and number of transmission days to probabilistically quantify multiple potential causes of failure (i.e., battery failure, premature detachment, and tag damage/fouling). We used a combination of logistic regressions and an ordinary linear model including several predictor variables (i.e., tag type, battery life, species, sex, size, and foraging region). Results We examined subsets of data from 360 satellite tags encompassing 86,889 tracking days deployed on four species of marine turtles throughout the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and Bahamas from 2008 to 2019. Only 4.1% of batteries died before failure due to other causes. We observed species-specific variation in how long tags remain attached: hawksbills retained 50% of their tags for 1649 days (95% CI 995–1800), loggerheads for 584 days (95% CI 400–690), and green turtles for 294 days (95% CI 198–450). Estimated tracking duration varied by foraging region (Caribbean: 385 days; Bahamas: 356; southern Gulf of Mexico [SGOM]: 276, northern Gulf of Mexico [NGOM]: 177). Additionally, we documented species-specific variation in estimated tracking duration among foraging regions. Based on sensor data, within the Gulf of Mexico, across species, we estimated that 50% of tags began to foul after 83 95% CI (70–120) days. Conclusions The main factor that limited tracking duration was tag damage (i.e., fouling and/or antenna breakage). Turtles that spent most of their time in the Gulf of Mexico had shorter tracking durations than those in the Bahamas and Caribbean, with shortest durations observed in the NGOM. Additionally, tracking duration varied by species, likely as a result of behaviors that damage tags. This information will help researchers, tag companies, permitting agencies, and funders better predict expected tracking durations, improving study designs for imperiled marine turtles. Our results highlight the heterogeneity in telemetry device longevity, and we provide a framework for researchers to evaluate telemetry devices with respect to their study objectives.


2007 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
František Moravec ◽  
Guillermo Salgado-Maldonado

AbstractA new species of parasitic nematode, Philometra mexicana sp. nov. (Philometridae), is described based on males and females parasitizing the gonads of the marine perciform fish (rock hind) Epinephelus adscensionis (Osbeck) (Serranidae) off the coast of the southern Gulf of Mexico (reefs of the Enmedio Island, Veracruz), Mexico, collected on 10 April 1990. The new species is characterized mainly by very small males (body length 1.63–1.86 mm) with equally long, needle-like spicules (length 90–120 μm) and the gubernaculum (57–66 μm) without the usual dorsal barb on the distal end, the body length of gravid females (178–230 mm), the presence of a well-developed anterior bulbous inflation on the female oesophagus, and by the length of the first-stage larvae (420–435 μm). A comparison with other congeners parasitizing the gonads of marine fishes is provided. The cephalic end of the gravid female of Philometra margolisi Moravec, Vidal-Martínez et Aguirre-Macedo, 1995, another related species from the gonads of Epinephelus [E. morio (Valenciennes)] in Mexico, has been studied by SEM for the first time; it confirms the arrangement of the cephalic papillae as reported in the original species description. Philometra mexicana is the fifth species of Philometra reported from the gonads of marine fishes in the West Atlantic region.


Author(s):  
Ignacio Winfield ◽  
Manuel Ortiz

A new species of Curidia is described based on material collected from Sisal Coral Reef System, south-east Gulf of Mexico, Mexico. It is the eighth species of this genus described worldwide. Curidia nunoi sp. nov. is morphologically similar to C. wakabarae and C. andreae. Curidia nunoi sp. nov., however, differs from these two species by a combination of several characters, including: the posteroventral spine of peduncle articles 1 and 2 of antenna 1, the distoventral spine of peduncle article 4 of antenna 2, the distal margin of coxa of gnathopod 1, the dactylus of gnathopod 2, the inner and outer plates of maxilla 1, and the distal margin of telson. The global geographical distribution of the genus Curidia is mostly from tropical to subtropical seas; five species are documented in the southern hemisphere and three in the northern hemisphere. Only C. debrogania, C. monicae, and C. nunoi sp. nov. are restricted to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.


Author(s):  
Jesús Montoya-Mendoza ◽  
Guillermo Salgado-Maldonado ◽  
Yuri Okolodkov

Abstract Engraulicola lamothei n. sp. (Monogenea: Gastrocotylidae) is described from the gills of Chloroscombrus chrysurus (Teleostei: Carangidae) from Veracruz, southern Gulf of Mexico. This monogenean is 1110-1670 (1328) µm long and 260-550 (363) µm wide. The haptor is asymmetrical, the long side has several clamps (35-42), and the short side has a single clamp; the posterior end has a small lappet armed with two dissimilar pairs of hooks. Male and female genital pores open near the anterior body end; the male genital pore is ventral, armed with a corona of 12 spines; the female pore is dorsal and unarmed. The new species differs from Engraulicola forcipopenis George, 1960 and from Engraulicola micropharyngella Unnithan, 1967 by lacking a pair of pointed forceps-like spines at the end of the penis amid the corona spines, and from Engraulicola thrissocles Tripathi, 1959 by the number of clamps on both sides, the number the hook pairs on the terminal lappet and the testis number. This is the first record of the genus Engaulicola George, 1960 on the Atlantic West Coast.


2014 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. 256-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. A. Kataeva

Ramalina sekika Asahina is reported for the first time from Russia from Sakhalin. It refers to the number of rare and poorly investigated species of the genus. Until now it was considered to be endemic to northeastern China. The original description and the location in the Far East are given, as well as the data on anatomical and morphological study of the Russian specimen. The differences in the anatomical structure of its thallus are discussed. A comparison of anatomical and morphological characters of R. sekika, R. pollinaria (Westr.) Ach. (European material), R. yasudae Räsänen has been made; the author considers them as independent species.


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