scholarly journals Spider crabs of the Western Atlantic with special reference to fossil and some modern Mithracidae

PeerJ ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. e1301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adiël A. Klompmaker ◽  
Roger W. Portell ◽  
Aaron T. Klier ◽  
Vanessa Prueter ◽  
Alyssa L. Tucker

Spider crabs (Majoidea) are well-known from modern oceans and are also common in the western part of the Atlantic Ocean. When spider crabs appeared in the Western Atlantic in deep time, and when they became diverse, hinges on their fossil record. By reviewing their fossil record, we show that (1) spider crabs first appeared in the Western Atlantic in the Late Cretaceous, (2) they became common since the Miocene, and (3) most species and genera are found in the Caribbean region from the Miocene onwards. Furthermore, taxonomic work on some modern and fossil Mithracidae, a family that might have originated in the Western Atlantic, was conducted. Specifically,Maguimithraxgen. nov. is erected to accommodate the extant speciesDamithrax spinosissimus, whileDamithraxcf.pleuracanthusis recognized for the first time from the fossil record (late Pliocene–early Pleistocene, Florida, USA). Furthermore, two new species are described from the lower Miocene coral-associated limestones of Jamaica (Mithrax arawakumsp. nov. andNemausa windsoraesp. nov.). Spurred by a recent revision of the subfamily, two known species from the same deposits are refigured and transferred to new genera:Mithrax donovanitoNemausa, andMithrax unguistoDamithrax. The diverse assemblage of decapods from these coral-associated limestones underlines the importance of reefs for the abundance and diversity of decapods in deep time. Finally, we quantitatively show that these crabs possess allometric growth in that length/width ratios drop as specimens grow, a factor that is not always taken into account while describing and comparing among taxa.

2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 697-705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geerat J. Vermeij

The earliest known members of the Thais clade of rapanine muricid neogastropods comprise four species from the Cantaure Formation (early Miocene: Burdigalian) of Venezuela; three of these species are new. Neorapana rotundata Gibson-Smith et al., 1997, is most closely related to the Recent Pacific Mexican N. tuberculata (Sowerby, 1835), and represents the only known Atlantic occurrence of the genus. Thais brevicula new species is closest to T. callaoensis (Gray, 1828) from the Recent of northern Peru and the Galápagos. A review of the genus Thais indicates that the typical members of this group occur in the South Atlantic, West Africa, and eastern Pacific, but not in the Recent fauna of the southern Caribbean. Stramonita bifida new species is a large species related to the Recent S. haemastoma floridana (Conrad, 1837), which occurs throughout the Caribbean. A review of American species of Stramonita indicates that the taxon S. biserialis (de Blainville, 1832) from the Recent fauna of the eastern Pacific, and the taxon S. h. haemastoma (Linnaeus, 1767), may each be composed of more than one species despite the teleplanic dispersal of their larvae. Stramonita semiplicata new species is closely related to the Recent S. bicarinata (de Blainville, 1832) from the South Atlantic, and represents a lineage that occurred in the Caribbean region until at least the late Miocene. It may have given rise to the eastern Pacific genus Acanthais. The higher diversity and greater antipredatory specialization of eastern Pacific as compared to western Atlantic members of the Thais clade may have resulted from higher post-Miocene rates of speciation and lower extinction rates in the eastern Pacific.


Check List ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 767-772 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Polanco F. ◽  
Luisa F. Dueñas ◽  
Jorge Leon ◽  
Vladimir Puentes

Acanthonus armatus Günther, 1878 is reported for the first time in the southwestern Caribbean region, off Colombia. Remote Operate Vehicle videos and towed camera still photographs captured 13 images of A. armatus between 2215 and 2564 m. These are the first records of the species in the Caribbean continental coast of Colombia, representing a range extension to the southwestern Caribbean region, since previous records are from the northeastern Caribbean. Some photos of the specimens and the current distribution of the species in the Caribbean region are provided and reviewed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 774 ◽  
pp. 155-177
Author(s):  
Hossein Ashrafi ◽  
J. Antonio Baeza ◽  
Zdeněk Ďuriš

The present study focuses on shrimps belonging to the genus Lysmata Risso, 1816, collected from Madagascar during the Atimo Vatae expedition carried out in 2010. Lysmata malagasy sp. nov. is a new species belonging to the clade named “long accessory ramous” or “cosmopolitan” in previous phylogenetic studies. The new species can be distinguished from the only two other representatives of this group in the Indo-west Pacific, L. ternatensis De Man, 1902, and L. trisetacea (Heller, 1861), by the accessory ramus of the lateral antennular flagellum consisting of four elongated articles. Lysmata lipkei Okuno & Fiedler, 2010 is reported here from Madagascar with a remarkable extension of its known range after its original description from Japan. This species has also been reported from Singapore and, as alien species, from Brazil. Lastly, L. kuekenthali De Man, 1902 known from numerous localities in the Indo-West Pacific biogeographic area, is reported for the first time from Madagascar. Results of the present morphological and molecular analyses suggest that L. hochi Baeza & Anker, 2008 from the Caribbean Sea is a synonym of the Indo-West Pacific L. kuekenthali, and thus the latter species is alien in the western Atlantic.


Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4689 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-141
Author(s):  
DALE R. CALDER

Sixty species of hydroids, assigned to 24 families and 39 genera, are recognized and discussed in a collection of material from the southwest coast of Florida. One new species (Clytia joycei) is described from turtlegrass (Thalassia testudinum) and reported as well from the Caribbean coast of Panama. Under provisions of the First Reviser Principle in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, Antennopsis nigra Nutting, 1900 is assigned precedence over its simultaneous synonym A. longicorna Nutting, 1900. Also included as a synonym of A. nigra is A. sinuosa Fraser, 1947b. The species is now assigned to Nemertesia Lamouroux, 1816, as N. nigra. Following Reversal of Precedence provisions in the code, the well-known name Halecium nanum Alder, 1859 is designated as valid and conserved as a nomen protectum, while Hydra articulata Bosc, 1797 is relegated to a nomen oblitum. The genus Monotheca Nutting, 1900 is upheld as valid on the basis of both morphological and molecular evidence. Sertularia pourtalesi Nutting, 1904, a seldom-reported species, is assigned to Dynamena Lamouroux, 1812 and recognized as distinct from D. disticha (Bosc, 1802). Calyptospadix cerulea Clarke, 1882 and Bimeria franciscana Torrey, 1902 (also known as Garveia franciscana) are taken to be conspecific, with Calyptospadix Clarke, 1882 treated as a valid genus. Confusion over the identity of Lovenella gracilis Clarke, 1882 in literature on North American hydroids is addressed, and topotypic specimens from the Chesapeake Bay region are illustrated to document characters that distinguish the species. Campanularia colombiana (Wedler, 1976) is reported for the first time outside the Caribbean coast of Colombia. The fauna studied here consists largely of species known to occur in the tropical and subtropical western Atlantic. [Zoobank URL: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:4C926BE2-D75D-449A-9EAD-14CADACFFADD] 


2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (23) ◽  
pp. 8674-8685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Chenoweth

Abstract A comprehensive new compilation of North Atlantic tropical cyclone activity for the years 1851–98 is presented and compared with the second-generation North Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT2) for the same years. This new analysis is based on the retrieval of 9072 newspaper marine shipping news reports, 1260 original logbook records, 271 Maury abstract logs, 147 U.S. marine meteorological journals, and 34 Met Office (UKMO) logbooks. Records from throughout North America and the Caribbean region were used along with other primary and secondary references holding unique land and marine data. For the first time, North Atlantic daily weather maps for 1864/65, 1873, and 1881–98 were used in historical tropical cyclone research. Results for the years 1851–98 include the omission of 62 of the 361 HURDAT2 storms, and the further reduction resulting from the merging of storms to a total of 288 unique HURDAT2 tropical cyclones. The new compilation gave a total of 497 tropical cyclones in the 48-yr record, or an average of 10.4 storms per year compared to 6.0 per year in HURDAT2 less the author’s omissions. Of this total, 209 storms are completely new. A total of 90 hurricanes made landfall in the United States during this time. Seven new U.S. landfalling hurricanes are present in the new dataset but not in HURDAT2. Eight U.S. landfalling hurricanes in HURDAT2 are now considered to have only tropical storm impact or were actually extratropical at landfall. Across the North Atlantic, the number of category-4 hurricanes based on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale, compared with HURDAT2, increased from 11 to 25, 6 of which made U.S. landfall at category-4 level.


Zootaxa ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 1298 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
FREDDY BRAVO ◽  
DANILO CORDEIRO ◽  
CINTHIA CHAGAS

Two new species of Brazilian Psychoda Latreille are described, and Psychoda alternata Say and P. zetoscota Quate are recorded for the first time from Brazil. Psychoda divaricata Duckhouse, already described from southern Brazil, was recorded in the northeastern part of that country, as well as in the eastern Amazon region. The supraspecific classification proposed for the species of Psychoda according to Quate (= Psychodini of Jeñek) are discussed. A new classification is suggested that considers only one genus, Psychoda, divided into 12 subgenera: subgenus Psychoda Latreille, subgenus Copropsychoda Vaillant, subgenus Falsologima Jeñek & Harten, subgenus Psychodula Jeñek, subgenus Psychomora Jeñek, subgenus Psychana Jeñek & Harten, subgenus Logima Eaton, subgenus Tinearia Schellenberg, subgenus Chodopsycha Jeñek, subgenus Ypsydocha Jeñek, subgenus Psychodocha Jeñek, and subgenus Psycha Jeñek. A list of the Psychoda species from Latin America and the Caribbean region is presented.


Zootaxa ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 332 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID E. BAUMGARDNER ◽  
STEVEN K. BURIAN ◽  
DAVID BASS

The larval stages of Tricorythodes fictus Traver, T. cobbi Alba-Tercedor and Flannagan, and T. mosegus Alba-Tercedor and Flannagan are described for the first time based upon reared specimens. The rarely reported Asioplax dolani (Allen) is newly documented from the Austroriparian ecological region of Texas. Leptohyphes zalope Traver, known from the southwestern United States and much of Central America, is newly documented from the Caribbean Islands of Grenada and Tobago. This represents only the second leptohyphid mayfly known from both Continental America and the Caribbean region. Additional Caribbean records of Allenhyphes flinti (Allen) are also given.


Zootaxa ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2060 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. GOTTFRIED PILLAI

While earlier works have shown that the operculum is inserted in the position of the first or second branchial radiole in serpulimorph taxa, the present paper shows that it is inserted independently of the branchial radioles of both sides in the genera Galeolaria and Pyrgopolon. Although both genera possess several characters in common with the group consisting of Pomatoleios, Pomatoceros and Spirobranchus, a cladistic analysis revealed that they form two distinct clades, as sister groups to each other. Extant species of Pyrgopolon occur mainly in the Caribbean region, and of Galeolaria in eastern Australia and New Zealand. However, there is palaeontological evidence indicating that fossil species of Pyrgopolon had a wider geographical distribution, having existed in Europe during geological times.


2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (12) ◽  
pp. 2190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Pfingstl ◽  
Julia Baumann ◽  
Andrea Lienhard ◽  
Heinrich Schatz

Two new intertidal oribatid mite species were found on the coast of Bonaire. Litoribates bonairensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from its only congener, L. caelestis, by the cerotegumental pattern and shape of sensillus. This is also the first record of the genus from the Caribbean region. Thasecazetes falcidactylus gen. nov., sp. nov. is characterized by conspicuous longitudinal notogastral ridges and sickle shaped claws and represents a new selenoribatid genus that probably shows a wider distribution within the Caribbean. Both species were found in mangrove habitats. An ecological preference for this environment may be considered. A morphometric investigation of Litoribates and Alismobates populations from the Galápagos Archipelago in the Eastern Pacific, several Caribbean areas and the Western Atlantic Bermuda Islands revealed certain remarkable facts: First, Litoribates species show a conspicuous higher size variation between the different locations than Alismobates species; second, the geographic distance between the populations is reflected in the extent of divergence and third, similar variation patterns shown in Litoribates and Alismobates indicate that both taxa have experienced similar evolutionary histories in the respective geographic regions. An additional molecular genetic analysis provides barcoding sequences for the new taxa and confirms their taxonomic distinctness. 


1994 ◽  
Vol 68 (5) ◽  
pp. 951-977 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann F. Budd ◽  
Thomas A. Stemann ◽  
Kenneth G. Johnson

To document evolutionary patterns in late Cenozoic Caribbean reef corals, we compiled composite stratigraphic ranges of 49 genera and 175 species using Neogene occurrences in the Cibao Valley sequence of the northern Dominican Republic and faunal lists for 24 Miocene to Recent sites across the Caribbean region. This new compilation benefits in particular from increased sampling at late Miocene to early Pleistocene sites and from increased resolution and greater taxonomic consistency provided by the use of morphometric procedures in species recognition.Preliminary examination and quantitative analysis of origination and extinction patterns suggest that a major episode of turnover took place between 4 and 1 Ma during Plio-Pleistocene time. During the episode, extinctions were approximately simultaneous in species of all reef-building families, except the Mussidae. Most strongly affected were the Pocilloporidae (Stylophora and Pocillopora), Agariciidae (Pavona and Gardineroseris), and free-living members of the Faviidae and Meandrinidae. At the genus level, mono- and paucispecific as well as more speciose genera became regionally extinct. Many of the extinct genera live today in the Indo-Pacific region, and some are important components of modern eastern Pacific reefs. Global extinctions were concentrated in free-living genera. During the turnover episode, no new genera or higher taxa arose. Instead, new species originated within the surviving Caribbean genera at approximately the same time as the extinctions, including many dominant modern Caribbean reef-building corals (e.g., Acropora palmata and the Montastraea annularis complex).Excluding this episode, the taxonomic composition of the Caribbean reef-coral fauna remained relatively unchanged during the Neogene. Minor exceptions include: 1) high originations in the Agariciidae and free-living corals during late Miocene time; and 2) regional or global extinctions of several important Oligocene Caribbean reef builders during early to middle Miocene time.


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