​An Annotated Checklist of Finfish and Shellfish Diversity of Pulicat Lake, Southeast Coast of India

Background: Pulicat lake is the second largest brackish water lagoon in the country, lying partly in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states along the Coromandel Coast of South India. The present paper gives information on occurrence, habitat preference, trophic level, human utility and fishery status of finfish and shellfish species of the Pulicat Lake. Methods: An extensive survey was conducted on finfish and shellfish diversity of Pulicat Lake from November 2019 to March 2021, selecting four fish landing centres viz, Pazhaverkadu, Arambakkam (fishing villages in Tamil Nadu), Venadu and Vatembedu (fishing villages in Andhra Pradesh) situated along the Lake. Result: In the present study, A total of 145 species including species of finfishes (95), prawns (8), crabs (7) and 35 molluscs (35) were documented from the Lake. Among the four selected landing centres, the highest diversity was observed in Pazhaverkadu, registering 143 species followed by Arambakkam (123), Vatembedu (85) and Venadu (77).

Scutellaria topcuoglui (Lamiaceae), a new serpentinomorph species from south-western Anatolia, Turkey

Scutellaria topcuoglui (Lamiaceae) from Muğla Province (south-western Anatolia) is described as a new species to science. The new species is morphologically similar to S. glaphyrostachys, but differs from it by several morphological characters, such as the presence of glandular hairs in stems, leaves, bracts, calyx and corolla, scutellum length, corolla length, coloration, and indumentum, mericarp length, coloration, and sculpture, pollen shape, and habitat preference. Diagnostic characters, a comprehensive description, photographs, and a distribution map are provided.

Dinochloa Scandens (Poaceae-Bambusoideae): Distribution, Habitat Preference, and Notes on Synonymy

The distribution of Dinochloa scandens is unclear. World bamboo checklists suggest it is relatively widespread in Malesia. Here we clarify issues with herbarium specimen identification. Besides, a synonym name of D. scandens, namely D. macrocarpa collected from the Philippines, needs to be reviewed. The study aims to provide information on distribution and to review the synonym of D. scandens. The habitat preferences of D. scandens are also presented. We carried out targeted fieldwork at Gunung Halimun-Salak National Park in West Java in 2019 and extensive examination of herbarium specimens from Herbarium Bogoriense and online portals to accurately circumscribe this species. All data were analyzed descriptively. Distribution, altitude, and rainfall maps for D. scandens were produced with ArcGIS Pro. Our examination on the specimens suggests that D. scandens is indeed endemic to West Java and Banten Provinces in Indonesia. This bamboo species can be found in lowland to mountain forests with an altitude of 20-1400 m, in areas with annual rainfall between 3000-4000 mm. We support D. macrocarpa as an accepted name for a bamboo species from the Philippines and remove it from synonymy with D. scandens due to clear differences in the fruit compared to specimens of D. scandens across its range.

Habitat Preference Modeling of Prehistoric Giant Shark Megalodon During Miocene in Bentang Formation of West Java Coast

In the Miocene era about 20 million years ago, the South Coast of West Java was a sea and habitat for marine organisms including giant sharks Megalodon measuring about 18 meters long. This study aimed to model the habitat preference of the prehistoric gigantic shark Otodus megalodon population based on the fossil record. From fossil teeth, it revealed that the rock layer where the teeth found was Bentang formation from Miocene era. Many fossils of Megalodon had been unearthed from Bentang formation which is part of the South Coast of West Java. The habitat model was developed using the Sea Level Rise Inundation Tool of ArcGIS to estimate the sea depth and Megalodon’s habitat during the Miocene. The length of the teeth of O. megalodon found was ranged from 13 to 19 cm, indicating the presence of juvenile and adult O. megalodon. Based on the model, in the Miocene era, half of West Java was a sea with a depth ranging from 0 to 200 meters. At that time, it was estimated that juvenile O. megalodon occupied waters with a depth of 0-40 meters with an area of 1365 km2. Meanwhile, adult O. megalodon prefers a depth of 80-160 m and the frequency of habitat use increases at a depth of 200 m. The declining population of O. megalodon is associated with climate change and declining prey populations.

Abundance and Habitat Preference of the Genus Euplectes in Protected and Non protected Habitats of Jos East Plateau State, Nigeria

The knowledge on the factors influencing habitat selection is of uttermost importance because it guides the development of conservation action plan for species. Till date, there is no baseline study on the genus Euplectes in Northern Nigeria thus, an attempt to investigate the habitat preference of the genus was carried out in Amurum Forest Reserve and the nonprotected habitats of Fobur. Line transects of 200m were randomly laid across the study sites. The abundance of Bishop species was highest in farmland compared to grassland and rocky outcrop. Therefore, the number of the species was significantly different between habitats (F2, 573 = 5.454, P = 0.0015). There was a significant relationship between flock size and number of seeds across habitat types. Number of individual birds increased with increase in seed number (F1, 57 = 21687.786, P < 0.001). With the exception of grass height, there was a highly significant difference in relation to vegetation variables taken between plots where Bishop species were sighted and the random points where they were not seen (P < 0.001). The finding suggests that farmlands should be integrated into conservation plan in the nonprotected area based on the high population of the genus recorded.

Acanthurus mata (Cuvier, 1829), Elongate Surgeonfish (Acanthuridae), newly recorded in the Tropical Eastern Pacifi

The reef-fish fauna of the Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) includes 12 species of surgeonfishes (Acanthuridae), five of them in the genus Acanthurus. Recent recreational scuba diving at Isla Darwin in the Galapagos archipelago produced photographs of adults of an additional species of Acanthurus, A. mata (Cuvier, 1829), for which there are no previous records in the TEP. This species may have escaped previous notice due to its semi-pelagic habitat preference and its resemblance to Acanthurus xanthopterus Valenciennes, 1835, which occurs throughout much of the Galapagos.

THE PROPOSAL OF MONITORING OF SLOW-WORM ANGUIS FRAGILIS L. AND EASTERN SLOW-WORM ANGUIS COLCHICA (NORDMANN, 1840) IN POLAND

The paper presents the proposal for monitoring methods of two species from Anguidae family occurring in Poland such as slow-worm A. fragilis and Eastern slow-worm A. c. incerta. Until recently, both species were considered to be the same taxon. Thanks to genetic research the Eastern slow-worm was isolated from the species A. fragilis. In recent years, phenotypic differences between A. fragilis and A. c. incerta have been described, but it has not been noticed whether there are any behavioral or habitat preference differences. Only the approximate boundary of the occurrence of both species in Poland is known. It may be important to distinguish common areas, as there are known cases of hybridization of A. c. incerta with A. fragilis in the Czech Republic and Hungary. Due to the recent isolation of the Eastern slow-worm, it is still not legally protected in Poland, unlike the partially protected slow-worm.

Review of female Andreimyrme Lelej (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae: Smicromyrmini)

Females of the East Asian velvet-ant genus Andreimyrme Lelej, 1995 are reviewed. The genus definition is extended to accommodate A. borkenti (Williams, 2019), comb. nov. (from Smicromyrme Thomson, 1870), and nine new species: A. auricoma Okayasu, sp. nov. (Malaysia), A. laminatihumeralis Okayasu, sp. nov. (Indonesia, Malaysia), A. matsumotoi Okayasu, sp. nov. (Vietnam), A. naturalis Williams, sp. nov. (Indonesia), A. rong Williams, sp. nov. (Thailand, Vietnam), A. silvorientalis Okayasu, sp. nov. (Indonesia), A. takensis Okayasu, sp. nov. (Thailand), A. ursasolaris Williams, sp. nov. (Indonesia), and A. yotoi Okayasu, sp. nov. (Laos, Vietnam). Diagnoses, distributional records, and illustrations are provided for these and four previously recognized species, A. neaera (Mickel, 1935), A. paniya Terine, Lelej & Girish Kumar, 2021, A. sarawakensis Lelej, 1996, and A. substriolata (Chen, 1957). Andreimyrme borkenti is newly recorded from Vietnam. A key to species known from females is provided. Habitat preference of this genus is discussed based on collecting records.

Changes in the Habitat Preference of Crested Ibis (Nipponia nippon) during a Period of Rapid Population Increase

The number of breeding pairs of crested ibis (Nipponia nippon) in Hanzhong, China has recovered remarkably from 2 to 511 from 1981 to 2019. Although the crested ibis has been closely monitored, the habitat preference of the bird has not been well studied despite the extensive increase in abundance. We used nest site data from the past 39 years and 30 environmental variables to develop species distribution models for each year. We applied random forest to select important environmental variables, and used logistic regressions to quantify the changes in habitat preferences in 39 years, taking into account the effects of interaction and quadratic terms. We found that six variables had strong impacts on nest site selection. The interaction term of rice paddies and waterbodies, and the quadratic term of precipitation of the wettest quarter of the year were the most important correlates of nest presence. Human impact at nest sites changed from low to high as birds increased their use of ancestral habitats with abundant rice paddies. We concluded that during the population recovery, the crested ibises retained their dependence on wetlands, yet moved from remote areas to populated rural regions where food resources had recovered due to the ban of pesticide use.