Tactic-specific antimicrobial activity suggests a parental care function for accessory glands in a marine toadfish

Males of some species possess extra reproductive organs called accessory glands which are outgrowths of the testes or sperm duct. These organs have a well-established role in reproduction; however, they also appear to have other important functions that are less understood. Here, we investigate the function of the highly complex accessory glands of a marine toadfish, Porichthys notatus , a fish with two reproductive male types: large care-providing ‘guarder’ males and small non-caring ‘sneaker’ males. While both male types have accessory glands, guarder male accessory glands are much larger relative to their body size. We show that accessory gland fluids strongly inhibit the growth of bacterial genera associated with unhealthy eggs and have no effect on the growth of strains isolated from healthy eggs. This antibacterial effect was particularly pronounced for extracts from guarder males. Furthermore, we demonstrate that both healthy and unhealthy plainfin midshipman eggs have diverse but distinct microbial communities that differ in their composition and abundance. The highly specific inhibitory capacity of accessory gland fluid on bacteria from unhealthy eggs was robust across a wide range of ecologically relevant temperatures and salinities. Collectively, these ecological and molecular observations suggest a care function for the accessory gland mediated by antimicrobial agents.

A new species of Trachelopachys Simon, 1897 (Araneae: Trachelidae) from Amazonia

The genus Trachelopachys Simon, 1897 was erected to accommodate Trachelas sericeus Simon, 1886, a species known from southern South America. Platnick (1975) presented a taxonomic review of the genus and Platnick & Rocha (1995) added a new species and transferred two additional species to the genus, raising the known species diversity of Trachelopachys to 15 species. The genus is distributed in South America, their members are small and colorful, and are distinguished from other trachelines by their darkened carapace, the S-shaped tegular sperm duct and the retrolaterally directed embolus of the male palp (Platnick 1975: fig 12), and the presence of a basal spermathecal lobe in females (Platnick 1975: fig 15). Here we describe the 16th species of the genus, Trachelopachys camarapi sp. nov. (Fig. 1), known from both sexes and recorded in a natural savanna (Fig. 2) at Portel municipality, state of Pará, Brazil.

A new species of Sylvicola Harris [1780] from New Zealand (Diptera: Anisopodidae)

A new species of the genus Sylvicola (Anisopodidae) from New Zealand is named and described. Attention is drawn to the remarkably long and complex helical structure of the male sperm duct.

ABDOMINOSCROTAL HYDROCELE IN AN INFANT

The authors describe a rare case of abdominocrotal hydrocele in an infant. A huge cyst of the abdominal cavity was found at the sonographic and X-ray CT examination of the abdominal cavity. During surgery, a giant hydrocele sized 8.0 x 7.0 cm and having communication with the right inguinal canal and scrotum was revealed in the abdominal cavity. The cyst was removed after a preliminary separation of a 15 cm sperm duct which was located along the posteromedial surface of the cyst. After the surgery, the infant recovered completely.