A new species of alien terrestrial planarian in Spain: Caenoplana decolorata

Terrestrial planarians found in a plant nursery in Spain in 2012 are described as a new species, Caenoplana decolorata. Dorsally they are mahogany brown with a cream median line. Ventrally they are pastel turquoise fading to brown laterally. Molecular data indicate that they are a member of the genus Caenoplana, but that they differ from other Caenoplana species found in Europe. One mature specimen has been partially sectioned, and the musculature and copulatory apparatus is described, confirming the generic placement but distinguishing the species from other members of the genus. It is probable that the species originates from Australia.

Redescription and new records of Phoroncidia septemaculeata O. Pickard Cambridge 1873 from India (Araneae: Theridiidae)

The genus Phoroncidia Westwood 1835 is currently represented by 81 species and is cosmopolitan in distribution. Currently, four species are known from India, namely Phoroncidia aculeata Westwood 1835, Phoroncidia maindroni (Simon 1905), Phoroncidia septemaculeata O. Pickard-Cambridge 1873 and Phoroncidia testudo (O. Pickard-Cambridge 1873) (World Spider Catalog 2019). P. septemaculeata O. Pickard-Cambridge 1873 was described based on a few specimens collected by Mr G. H. K. Thwaites in 1871 from Sri Lanka and it was mostly derived from the somatic features of the species. Recently, Patil et al. (2018) reported two subadult males presumed to be Phoroncidia septemaculeata from the Maharashtra state in India. Until now, no mature specimen of the species has been reported and its genitalia remains unknown. This paper provides a detailed redescription of P. septemaculeata, including illustrations of male and female genitalia for the first time, based on fresh materials collected from different localities in the Coastal Plains and Western Ghats of Kerala state and Coastal plains of Tamil Nadu. Additionally, the current distributional range and new records of the species is mapped.

Morphology and development of the Portuguese man of war, Physalia physalis

The Portuguese man of war, Physalia physalis, is one of the most conspicuous, but poorly understood members of the pleuston, a community of organisms that occupy a habitat at the sea-air interface. Physalia physalis is a siphonophore that uses a gas-filled float as a sail to catch the wind. The development, morphology, and colony organization of P. physalis is very different from all other siphonophores. Here, we look at live and fixed larval and juvenile specimens, and use optical projection tomography to build on existing knowledge about the morphology and development of this species. We also propose a framework for homologizing the axes with other siphonophores, and also suggest that the tentacle bearing zooids should be called tentacular palpons. Previous descriptions of P. physalis larvae, especially descriptions of budding order, were often framed with the mature colony in mind. However, we use the simpler organization of larvae and the juvenile specimens to inform our understanding of the morphology, budding order, and colony organization in the mature specimen. Finally, we review what is known about the ecology and lifecycle of P. physalis.

Morphology and development of the Portuguese man of war, Physalia physalis

The Portuguese man of war, Physalia physalis, is a siphonophore that uses a gas-filled float as a sail to catch the wind. It is one of the most conspicuous, but poorly understood members of the pleuston, a community of organisms that occupy a habitat at the sea-air interface. The development, morphology, and colony organization of P. physalis is very different from all other siphonophores. Here, we propose a framework for homologizing the axes with other siphonophores, and also suggest that the tentacle bearing zooids should be called tentacular palpons. We also look at live and fixed larval and non-reproductively mature juvenile specimens, and use optical projection tomography to build on existing knowledge about the morphology and development of this species. Previous descriptions of P. physalis larvae, especially descriptions of budding order, were often framed with the mature colony in mind. However, we use the simpler organization of larvae and the juvenile specimens to inform our understanding of the morphology, budding order, and colony organization in the mature specimen. Finally, we review what is known about the ecology and lifecyle of P. physalis.

Challenges and Benefits of Transplanting Large Trees: An Introduction to the Workshop

Across horticultural crops the trend is to transplant larger plants to achieve the intended landscape effects or to produce the desired yield without the long wait associated with direct seeding or small transplant technology. Consumers want immediate gratification (a landscape design that produces the desired aesthetics without the wait for plants to grow to mature sizes). This trend extends from the use of large herbaceous plants for instant landscape color, transplanting of vegetable plants already in fruit to the home garden for early yield, to transplanting larger shrubs and trees to effect the impression of an established landscape. This trend logically culminates in the transplanting of large, mature specimen trees to create the appearance of a fully mature landscape. This workshop will explore the potential benefits of this approach and the challenges associated with successful transplanting of large trees.

The Cephalopod by-Catch of Deep-Water Trawling on the Hebrides Slope

Deep-water trawling for fish species on the shelf slope off Scotland results in a by-catch of rare cephalopod species. The cirrate octopus Opisthoteuthis grimaldii is normally present below 800 m; at least one other species of cirrate and five species of incirrate octopus are found; significant extensions of range and depth are recorded. An incidental catch of the ommastrephid squid, Todarodes sagittatus, included a fully mature specimen and is indicative of its probable breeding locations. The results highlight the many taxonomic and systematic uncertainties surrounding the rarer cephalopod forms, and emphasize the utility of the fishing by-catch.

Sinodiversograptus—Its occurrence in Australia and northern Canada

Sinodiversograptus Mu and Chen, 1962, from the Monograptus turriculatus Zone of the lower Telychian (=Upper Llandovery, Silurian), is the earliest known Silurian graptolite genus to bear thecal cladia. Only one species of sinodiversograptid is known, this being S. lientanensis (Mu, 1948). A mature specimen of this species is illustrated in Figure 1. The genus Sinodiversograptus has been portrayed as such in both the Treatise (Bulman, 1970) and in Rickards et al.'s (1977) analysis of the evolution of the Silurian and Devonian graptoloids. Mu and Chen (1962), however, in their detailed study of the astogeny of the conspecific S. multibrachiatus, noted that the development of Sinodiversograptus may be divided into three stages.1) Streptograptid stage (Figure 2.1)—development is as in a normal monograptid, with the first theca arising from the sicula. Subsequent thecae are added sympodially. Rickards et al. (1977) noted that the thecae of Sinodiversograptus are not streptograptid in form (i.e., retroverted, with an aperture slit-like laterally, but possessing a median upturned lip—see Chen, 1986, for illustrations of chemically isolated streptograptid thecae), but are hooked (Figure 2.8), an observation also made by the present author of the thecae of Mu and Chen's (1962) specimens (housed in the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology). They most closely resemble the thecae of Monograptus runcinatus Lapworth, 1876, as illustrated, for example, by Bjerreskov (1975). This first stage of development might, therefore, more correctly be termed the monograptid stage.

Implosion of living Nautilus under increased pressure

In a hyperbaric chamber, a living mature specimen of Nautilus pompilius withstood a hydrostatic pressure of 8.05 MPa (80.5 kg/cm2) equivalent to 785 m deep in the sea. Thereafter it was killed instantly by implosion of the shell. Before implosion, the animal reacted physiologically to increasing pressure. Therefore, the depth of 785 m can be assigned the depth limit of N. pompilius. The result bears on critical interpretations on the paleoecology and paleobiology of extinct nautiloids and ammonoids with similar shells.

Preliminary Note on the Anatomy of a Polystome from the Bladder of Xenopus laevis Daud

Six specimens of Xenopus laevis obtained from University College, London, were examined for polystomes; one harboured an adult worm measuring 2·1 mm. in length and two immature specimens, both 0·8 mm. in length, and one was parasitized by a single mature specimen measuring 2·4 mm. in length.

MAIN ARTERIES IN THE REGION OF THE NECK AND THORAX OF THE AUSTRALIAN CASSOWARY

A mature specimen of the Australian cassowary (Casuarius australis Wallace) was dissected and a diagram of the main arteries in the neck region prepared. In the arrangement and distribution of these arteries, the cassowary differs from other species of birds previously studied. The left radix aortae and left ductus Botalli remain as a ligamentous vestige, the ligamentum aortae. The left internal carotid artery alone enters the hypapophysial canal. The right internal carotid artery is lacking or has become modified to form the ascending oesophageal artery of the adult, in the basal portion of the neck. The pattern of the arrangement of the main arteries in the neck and thorax shows a relatively primitive avian condition.