The Limoniidae collected during the All-Taxa Biodiversity Inventory in Mercantour National Park, France (Diptera)

During work for the All-Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) in Mercantour Park, in French Alps, 23 Limoniidae species were collected. Among them, three are new to French fauna: Dicranomyia (Dicranomyia) imbecilla Lackschewitz, 1941, Dicranomyia (Glochina) transsilvanica Lackschewitz, 1928, and Molophilus (Molophilus) priapus Lackschewitz, 1935. Altitudinal data and other results are commented on.

Identifying Black Corals and Octocorals From Deep-Sea Imagery for Ecological Assessments: Trade-Offs Between Morphology and Taxonomy

An increased reliance on imagery as the source of biodiversity data from the deep sea has stimulated many recent advances in image annotation and data management. The form of image-derived data is determined by the way faunal units are classified and should align with the needs of the ecological study to which it is applied. Some applications may require only low-resolution biodiversity data, which is easier and cheaper to generate, whereas others will require well-resolved biodiversity measures, which require a larger investment in annotation methods. We assessed these trade-offs using a dataset of 5 939 images and physical collections of black and octocorals taken during surveys from a seamount area in the southwest Pacific Ocean. Coral diversity was greatly underestimated in images: only 55 black and octocoral ‘phototaxa’ (best-possible identifications) were consistently distinguishable out of a known 210 species in the region (26%). Patterns of assemblage composition were compared between the phototaxa and a standardized Australian classification scheme (“CATAMI”) that uses morphotypes to classify taxa. Results were similar in many respects, but the identities of dominant, and detection of rare but locally abundant, coral entities were achieved only when annotation was at phototaxon resolution, and when faunal densities were recorded. A case study of data from 4 seamounts compared three additional classification schemes. Only the two with highest resolution – phototaxon and a combined phototaxon-morphological scheme – were able to distinguish black and octocoral communities on unimpacted vs. impacted seamounts. We conclude that image annotation schemes need to be fit-for-purpose. Morphological schemes such as CATAMI may perform well and are most easily standardized for cross-study data sharing, but high resolution (and more costly) annotation schemes are likely necessary for some ecological and management-based applications including biodiversity inventory, change detection (monitoring) – and to develop automated annotation using machine learning.

Scientific Uncertainty and Biodiversity Inventory

All sciences, including biological science, have uncertainty, and they complicate theoretical questions. Uncertainty essentially is a mark of good science, and its efficacious communication is even essential for better decisions. Explaining the research work uncertainties indicates that the scientists are aware of the vital difference between the known and the unknown. Uncertainty is equally significant in biodiversity studies. Species composition of any area can’t be predicted with certainty because of interwoven relationships between species diversity and climatic and anthropogenic factors. Good survey planning with acceptable animal welfare practices could lead to asymptote for inventory of any particular area. Scientists can handle uncertainty in their studies by sensible statistics and reasonably large sample size.

Two new scorpion species from protected areas in Antofagasta Region, Chile (Scorpiones, Bothriuridae, Brachistosternus)

We describe two new scorpion species of genus Brachistosternus from protected areas of Antofagasta Region in northern Chile. Brachistosternus chimba n. sp. has only been collected in La Chimba National Reserve, in the Chilean Coast Range. Brachistosternus llullaillaco n. sp. is a high altitude Andean species of the Lullaillaco National Park. Both species were collected as part of the first survey of the terrestrial arthropods of the protected areas of Antofagasta Region, in the frame of the First National Biodiversity Inventory of Chile of the Integrated System for Monitoring and Evaluation of Native Forest Ecosystems (SIMEF) and Project FIC-R Recovery Plan for La Chimba National Reserve.

Taxonomic papers as published products of the biodiversity inventory: if not the Impact Factor (IF) or Quartiles (Q), then what determines their importance estimated on the basis of the Research Interest Score?

This study is uniquely based on the Research Interest Score (RGRI) and not on other existing bibliometric criteria for evaluation of published biological inventory products (articles and monographs). RGRI is a ResearchGate.net score that measures scientists’ interest in the publication and is based on its citations, recommendations, and reads. Our data revealed that high RGRI scores of publications were generally not determined by the journal’s Impact Factor (IF) or high quartiles (Q). However, open access to publications undoubtedly creates the strongest preconditions for the rise of RGRI. The importance and popularity of a publications can also be affected by its various other characteristics, for example, international collaboration of authors, ecological issues such as plant-insect interactions, and even the wording of the publication title.

Trois espèces de Dicranota Zetterstedt, 1838, nouvelles pour la faune de France et liste actualisée des Pediciidae de France (Diptera)

Three species of Dicranota Zetterstedt, 1838, new for the French fauna and updated list of Pediciidae from France (Diptera). Dicranota (Paradicranota) candelisequa Starý, 1981, D. (P.) capillata Lackschewitz, 1940, et D. (P.) pallens Lackschewitz, 1940, were collected during the all-taxa biodiversity inventory of the integral reserve of Lauvitel, in the Écrins National Park. This is the first mention of these species from France. An updated list of the Pediciidae from France is provided, with 35 species reported from this country.

A new species of the Goblin Spider genus Predatoroonops Brescovit, Rheims & Ott 2012 (Araneae, Dysderoidea: Oonopidae), with new records for the genus

The family Oonopidae Simon, 1890 is composed of tiny spiders between 0.5 and 4mm (Baehr et al. 2012) that are distributed all over the world (Platnick et al. 2020; World Spider Catalog 2021). They occupy diverse habitats, mainly in tropical and subtropical regions (Platnick et al. 2020), generally associated with the soil and litter fauna (Ranasinghe & Benjamin 2018). Oonopidae is among the eight most diverse spider families with 114 genera and 1872 species (World Spider Catalog 2021). Most of this diversity was discovered after 2006, as a result of the Planetary Biodiversity Inventory (PBI) project: Goblin Spider (Platnick et al. 2012). Recent molecular phylogenetic analyses recovered Oonopidae as monophyletic (Wheeler et al. 2017), hypothesis supported by the presence of a synapomorphic pair of completely fused testicles (Burger & Michalik 2010). Brazil has a great diversity of Oonopidae (e.g., Brescovit et al. 2012a; Platnick et al. 2013; Feitosa et al. 2017), including the genus Predatoroonops Brescovit, Rheims & Ott 2012, endemic to the Atlantic Forest, that includes 17 species (World Spider Catalog 2021). The genus can be recognized by the male chelicerae frontally modified, with one or two pairs of distally sclerotized, and sometimes branched, apophyses, and by the pars cephalica dorsally squared (Brescovit et al. 2012b). In this paper, we describe a new species of the genus, based on a male specimen from the State of Minas Gerais: Predatoroonops stani sp. nov.. Also, we give new records for Predatoroonops yautja Brescovit, Rheims & Santos, 2012 from the same state and a distribution map with all the records of Predatoroonops along the Atlantic Forest.

Capture by hybridization for full-length barcode-based eukaryotic and prokaryotic biodiversity inventories for deep sea ecosystems

Biodiversity inventory remains limited in marine systems due to unbalanced access to the three ocean dimensions. The use of environmental DNA (eDNA) for metabarcoding allows fast and effective biodiversity inventory and is forecast as a future biodiversity research and biomonitoring tool. However, in poorly understood ecosystems, eDNA results remain difficult to interpret due to large gaps in reference databases and PCR bias limiting the detection of some major phyla. Here, we aimed to circumvent these limitations by avoiding PCR and recollecting larger DNA fragments to improve assignment of detected taxa through phylogenetic reconstruction. We applied capture by hybridization (CBH) to enrich DNA from deep-sea sediment samples and compared the results with those obtained through an up-to-date metabarcoding PCR-based approach (MTB). Originally developed for bacterial communities by targeting 16S rDNA, the CBH approach was applied to 18S rDNA to improve the detection of species forming benthic communities of eukaryotes, with particular focus on metazoans. The results confirmed the possibility of extending CBH to metazoans with two major advantages: i) CBH revealed a broader spectrum of prokaryotic, eukaryotic, and particularly metazoan diversity, and ii) CBH allowed much more robust phylogenetic reconstructions of full-length barcodes with up to 1900 base pairs. This is particularly important for taxa whose assignment is hampered by gaps in reference databases. This study provides a database and probes to apply 18S CBH to diverse marine systems, confirming this promising new tool to improve biodiversity assessments in data-poor ecosystems like those in the deep sea.

Biodiversity Inventory and Distribution of Metriorrhynchina Net-Winged Beetles (Coleoptera: Lycidae), with the Identification of Generic Ranges

We reviewed the species-level classification of Metriorrhynchina net-winged beetles to make the group accessible for further studies. Altogether, 876 valid species are listed in a checklist along with known synonyms, combinations, and distribution data. The compilation of geographic distribution showed that Metriorrhynchina is distributed mainly in the Australian region with very high diversity in the islands at the northern edge of the Australian craton, i.e., in the Moluccas and New Guinea (54 and 423 spp. respectively). The neighboring northern part of the Australian continent houses a majority of known Australian species (112 spp.) and the diversity of net-winged beetles gradually decreases to the south (43 spp.). The fauna of Sulawesi is highly endemic at the generic level (4 of 10 genera, 67 of 84 spp.). Less Metriorrhynchina occur in the Solomon Islands and Oceania (in total 22 spp.). The Oriental Metriorrhynchina fauna consists of a few genera and a limited number of species, and most of these are known from the Philippines (51 of 94 Oriental spp.). We identified a high species level turn-over between all neighboring landmasses. The genus-level endemism is high in Sulawesi (4 genera) and New Guinea (11 genera), but only a single genus is endemic to Australia. During the compilation of the checklist, we identified some homonyms, and we propose the following replacement names and a new synonym: Metriorrhynchus pseudobasalis, nom. nov. for M. basalis Lea, 1921 nec M. basalis Bourgeois, 1911; Metriorrhynchus pseudofunestus, nom. nov. for M. funestus Lea, 1921 nec M. funestus (Guérin-Méneville, 1838), Trichalus pseudoternatensis, nom. nov. for T. ternatensis Kleine, 1930 nec T. ternatensis Bourgeois, 1900, Procautires subparallelus, nom. nov. for P. parallelus (Pic, 1926) nec P. parallelus (Bourgeois, 1883), and Cautires pseudocorporaali, nom. nov. for C. corporaali (Pic, 1921: 12), (formerly Odontocerus and Cladophorus) nec C. corporaali (Pic, 1921) (formerly Bulenides, later Cautires). Diatrichalus biroi Kleine, 1943, syn. nov. is proposed as a junior subjective synonym of D. subarcuatithorax (Pic, 1926). Altogether, 161 new combinations are proposed, and 47 species earlier placed in Xylobanus Waterhouse, 1879 transferred from Cautirina to Metriorrhynchina incertae sedis. The study clarifies the taxonomy of Metriorrhynchini and should serve as a restarting point for further taxonomic, evolutionary, and biogeographic studies.