First record of the interaction between the arthropod-pathogenic fungus Gibellula and a new species of harvestman Auranus (Stygnidae) narrowly endemic to the Brazilian rain forest.

Harvestmen are one of the largest groups of arachnids with more than 6,500 species distributed in 1,500 genera and 50 families. However, the interactions between harvestmen and arthropod-pathogenic fungi have rarely been studied. Certain previous studies report that fungal attack represents one of the most important factors for the mortality of harvestmen, but the fungus has rarely been identified, and most of the important information about the fungus-host interactions remains unrecorded. In the present study, we have described the new species Auranus quilombola sp. nov. and reported its interactions with the arthropod-pathogenic fungus Gibellula sp. Auranus quilombola sp. nov. belongs to the family Stygnidae, and it is endemic to the humid mountain forests of Cear state, Brazil in an area of endemism known as Brejos Cearenses. The species is related to five other species of Auranus, all of which have been recorded from the Amazon rainforest. A taxonomic description of this new species and its biogeographic implications have also been discussed in this paper.

Taxonomy of the genus Cyrtopholis Simon, 1892 (Araneae, Mygalomorphae, Theraphosidae): Cuban species described by Pelegrín Franganillo Balboa.

Cyrtopholis Simon 1892 is a spider genus from the Caribbean islands characterized by the presence of stridulatory setae on trochanter of palps and legs I. Franganillo Balboa described eight species of Cyrtopholis Simon 1892 from Cuba between 1926-1936. The type-material is deposited in the Instituto de Ecología y Sistematica do Ministerio de Ciencias, Tecnologia e Meio Ambiente, La Habana, Cuba. Four species are redescribed here: Cyrtopholis plumosa Franganillo, 1931, Cyrtopholis major Franganillo, 1926, Cyrtopholis unispina Franganillo, 1926 and Cyrtopholis gibbosa Franganillo, 1936. Cyrtopholis ischnoculoformis Franganillo, 1926 is based on a juvenile specimen without stridulatory setae, and it is therefore considered here as species inquirenda. The type-material of two other species were not located: Cyrtopholis anacanta Franganillo, 1935 and Cyrtopholis obsoleta (Franganillo, 1935), and are considered to be lost. These two species are here considered as species inquirenda, since the original descriptions do not permit identification. Cyrtopholis respina Franganillo 1935 is considered a nomen dubium, due to the lack of a formal description and a doubtful citation.

Paragoniosomatinae, a new subfamily of Gonyleptidae (Arachnida: Opiliones), based on a new species from the Chapada Diamantina relict cloud forests, Brazil.

In this paper, we describe a new subfamily of Gonyleptidae, Paragoniosomatinae subfam. nov., based on a new genus and species, Paragoniosoma cachaceiro gen. nov., sp. nov., found in an upper montane cloud forest of Chapada Diamantina mountains, one of the small interior patches of Atlantic Forest. This discovery suggests that the narrow-restricted cloud forests are old relicts of an Atlantic Forest hotspot. Paragoniosoma cachaceiro gen. nov., sp. nov. is characterized by the presence of four areas on the dorsal scutum, serose dry mark in areas III-IV, seven basal setae in penis (macrosetae A and B) in two rows, and very large tarsal process. We performed a phylogenetic analysis based on morphological characters that revealed a close relationship of the new species with Goniosomatinae, a subfamily that includes six genera and 38 valid species distributed throughout the coastal Atlantic Forest. The new species also has the same habitat and other behavioural and ecological traits as Goniosomatinae, furnishing great insights on the evolution of their characteristic biology, e.g., subsocial behavior. Field surveys of harvestmen from the type locality and nearby lowland seasonal forests indicate a unique fauna, including additional new, undescribed species. In addition to phylogenetics, this dissimilarity with other regions and the presence of endemic species of other animal and plant taxa provide support for the consideration of the cloud montane patches of Chapada Diamantina as relicts. We discuss this rule in the historical biogeographic context of Atlantic Forest and suggest that the new species represents evidence of an Atlantic Forest that was more widespread in the past.

Areas of endemism of land planarians (Platyhelminthes: Tricladida) in the Southern Atlantic Forest.

Areas of endemism (AoE) are the main study units in analytical biogeographic methods, and are often defined as an area with two or more endemic species living in them, presenting substantial congruence among their range limits. We explored the distribution of land planarians (Geoplanidae, Platyhelminthes) across the southern region of the Brazilian Atlantic forest (from the state of Rio de Janeiro, to the state of Rio Grande do Sul) utilizing DaSilva's et al. (2015) protocol. We used two methods, Endemicity Analysis (EA), and Geographical Interpolation of Endemism (GIE). We identified nine AoE of terrestrial flatworms in the Southern Atlantic forest. Performance of the methodologies is discussed. These AoE of land planarians can be explained through vicariance events combined with their physiological and ecological own limitations. Interestingly, these AoE are congruent with fine-scale approaches such as that with harvestmen. Most land planarians have revealed to present a very small distributional range evidencing their potential as a good model for fine-scale studies of AoE.

Light from dark: A relictual troglobite reveals a broader ancestral distribution for kimulid harvestmen (Opiliones: Laniatores: Kimulidae) in South America.

A new troglobitic harvestman, Relictopiolus galadriel gen. nov et sp. nov., is described from Olhos d'Água cave, Itacarambi, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Morphological characters, including male genitalia and exomorphology, suggest that this species belongs to the family Kimulidae, and it appears to share the greatest similarities with Tegipiolus pachypus. Bayesian inference analyses of a molecular dataset strongly support the inclusion of this species in Kimulidae and confirm the hypothesized sister-group relationship between R. galadriel and T. pachypus. A time calibrated phylogeny indicates that these sister-taxa diverged from a common ancestor approximately 40 Mya, during the Paleogene. The current range of Kimulidae illustrates a remarkable disjunct distribution, and leads us to hypothesize that the ancestral distribution of Kimulidae was once much more widespread across eastern Brazil. This may be attributed to the Eocene radiation associated with the warming (and humidifying) events in the Cenozoic when the best conditions for evergreen tropical vegetation in South America were established and followed by the extinction of kimulid epigean populations together with the retraction of rain forests during the Oligocene to Miocene cooling. The discovery of this relictual troglobite indicates that the Olhos d'Água cave was a stable refugium for this ancient lineage of kimulids and acted as a "museum" of biodiversity. Our findings, considered collectively with the diverse troglofauna of the Olhos d'Água cave, highlight it as one of the most important hotspots of troglobite diversity and endemism in the Neotropics. Given the ecological stresses on this habitat, the cavernicolous fauna are at risk of extinction and we emphasize the urgent need for appropriate conservation actions. Finally, we propose the transfer of Acanthominua, Euminua, Euminuoides and Pseudominua from Kimulidae to Zalmoxidae, resulting in two new synonymies and 13 new combinations.

Event-based biogeography of Eusarcus dandara sp. nov. (Opiliones: Gonyleptidae), an endemic species of the Northern Atlantic Rainforest of Brazil, and its closely related species.

Here, we describe a new species of Eusarcus and reconstruct the geographical evolution of its species group based on biogeographical event-based analysis. Eusarcus dandara sp. nov. has been recorded from Alagoas state, in northeastern Brazil, which represents an important range extension of the genus to the northern Atlantic Rainforest. We performed a cladistic morphological analysis based on new data and data from a previous systematic review of the genus to reconstruct the phylogenetic placement of the new species. This analysis resulted in six most parsimonious cladograms. We performed the biogeographical reconstruction using the Treefitter 1.3B1 algorithm for the clade of eight species that includes E. dandara sp. nov., and we tested the significance of the reconstructions. We found two alternative reconstructions depended on the differences in species relationships; both were significant (0.002 ≤ p ≤ 0.019). The phylogenetic placement of the new species is consistent with some expectations based on previous biogeographical studies of Atlantic Rainforest harvestmen. Reconstructions reveal the origin of the species group in the northeast region, in the Atlantic Rainforest plus interior and dry biomes, such as the Caatinga xeric shrubland and Cerrado savanna, with subsequent dispersal to the southeast region. Harvestmen are good models to study the historical biogeography of the Atlantic Rainforest, especially those species that are endemic, like most Eusarcus. We have demonstrated a complex history of the spatial evolution of the group and the importance of the adjacent drier biomes in the evolution of endemic organisms of the Atlantic Rainforest.

A protocol for the delimitation of areas of endemism and the historical regionalization of the Brazilian Atlantic Rain Forest using harvestmen distribution data.

The concept of areas of endemism (AoEs) has rarely been discussed in the literature, even though the use of methods to ascertain them has recently increased. We introduce a grid-based protocol for delimiting AoEs using alternative criteria for the recognition of AoEs that are empirically tested with harvestmen species distributions in the Atlantic Rain Forest. Our data, comprising 778 records of 123 species, were analysed using parsimony analysis of endemicity and endemicity analysis on four different grids (two cell sizes and two cell placements). Additionally, we employed six qualitative combined criteria for the delimitation of AoEs and applied them to the results of the numerical analyses in a new protocol to objectively delimit AoEs. Twelve AoEs (the most detailed delimitation of the Atlantic Rain Forest so far) were delimited, partially corroborating the main divisions previously established in the literature. The results obtained with the grid-based methods were contradictory and were plagued by artefacts, probably due to the existence of different endemism patterns in one cell or to a biogeographical barrier set obliquely to latitudinal and longitudinal axes, for example. Consequently, the congruence patterns found by them should not be considered alone; qualitative characteristics of species and clade distributions and abiotic factors should be evaluated together. Mountain slopes are the main regions of endemism, and large river valleys are the main divisions. Refuges, marine transgressions and tectonic activity seem to have played an important role in the evolution of the Atlantic Rain Forest.

Description of Mitogoniella mucuri sp. nov. (Opiliones: Gonyleptidae) and considerations on polymorphic traits in the genus and Gonyleptidae.

Mitogoniella mucuri sp. nov. is described for some caves in Minas Gerais, Brazil. This species differs from other Mitogoniella species by large tubercles on the ocularium that have fused bases and free apices (or almost fully fused tubercles with bifurcated apices), and by a large dry-mark between tubercles on the longitudinal groove of area III. Mitogoniella species are hard to recognize: their males lack any armature on leg IV (normally an important diagnostic character among gonyleptid species), and they also present many polymorphisms in coloration (dry-mark), male secondary sex characters, the number of dorsal scutal granules, and the shapes of tubercles on the ocularium. The patterns of these polymorphisms are discussed for the genus and for the family. The present work also presents new occurrences for all the species of the genus, and their biogeography is discussed.