RESUMO
The description of a new representative of the species-poor genus Condyloderes Higgins, 1969 from the Northeast Pacific (Alaska) is reported. The analyzed specimens of Condyloderes shirleyi sp. nov. showed a significant variation of numerous morphological characters, along with female-specific traits known also from other congeneric species. These findings stimulated the re-investigation of the type material of the six species of Condyloderes described so far, i.e., C. kurilensis Adrianov Maiorova, 2016, C. megastigma Sørensen, Rho Kim, 2010b, C. multispinosus (McIntyre, 1962) Higgins, 1969, C. paradoxus Higgins, 1969, C. setoensis Adrianov, Murakami Shirayama, 2002, and C. storchi Higgins, 2004 in Martorelli Higgins, 2004. Our study allowed to reveal various morphological novelties and to emend the diagnosis of these species and of the genus Condyloderes. Furthermore, our analysis led to synonymize C. megastigma with C. setoensis. The results of our investigation about the significant variation in C. shirleyi sp. nov. raise a wider question on species identity within Kinorhyncha, underscoring the necessity, if possible, to describe new species from a higher number of specimens and to concentrate on the morphological variation of the going-to-be-described species.
Assuntos
Invertebrados , Alaska , Animais , FemininoRESUMO
The study falls within the framework of a wider research programme aimed at investigating the gastrotrich diversity of the Tropical North-Western Atlantic (TNWA). A new macrodasyidan gastrotrich is described from fine-medium sand collected at Duncans Bay, Jamaica. The description is based on observations carried out on living specimens using differential interference contrast microscopy. Paraturbanella xaymacanasp. n., the third gastrotrich taxon reported from Jamaica, is a mid-sized species, up to 564 µm long, with a feeble peribuccal swelling. The most obvious autapomorphic traits pertain to the testes and the male pore, both of which are located approximately at mid body, rather than at- or near the pharyngo-intestinal junction as occur in the other species of the genus. Additional differences with congeners are discussed and a key to the Paraturbanella species is provided, in the hope it will be useful to both gastrotrich experts and marine ecologists who discover these microscopic metazoans during their research.
RESUMO
Despite being characterized by some of the most threatened forest ecosystems of Mesoamerica, the Nicoya Peninsula is among the least known regions of neotropical Costa Rica in terms of its birdlife. Within this region, in the framework of an ongoing international cooperation program between Italy and Costa Rica, we had the opportunity to investigate the Karen Mogensen Reserve, a protected area distinguished by the presence of a variety of habitats, including tropical dry forest and moist forest. Species richness in the Reserve was relatively high compared with similar areas in northwestern Costa Rica. A series of surveys carried out over a 20-year period documented an avian community consisting of 207 species, of which 115 were breeding in the zone and another 14 were potentially breeding. We recorded five IUCN globally Vulnerable or Near-Threatened species, along with six species reported for the first time from the Nicoya Peninsula, each representing range extension of more than 100 km. Twenty-six species, mostly breeding in the area, are at their southernmost range borders, and are likely susceptible to global environmental alterations, such as the effects of climate change. Furthermore, our study revealed the presence of two species endemic to a restricted area of Central America and four subspecies endemic to Costa Rica, along with breeding populations of two species that are geographically isolated from the main ones. The present analysis led to the ecological characterization of the resident avian community, showing that 65% of the species are strictly associated with forested environments, and especially with the understory or middle tree level, hence more vulnerable to environmental change (climatic, anthropogenic, etc.) and susceptible to local extinction. These results underscore the importance of the Karen Mogensen Reserve for bird conservation within a vulnerable environmental context, and warrant the continuation of periodic bird surveys, taxonomic study of isolated populations or endemic taxa, and improvement of local conservation measures. The data collected will be an important tool for future studies aimed at evaluating the consequences of habitat fragmentation and to monitor the effects of climate change on the resident avifauna. We exhort the creation of programs that integrate bird monitoring, ecological research, conservation initiatives, and the involvement of the local communities, by promoting environmental education, capacity-building, and income generation. To this purpose, the Karen Mogensen Reserve may represent a convincing model and valuable example to apply in similar neotropical contexts.
RESUMO
During a survey of the biota of the St. Lucia Estuary in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, South Africa, a number of Gastrotricha were found among samples of meiofauna. Fresh, marine sediment yielded several specimens belonging to a total of seven species. Of these, two are already known from other regions (i.e., Dactylopodola australiensis and Heteroxenotrichula squamosa), one is described as new to science (Halichaetonotus sanctaeluciae sp. n.), while the remaining four (Pseudostomella sp., Halichaetonotus sp.1, Halichaetonotus sp. 2, Xenotrichula sp.) require further collections and analysis, in order to establish the extent of their affiliation to species already described. General appearance, shape of hydrofoil scale and the occurrence of three long spines on the dorsal side make the new species most closely related to Halichaetonotus australis and Halichaetonotus marivagus. The key differences from these taxa and between Halichaetonotus sanctaeluciae sp. n. and Halichaetonotus aculifer are discussed.
