Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Discoveries of the week


Heraclides rumiko Shiraiwa & Grishin, sp. n. is described from southwestern United States, Mexico, and Central America (type locality: USA, Texas, Duval County). It is closely allied to H. cresphontes (Cramer, 1777) and the two species are sympatric in central Texas. The new species is diagnosed by male genitalia and exhibits a nearly 3% difference from H. cresphontes in the COI DNA barcode sequence of mitochondrial DNA. The two Heraclides species can usually be told apart by the shape and size of yellow spots on the neck, by the wing shape, and the details of wing patterns. “Western Giant Swallowtail” is proposed as the English name for H. rumiko. To stabilize nomenclature, neotype for Papilio cresphontes Cramer, 1777, an eastern United States species, is designated from Brooklyn, New York, USA; and lectotype for Papilio thoas Linnaeus, 1771 is designated from Suriname. We sequenced DNA barcodes and ID tags of nearly 400 Papilionini specimens completing coverage of all Heraclides species. Comparative analyses of DNA barcodes, genitalia, and facies suggest that Heraclides oviedo (Gundlach, 1866), reinstated status, is a species-level taxon rather than a subspecies of H. thoas (Linnaeus, 1771); and H. pallas (G. Gray, [1853]), reinstated status, with its subspecies H. P. bajaensis (J. Brown & Faulkner, 1992), comb. n., and Heraclides anchicayaensis Constantino, Le Crom & Salazar, 2002, stat. n., are not conspecific with H. astyalus (Godart, 1819).

A new swallowtail species initially recognized as a cryptic species within  Heraclides cresphontes. The species is named after the wife of the first author. 


98 new species of Trigonopterus
Trigonopterus acuminatus 
The genus Trigonopterus Fauvel, 1862 is highly diverse in Melanesia. Only one species, Trigonopterus amphoralis Marshall, 1925 was so far recorded West of Wallace’s Line (Eastern Sumatra). Based on focused field-work the fauna from Sundaland (Sumatra, Java, Bali, Palawan) and the Lesser Sunda Islands (Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores) is here revised. We redescribe T. amphoralis Marshall and describe an additional 98 new species: T. acuminatus sp. n., T. aeneomicans sp. n., T. alaspurwensis sp. n., T. allopatricus sp. n., T. allotopus sp. n., T. angulicollis sp. n., T. argopurensis sp. n., T. arjunensis sp. n., T. asper sp. n., T. attenboroughi sp. n., T. baliensis sp. n., T. batukarensis sp. n., T. bawangensis sp. n., T. binodulus sp. n., T. bornensis sp. n., T. cahyoi sp. n., T. costipennis sp. n., T. cuprescens sp. n., T. cupreus sp. n., T. dacrycarpi sp. n., T. delapan sp. n., T. dentipes sp. n., T. diengensis sp. n., T. dimorphus sp. n., T. disruptus sp. n., T. dua sp. n., T. duabelas sp. n., T. echinatus sp. n., T. empat sp. n., T. enam sp. n., T. fissitarsis sp. n., T. florensis sp. n., T. foveatus sp. n., T. fulgidus sp. n., T. gedensis sp. n., T. halimunensis sp. n., T. honjensis sp. n., T. ijensis sp. n., T. javensis sp. n., T. kalimantanensis sp. n., T. kintamanensis sp. n., T. klatakanensis sp. n., T. lampungensis sp. n., T. latipes sp. n., T. lima sp. n., T. lombokensis sp. n., T. merubetirensis sp. n., T. mesehensis sp. n., T. micans sp. n., T. misellus sp. n., T. palawanensis sp. n., T. pangandaranensis sp. n., T. paraflorensis sp. n., T. pararugosus sp. n., T. parasumbawensis sp. n., T. pauxillus sp. n., T. payungensis sp. n., T. porcatus sp. n., T. pseudoflorensis sp. n., T. pseudosumbawensis sp. n., T. punctatoseriatus sp. n., T. ranakensis sp. n., T. relictus sp. n., T. rinjaniensis sp. n., T. roensis sp. n., T. rugosostriatus sp. n., T. rugosus sp. n., T. rutengensis sp. n., T. saltator sp. n., T. santubongensis sp. n., T. sasak sp. n., T. satu sp. n., T. schulzi sp. n., T. sebelas sp. n., T. sembilan sp. n., T. sepuluh sp. n., T. seriatus sp. n., T. serratifemur sp. n., T. setifer sp. n., T. silvestris sp. n., T. singkawangensis sp. n., T. singularis sp. n., T. sinuatus sp. n., T. squalidus sp. n., T. sumatrensis sp. n., T. sumbawensis sp. n., T. sundaicus sp. n., T. suturalis sp. n., T. syarbis sp. n., T. telagensis sp. n., T. tepalensis sp. n., T. tiga sp. n., T. trigonopterus sp. n., T. tujuh sp. n., T. ujungkulonensis sp. n., T. variolosus sp. n., T. vulcanicus sp. n., T. wallacei sp. n.. All new species are authored by the taxonomist-in-charge, Alexander Riedel. Most species belong to the litter fauna of primary wet evergreen forests. This habitat has become highly fragmented in the study area and many of its remnants harbor endemic species. Conservation measures should be intensified, especially in smaller and less famous sites to minimize the number of species threatened by extinction.

They did it again. Alexander Riedel and colleagues described another big set of weevil species using their turbo-taxonomy approach. All species are barcoded but sequences need to be released. I usually request this as soon as I discover it on my weekly search. It seems the folks at GenBank are very appreciative of that.



Twenty three new species of Exocelina Broun, 1886 from New Guinea are described herein: E. bewaniensis sp. n., E. bismarckensis sp. n., E. craterensis sp. n., E. gorokaensis sp. n., E. herowana sp. n., E. jimiensis sp. n., E. kisli sp. n., E. ksionseki sp. n., E. lembena sp. n., E. mantembu sp. n., E. michaelensis sp. n., E. pinocchio sp. n., E. pseudoastrophallus sp. n., E. pseudobifida sp. n., E. pseudoedeltraudae sp. n., E. pseudoeme sp. n., E. sandaunensis sp. n., E. simbaiarea sp. n., E. skalei sp. n., E. tabubilensis sp. n., E. tariensis sp. n., E. vovai sp. n., and E. wannangensis sp. n. All of them have been found to belong to the E. ekari-group. An identification key to all known species of the group is provided, and important diagnostic characters (habitus, color, male antennae, protarsomeres 4–5, median lobes, and parameres) are illustrated. Data on the distribution of the new species and some already described species are given.

A follow up on an earlier paper which dealt with the hyperdiverse radiation of these freshwater arthropods and hinted on a number of cryptic species. Nice to see another example for taxonomic treatments following earlier barcode-based discoveries. There are a number of critics out there that claim that we always find cryptic species but never describe them.


The taxonomy of the fish genus Platycephalus Bloch, 1785 from Australia is revised following examination of all extant primary types of Australian species, including those previously synonymized.  The following 16 Australian species, including a single new species, are recognized in this study: Platycephalus angustus Steindachner, 1866, Platycephalus aurimaculatus Knapp, 1987, Platycephalus bassensis Cuvier, 1829, Platycephalus caeruleopunctatus McCulloch, 1922, Platycephalus chauliodous Knapp, 1991, Platycephalus conatus Waite & McCulloch, 1915, Platycephalus endrachtensis Quoy & Gaimard, 1825, Platycephalus fuscus Cuvier, 1829, Platycephalus grandispinis Cuvier, 1829, Platycephalus laevigatus Cuvier, 1829, Platycephalus marmoratus Stead, 1908, Platycephalus orbitalis Imamura & Knapp, 2009, Platycephalus richardsoni Castelnau, 1872, Platycephalus speculator Klunzinger, 1872, Platycephalus westraliae (Whitley, 1938) and Platycephalus australis sp. nov. [formerly confused with Platycephalus indicus (Linnaeus, 1758)].  Previously suggested synonymies of several species are reevaluated and a key provided for all Australian species of Platycephalus. 

The flathead genus Platycephalus is particularly diverse in the Australian region. Here a new species that was named after its origin.
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A new species of Heterolatzelia Verhoeff, 1897, H. karlstrasseri sp. n., is described from the Đatlo Cave in east Herzegovina. A brief discussion about the relationship between H. karlstrasseri sp. n. and H. durmitorensis Gulička, 1968 and a distribution map of the family Heterolatzeliidae are presented.

A new diplopod species named in honor of the late Dr. Karl Strasser, a diplopodologist who contributed greatly to the knowledge of the Balkan millipede fauna.
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A taxonomic reassessment of coralline algae (Corallinales, Rhodophyta) associated with reef environments in the Abrolhos Bank, northeastern Brazil, was developed based on extensive historical samples dating from 1999–2009 and a critical evaluation of type material. Our goal was to update the taxonomic status of the main nongeniculate coral reef-forming species. Our results show that four species are the main contributors to the living cover of coral reefs in the Abrolhos Bank: Lithophyllum stictaeforme, Neogoniolithon atlanticum sp. nov., Porolithon pachydermum and Spongites fructiculosus. Comparison of the type material to modern collections has shown that Lithophyllum congestum is a heterotypic synonym of L. stictaeforme. However, L. stictaeforme and P. pachydermum were the most abundant species at the studied sites, a finding consistent with other coral reefs in the region. This is the first record of S. fructiculosus in the southwestern Atlantic. This review provides the baseline data needed for the monitoring and management of the southernmost limits of coral reefs in the western Atlantic Ocean.

Coralline algae are red algae that are characterized by a thallus that is hard because of calcareous deposits contained within the cell walls. The new species is named after the region it was first found.
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