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Ivanovcestus yakiae gen. et sp. nov. was collected from specimens of the batoid Sympterygia bonapartii from waters off Río Negro and Buenos Aires Provinces, in the Argentine Sea. Ivanovcestus gen. nov. is assigned to the Rhinebothriidea for their possession of facially loculated bothridia borne on stalks and a cirrus covered by spinitriches. The new genus is unique in the arrangement of loculi and septa on the distal bothridial surface. The molecular analysis based on 18S and 28S rDNA of two specimens of the new species identified Ivanovcestus gen. nov. as a member of the family Escherbothriidae, with our study representing the first record of this family in the Argentine Sea. The proposed new genus requires a new amended diagnosis for the Escherbothriidae, to include a new pattern of loculi and septa for the distal bothridial surface, as well as a new host. In addition, the present study proposes to transfer two species of Rhinebothrium, originally described parasitizing the skate Sympterygia lima in the Chilean Sea (i.e., Rhinebothrium chilensis and Rhinebothrium leiblei), to Ivanovcestus gen. nov. Examination of the original descriptions and type material revealed several morphological characters that justify the relocation of both species to the new genus.

The Western and Eastern Ghats of the Peninsular India are known for their high biological diversity, which is shaped due to various geological barriers and environmental parameters. Scorpion diversity in Peninsular India remains poorly known thereby warranting a need to undertake rigorous arachnological surveys. In our continued effort to discover scorpion lineages hitherto unknown to science, we describe five new species of the genus Isometrus Ehrenberg, 1828 which were obtained from southern India, and discuss morphological, molecular and ecological discordance within this genus. The validity of Reddyanus atherii Amir and Kamaluddin, 2008, Isometrus liaqatii Amir and Kamaluddin, 2008 and Isometrus formosus Pocock, 1894 is also commented upon, with implications to propose taxonomic changes within the genus.

Groupers are a commercial group of reef fish found worldwide in the warmer waters, including Indonesia. Epinephelus is one of the dominant genus in the Indonesian waters of the Aceh province waters, where three species Epinephelus areolatus, Ephinephelus fasciatus, and Ephinephelus merra are frequently caught by fishermen in the northern region. However, information on the morphological and genetic variations of the species are limited. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to document morphological and genetic variations of the species in addition to validate their taxonomic and kinship status. The specimens were collected from June to December 2020 at Lampulo fishing port Banda Aceh, Aceh, Indonesia. A total of 180 Epinephelus samples representing 60 samples of each species were used for the morphometric analysis. Of these, ten individuals were randomly taken for DNA analysis based on the Cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene. One-way ANOVA and Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA) were performed to distinguish morphometric variations among species. Morphological analysis displayed that E. fasciatus and E. merra had high similarities, while E. areolatus was distinguished from others. The genetic analysis showed grouper samples were differentiated into three species namely of E. fasciatus, E. merra and E. areolatus. The closest genetic distance was between E. fasciatus and E. merra (12.81%), while the farthest genetic distance was between E. areolatus and E. merra (16.05%). The two methods used in this study can be used to validate the taxonomic status of a species.

The crab genus Panopeus is characterized by a high morphological similarity among its species and the taxonomic problems that ensue. This complex situation can lead to misidentifications and mistaken comprehension of the phylogenetic relationships and species distributions. In this context, the present study morphologically and genetically (16S rRNA and COI) assessed the seven species of Panopeus recorded from the Southwestern Atlantic, with special focus on Panopeus occidentalis, whose occurrence in Brazilian waters has been under debate, and on the relationship between Panopeus austrobesus and Panopeus rugosus, where available genetic and morphological data were apparently contrasting. Although the investigated species are morphologically similar, this study describes some characters that can be used as diagnostic, such as a pigmented spot in the inner surface of the third maxilliped ischium. Phylogenetic inference and genetic distance reinforced the idea that the genus is non-monophyletic and were able to clarify the phylogenetic relationships within the genus. The integrative approach using morphological and genetic data confirmed the occurrence of six out of the seven Panopeus species reported along the Southwestern Atlantic coast, but with different geographic extents than what was previously assumed in some cases. We provide updated diagnoses for these species and also a key for their identification.

Bird migration is a fascinating natural phenomenon, with curiosities such as “arrow storks”, systematic observations, bird ringing, and, increasingly, modern technologies, such as radio transmitters and satellite telemetry, contributing to its research. The aim of this study is to investigate whether Google Trends data are suitable for capturing the migration of the white stork (Ciconia ciconia) in Germany.

We used search engine data to track seasonal levels of public awareness for the white stork in Germany. The public search interest was compared with interest in other migratory and non-migratory bird species, and with interest in the topic “white stork” along migration routes. Our analysis demonstrated public interest in the topic “white stork” in Germany with a seasonal pattern. In contrast, we were not able to detect a clear seasonality in all countries along the migration routes, which traced white stork migration in time and place. Google Trends was a useful tool to track the seasonality in Germany, for example. However, some limitations were also identified in tracking migration routes using Google Trends data.

Our study was conducted within the framework of comparative functional morphology of mammalian skin (Sokolov 1982) and “Trichomorphology” (Hausmann 1930; 1944; Teerink 1991) focusing in particular on specialized tactile organs such as whiskers (vibrissae). The architecture of vibrissae was studied for the first time using SEM in the relict rodent Laonastes aenigmamus and in some other representatives of the clade Ctenohystrica (Rodentia): Ctenodactylus gundi, Pectinator spekei, Proechimys guyannensis, Echimys sp., Trichomys apereoides, Chinchilla lanigera, and Octodon degus with the aim to identify the specific characters for each species. The vibrissal architecture is specific and polymorphic: the rod shape and structure of the medulla show differences between species of different genera and differ from those of guard hairs and spines of the same species. In L. aenigmamus, the vibrissal medulla is peculiar in its internal structure, which, together with the structure of guard hairs in this species, confirms its phylogenetically distinct position within Ctenohystrica. For the compared species, the complex medulla is with variously arranged systems of keratinized septa and different degrees of development of air spaces between them (ranging from unstructured and irregular to uni- or biserial ladder-like, cellated or pyramidal). The vibrissae have a non-specialized cuticle serving mostly for protection during tactile contacts, which distinguishes it from the diverse and multifunctional cuticle of guard hairs, spines, and quills. The tactile function of vibrissae is corroborated by the presence of scuff marks, scratches and even cuticle loss at the tip and on the ventral side of the rod, a thickened dense cortex and a poorly developed medullar layer but diverse its internal architecture, which provides only a very limited thermal protection, unlike that of the hair pelage. The SEM study of vibrissal architecture is a promising line of research, because a better knowledge of vibrissae may contribute to the biology and biomimetics.

Two new species of Biguembia Szumik, 1997 (Embioptera: Archembiidae): B. flavibrunnea n. sp. and B. pulchra n. sp. from the Cerrado domain, state of Tocantins, Brazil are described, diagnosed and illustrated. A cladistic analysis of the genus using 104 morphological characters is performed, and the systematic position of the two new species is analyzed and discussed. For the order Embioptera, the data/information presented here where all the instars (eggs, nymphs and adults) of both sexes are incorporated on the original description of one of the species including notes of developmental time, constitute a fundamental contribution to the understanding for the classification of the group. Additionally, an identification key for males of the genus is provided.

European harvester ants, Messor species, are important ecosystem engineers. In Catalonia (Spain), among others, the three species Messor barbarus, M. bouvieri, and M. capitatus occur. At one Catalan site, a cluster of nest samples of unknown identity was found, raising the possibility of either a hybrid lineage or a currently unexplored species in the region. The aim of this study was to test whether the newly recognized cluster represents a hybrid of M. barbarus and M. capitatus, or some form of social hybridogenesis, or an independent, hitherto unrecognised species. We addressed this question in an integrative taxonomic fashion combining evidence from microsatellites analyzed via Bayesian cluster analysis, phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial DNA, and multivariate exploratory and confirmatory analyses of morphometric data. The unidentified Messor ants formed a well separated entity from M. barbarus, M. capitatus, and M. bouvieri in all these analyses. These results are in line with the existence of a cryptic Messor species but not with hybridization nor social hybridogenesis. The newly detected species, which has been neither genetically nor morphologically analyzed before, is described as Messor erwini sp. n., since no name-bearing types of valid Messor taxa correspond with the morphological characteristics of the species. Discovering a hitherto unknown species from a myrmecologically well studied area nourishes expectations that further diversity of the genus Messor may await its discovery.

Red snapper fish is one of the most economically important marine fish groups in the world with high morphological similarities. Currently, the taxonomy of snappers relies on external morphological characteristics and genetics (DNA barcoding). Relying solely on morphology for taxonomy might lead to invalid results, whereas the genetic approach is known to be costly and time-consuming. Therefore, this study aims to examine the difference in the head bone (Osteocranium) osteology of two red snappers species namely Lutjanus malabaricus and L. timorensis, harvested from Aceh waters, Indonesia using an alternative approach based on osteological characteristics. A total of five fish samples of each species were collected from fishermen operating in the northern waters of Aceh and were landed at the Lampulo Fish Port, Banda Aceh City, Indonesia. Osteology samples were prepared through six steps, including exterior muscle elimination, immersion in 70% alcohol solution, drying, photographing bones, image editing, and identification of terminology. The results showed that the cranial of Lutjanus is supported by 25 bones, where 13 bones showed differences among the two species of red snappers, namely the nasal, preethmoidal, ethmoidal lateralis, prefrontal, foramen frontal, pterotic, lacrimal, crista occipital, interopercular, opercular, palatinum, preopercular, and premaxilla bones. Among these, a significant difference was found in the angle of the crista occipital bone, where L. timorensis was higher than L. malabaricus. Therefore, it was concluded that the crista occipital bone was a key characteristic to distinguish between the two species of red snappers examined. This study showed that the osteocranium approach can be employed to validate the taxonomic status of these species.

The number of new species described of the genus Terebellides Sars, 1835 (Annelida, Trichobranchidae) in the eastern Atlantic Ocean has greatly increased in the last years. Eleven of these species, all originally described in NE Atlantic Ocean, from the Barents Sea to the Gulf of Guinea, have been studied using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) thus revealing interspecific differences in several elements of the internal anatomy such as the proportion between stomach regions and size of nephridia, and in the number of lamellae in the digestive gland. Two stomach morphotypes have been distinguished regarding differences in relative length between regions, as well as two morphotypes of nephridia according to their size and wall thickness, and four types of the digestive gland regarding their number of lamellae. Differences in nephridia sizes is the only character apparently related to the geographic distribution of species (i.e. NE Atlantic vs. Gulf of Guinea) but examination of more taxa is needed. A third distinct region was distinguished in the stomach, named here as mid stomach, that differs from the fore and hind stomach in epithelia thickness and by lacking connective muscular sheath. The potential of the micro-CT technique in the search for internal anatomical characters with taxonomic value is discussed.