Taxonomy

Open AccessArticle

Comparative Taxonomic Study of Launaea Cass. (Asteraceae, Cichorioideae) in Egypt

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Taxonomy 2021, 1(3), 192-209; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/taxonomy1030014 - 12 Jul 2021

Abstract

Launaea is a polymorphic genus with inter- and intraspecific inconsistencies. The study aimed to revise the classification and identification of Launaea species in Egypt. The study also aimed to assess the inter- and intraspecific variation among taxa using macro- and micromorphological characters. Numerical [...] Read more.

Launaea is a polymorphic genus with inter- and intraspecific inconsistencies. The study aimed to revise the classification and identification of Launaea species in Egypt. The study also aimed to assess the inter- and intraspecific variation among taxa using macro- and micromorphological characters. Numerical analysis was carried out on 156 specimens, which were collected from 63 sites in Egypt. The results revealed that L. arabica, L. capitata, L. intybacea and L. spinosa were significantly (p-value < 2.2 × 10^{−16 ***}) discriminated from the other species at a high dissimilarity level. Launaea acanthodes was correctly identified as Lactuca orientalis. The study supported the inclusion of L. intybacea, L. massauensis and L. nudicaulis within section Microrhynchus, the separation of L. angustifolia and L. arabica in two distinct species. Two biotypes of L. nudicaulis were morphologically differentiated. Launaea fragilis subsp. fragilis showed considerable plasticity and variability in various characters; therefore, L. tenuiloba was considered to be merely an ecotype of L. fragilis. Launaea mucronata comprises two subspecies; cassiniana and mucronata, differentiated by their pappus type, conspicuous secondary ribs of the inner achenes, and the number of spines on the polar area of pollen grains. Full article

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Open AccessArticle

Comparative Osteology, Phylogeny and Classification of the Eastern South American Catfish Genus Trichomycterus (Siluriformes: Trichomycteridae)

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Wilson J. E. M. Costa

Taxonomy 2021, 1(2), 160-191; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/taxonomy1020013 - 16 Jun 2021

Abstract

Trichomycterus has been considered for a long time to be the most problematic genus of the diverse neotropical subfamily Trichomycterinae. Recently, Trichomycterus was restricted to a clade from eastern South America supported by molecular data, but no unique morphological character state was found [...] Read more.

Trichomycterus has been considered for a long time to be the most problematic genus of the diverse neotropical subfamily Trichomycterinae. Recently, Trichomycterus was restricted to a clade from eastern South America supported by molecular data, but no unique morphological character state was found to distinguish it, making it difficult to allocate new species based on morphology alone. The objectives of this study were to conduct an osteological comparative analysis comprising a large sample of valid species of Trichomycterus, to conduct a total evidence phylogenetic analysis, combining osteological characters and a multigene database, and to propose an intrageneric classification based on the results of the phylogenetic analysis. Fifty-two osteological characters were combined with a multigene molecular data set of 2974 bp for 44 species of Trichomycterus, and 21 outgroups generated a well-supported phylogenetic tree, making it possible to delimit and diagnose intrageneric lineages, of which six subgenera are recognized. The high morphological diversity of osteological structures herein first reported for Trichomycterus from eastern South America is possibly related to some ecological specializations. This study shows that osteological characters combined with molecular data may be useful to consistently delimit and distinguish between trichomycterines, shedding light on the still persistent problems in trichomycterine systematics. Full article

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Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Genetic Evidence Confirms That the Porostomate Nudibranch Dendrodoris gunnamatta Allan, 1932 Is a Morphotype of Dendrodoris krusensternii (Gray, 1850) (Gastropoda: Nudibranchia)

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Matt. J. Nimbs

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Stephen D. A. Smith

Taxonomy 2021, 1(2), 152-159; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/taxonomy1020012 - 16 Jun 2021

Abstract

Conspecificity of the morphologically-similar, sympatric nudibranch species Dendrodoris gunnamatta (Allen, 1932) and Dendrodoris krusensternii (Gray, 1850) was tested using sequences of the mitochondrial COI gene. Data analysis supports the presence of phenotypic polymorphy in D. krusensternii where specimens from large estuaries and embayments [...] Read more.

Conspecificity of the morphologically-similar, sympatric nudibranch species Dendrodoris gunnamatta (Allen, 1932) and Dendrodoris krusensternii (Gray, 1850) was tested using sequences of the mitochondrial COI gene. Data analysis supports the presence of phenotypic polymorphy in D. krusensternii where specimens from large estuaries and embayments in central New South Wales, Australia either lack or have highly reduced sky-blue ocellae. Full article

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Open AccessArticle

“Draculamya” uraniae: A New Small-Sized Bivalve from the Mediterranean Sea (Galeommatida, Lasaeidae)

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Taxonomy 2021, 1(2), 142-151; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/taxonomy1020011 - 04 Jun 2021

Abstract

A new Galeommatid bivalve is described for the Mediterranean Sea, tentatively assigned to the elusive genus Draculamya Oliver and Lützen, 2011. “Draculamya” uraniae n. sp is described upon a number of dead but fresh and articulated specimens, plus many loose valves. [...] Read more.

A new Galeommatid bivalve is described for the Mediterranean Sea, tentatively assigned to the elusive genus Draculamya Oliver and Lützen, 2011. “Draculamya” uraniae n. sp is described upon a number of dead but fresh and articulated specimens, plus many loose valves. Its distribution is almost basin-wide in the Mediterranean, and it possibly occurs in the adjacent Gulf of Cadiz. As for many members in Galeommatida, we hypothesize that “Draculamya” uraniae lives as commensal upon a still-unknown host. The possible co-identity of the extant genus Draculamya with the morphologically similar Pliocene Glibertia Van der Meulen, 1951, is discussed, although the lack of anatomical and genetic support leaves the problem open. Full article

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Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Two New Species of the Mite Genus Stereotydeus Berlese, 1901 (Prostigmata: Penthalodidae) from Victoria Land, and a Key for Identification of Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic Species

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Claudia Brunetti

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Henk Siepel

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Pietro Paolo Fanciulli

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Francesco Nardi

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Peter Convey

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Antonio Carapelli

Taxonomy 2021, 1(2), 116-141; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/taxonomy1020010 - 19 May 2021

Abstract

Two new mite species belonging to the genus Stereotydeus Berlese, 1901 were discovered from locations along the coast of Victoria Land, continental Antarctica. Previous records of this genus in the area under study only reported the presence of S. belli and S. mollis [...] Read more.

Two new mite species belonging to the genus Stereotydeus Berlese, 1901 were discovered from locations along the coast of Victoria Land, continental Antarctica. Previous records of this genus in the area under study only reported the presence of S. belli and S. mollis. Although those studies included no morphological analyses, it has since been assumed that only these species were present within the area. Specimens of S. ineffabilis sp. nov. and S. nunatakis sp. nov. were obtained, sometimes in sympatry, from four different localities in Central and South Victoria Land and are here described and illustrated using optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. Features useful for identification of the two new Stereotydeus species include the size of the specimens, the length of the apical segment of pedipalps, the presence/absence of division of the femora, the position of solenidia, the shape and disposition of the rhagidiform organs on the tarsi, the shape of the apical setae of the tarsi, the numbers of aggenital setae and the position of the anal opening. A key to 14 of the 15 currently described Antarctic and sub-Antarctic Stereotydeus species is provided. Full article

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Open AccessArticle

Taxonomy of Horned Lizards, Genus Phrynosoma (Squamata, Phrynosomatidae)

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Gunther Köhler

Taxonomy 2021, 1(2), 83-115; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/taxonomy1020009 - 07 May 2021

Cited by 1

Abstract

In this article, I revise the taxonomy of the species and subspecies of the genus Phrynosoma through phylogenetic and species delimitation approaches based on four mtDNA markers (ND1, ND2, ND4, and 12S). The resulting taxonomy recognizes 12 species (P. asio, P. [...] Read more.

In this article, I revise the taxonomy of the species and subspecies of the genus Phrynosoma through phylogenetic and species delimitation approaches based on four mtDNA markers (ND1, ND2, ND4, and 12S). The resulting taxonomy recognizes 12 species (P. asio, P. bracconieri, P. cornutum, P. coronatum, P. douglasii, P. hernandesi, P. mcallii, P. modestum, P. orbiculare, P. platyrhinos, P. solare, and P. taurus). Several of these species are divided into subspecies as follows: P. coronatum (P. c. coronatum, P. c. blainvillii, P. c. cerroense, and P. c. frontale), P. cornutum (P. c. cornutum and P. c. bufonium), P. hernandesi (P. h. hernandesi, P. h. ditmarsi, and P. h. ornatum), P. orbiculare (P. o. orbiculare, P. o. bradti, P. o. boucardii, P. o. cortezii, P. o. dugesii, and P. o. durangoensis), P. platyrhinos (P. p. platyrhinos and P. p. goodei), P. taurus (P. t. taurus and P. t. sherbrookei). In this coherent and objective approach, those taxa treated here as subspecies have diverged to a much lesser degree than those that are herein recognized as separate species. Typically, those taxa recognized as subspecies are one another’s closest relatives (i.e., they together form a monophyletic group that represents the species) and are distributed allopatrically. In this approach, all separate evolutionarily significant units are recognized as named taxa—either species or subspecies—thereby reflecting the importance of identifying and naming such units for conservation. I provide a checklist of the recognized species and subspecies of Phrynosoma along with synonymies and distribution maps. Full article

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Open AccessArticle

Pleistocene Bryozoans from the Clyde Clay Formation of Scotland, and the Holocene Retreat of Cold-Water Species

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Paul David Taylor

Taxonomy 2021, 1(2), 69-82; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/taxonomy1020008 - 06 May 2021

Abstract

Although bryozoans are a diverse phylum of aquatic invertebrates with a rich fossil record, very little has been written about bryozoan faunas from the latest Pleistocene at a time of rapid global change when temperatures increased dramatically and the sea-level rose. Two species [...] Read more.

Although bryozoans are a diverse phylum of aquatic invertebrates with a rich fossil record, very little has been written about bryozoan faunas from the latest Pleistocene at a time of rapid global change when temperatures increased dramatically and the sea-level rose. Two species of cyclostome and eight species of cheilostome bryozoans are here described from the late Devensian Clyde Clay Formation of Greenock, Scotland, based on historical material in the collections of the NHM, UK. All are illustrated for the first time from this deposit using scanning electron microscopy. Three of the species (Tubulipora cf. marisalbi, Rhamphostomella radiatula and Schizomavella porifera) are unknown from the seas around Scotland at the present-day but occur in colder waters to the north. This is consistent with the poleward retreat of cold-water species as seawater temperatures increased at the end of the Pleistocene. Full article

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Open AccessArticle

Discovery of the Smallest Lace Bug from Mid-Cretaceous of Northern Myanmar Supports the Hypothesis of a Miniaturization Phenomenon of Insects in Kachin Amber (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Tingidae)

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Jun Souma

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Shûhei Yamamoto

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Yui Takahashi

Taxonomy 2021, 1(2), 60-68; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/taxonomy1020007 - 24 Apr 2021

Abstract

A total of 14 species in seven tingid genera have been described from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese (Kachin) amber from northern Myanmar, with very distinct paleofauna. Here, a new species of a new genus, Burmavianaida anomalocapitata gen. et sp. nov., is described from Kachin [...] Read more.

A total of 14 species in seven tingid genera have been described from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese (Kachin) amber from northern Myanmar, with very distinct paleofauna. Here, a new species of a new genus, Burmavianaida anomalocapitata gen. et sp. nov., is described from Kachin amber. This new species can be readily distinguished from the other described tingid taxa by the apparently smaller body and the structures of the pronotum and hemelytron. Burmavianaida gen. nov. shares the diagnostic characters with two clades composed of three extant subfamilies (Cantacaderinae + Tinginae) and Vianaidinae and may represent an extinct clade distinct from them. To the best of our knowledge, B. anomalocapitata sp. nov. is the smallest species of Tingidae among over 2600 described species. Our new finding supports the hypothesis of the miniaturization phenomenon of insects in Kachin amber, as suggested by previous studies. Full article

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Open AccessArticle

Saved by the Shell: Molecular Analysis Detects the Cryptic Sea Hare, Aplysia concava G. B. Sowerby I, 1833 (Mollusca: Heterobranchia: Aplysiidae), from Oceania, with a Redescription

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Matt J. Nimbs

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Nerida G. Wilson

Taxonomy 2021, 1(2), 48-59; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/taxonomy1020006 - 09 Apr 2021

Cited by 1

Abstract

A recent taxonomic revision split the circumglobal sea hare Aplysia parvula into 10 constituent taxa, of which only three are likely to be found in the Southern Pacific. This prompted an investigation of animals previously identified as A. parvula from Australia. Specimens collected [...] Read more.

A recent taxonomic revision split the circumglobal sea hare Aplysia parvula into 10 constituent taxa, of which only three are likely to be found in the Southern Pacific. This prompted an investigation of animals previously identified as A. parvula from Australia. Specimens collected from Eastern Australia and Hunter Island, east of New Caledonia, could not be satisfactorily identified with any of the currently accepted taxa based on morphological diagnostic features listed in the revision; however, the presence of a highly concave shell is diagnostic. Quantification of genetic divergence using Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) supports the delineation of this species as a distinct taxon, and a phylogenetic reconstruction based on concatenated COI, 16S and H3 markers reveals a sister relationship with the newly described Aplysia ghanimii from the Atlantic and Western Indian Oceans and an undescribed species from Japan. As a result, the name Aplysia concava G. B. Sowerby, I, 1833 is resurrected for this species. As the original description was based solely on a shell, a redescription is provided here with photographs of living animals and microscope images of internal anatomical structures. Full article

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Open AccessArticle

A New Species of Freshwater Amphipods Echinogammarus (Amphipoda, Gammaridae) from Algeria

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Ramzi Hadjab

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Khaoula Ayati

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Christophe Piscart

Taxonomy 2021, 1(1), 36-47; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/taxonomy1010005 - 09 Dec 2020

Abstract

Several samples of amphipods were obtained from six stations in the upper reach of the Youkous Stream, near Hammamet. This study describes a new species, Echinogammarus monodi n.sp., differing from other Echinogammarus species in the length of the first antenna, the setation of [...] Read more.

Several samples of amphipods were obtained from six stations in the upper reach of the Youkous Stream, near Hammamet. This study describes a new species, Echinogammarus monodi n.sp., differing from other Echinogammarus species in the length of the first antenna, the setation of the third article of the mandibular palp (bearing three rows of A-setae and two rows of B-setae), the merus and carpus of pereopods 5 with long setae only, and the exopodite of uropod 3 with numerous groups of long simple setae. A full description of the new species and information about its distribution is given in this paper. Full article

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Open AccessArticle

A New Deep-Sea Enhydrosoma (Copepoda, Harpacticoida, Cletodidae) from the Northern Gulf of Mexico

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Eun-Ok Park

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Melissa Rohal

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Wonchoel Lee

Taxonomy 2021, 1(1), 23-35; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/taxonomy1010004 - 13 Nov 2020

Abstract

Enhydrosoma texana sp. nov. is described from the northern Gulf of Mexico. The new species is closely related to E. parapropinquum Gómez, 2003 from northwestern Mexico. Both species share several characters including an elongated cylindrical caudal ramus, an abexopodal seta of antennae, the [...] Read more.

Enhydrosoma texana sp. nov. is described from the northern Gulf of Mexico. The new species is closely related to E. parapropinquum Gómez, 2003 from northwestern Mexico. Both species share several characters including an elongated cylindrical caudal ramus, an abexopodal seta of antennae, the structure of mouthpart appendages, seta formula of thoracic legs P1–P4, the shape of the P5 exopod in the female and the apophysis structure of P3 in males. However, the new species is distinguishable from E. parapropinquum by the shape of the rostrum, number of the antennular segments, the shape of the mandibular palp, the relative lengths of the thoracic legs, the shape of the apophysis of P3 in the male, setal number and length of the P5 exopod of the female, the length of the seta on P5 in the male and the relative lengths of the caudal ramus in both sexes. This is the deepest record of a species in the genus Enhydrosoma. Full article

(This article belongs to the Collection Taxonomy on Aquatic Life (TAL))

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Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

New Records of Horsehair Worms (Nematomorpha) from India and a Summary of All Known Indian Species

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Arun K. Yadav

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Dimos Khynriam

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Limatemjen

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Andreas Schmidt-Rhaesa

Taxonomy 2021, 1(1), 14-22; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/taxonomy1010003 - 09 Nov 2020

Cited by 1

Abstract

Twenty-one species of the phylum Nematomorpha from India have been described. In this paper, Acutogordius sulawensis is reported for the first time in this country, with new locality records of some Chordodes, Gordius and Acutogordius species from the north-east region of India. [...] Read more.

Twenty-one species of the phylum Nematomorpha from India have been described. In this paper, Acutogordius sulawensis is reported for the first time in this country, with new locality records of some Chordodes, Gordius and Acutogordius species from the north-east region of India. The total number of nematomorph species now known from India is thus raised to twenty-two species. This paper supplements information about nematomorph species added to the Indian fauna after 2004. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nematomorpha)

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Open AccessArticle

A New Species of the Genus Halectinosoma Vervoort, 1962 (Copepoda: Harpacticoida: Ectinosomatidae) from the East Coast of Korea, with a Key to Species of the Curticorne-Group

by

Hyun Woo Bang

Taxonomy 2021, 1(1), 2-13; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/taxonomy1010002 - 29 Oct 2020

Abstract

A new species of genus Halectinosoma Vervoort, 1962 was collected from the east coast of Korea. The genus Halectinosoma comprises about 70 species, but only three species have previously been reported in East Asia. Halectinosoma munmui sp. nov. is morphologically most closely related [...] Read more.

A new species of genus Halectinosoma Vervoort, 1962 was collected from the east coast of Korea. The genus Halectinosoma comprises about 70 species, but only three species have previously been reported in East Asia. Halectinosoma munmui sp. nov. is morphologically most closely related to H. langi Wells 1967 from Inhaca Island, Mozambique, and H. oblongum (Kunz, 1949) from Heligoland island, Germany, however clearly distinguishable from it based on the following morphological characteristics: 5-segmented and elongated female antennule, mandible gnathobase without seta, about 5.6 times as long as the greatest width of the basis of the maxilliped, and outer seta of the P5 endopodal lobe longer than the inner seta. A key to species of the curticorne-group of Halectinosoma is provided. Full article

(This article belongs to the Collection Taxonomy on Aquatic Life (TAL))

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Open AccessEditorial

Welcome to the New Journal Taxonomy

by

Enric Sayas

Taxonomy 2021, 1(1), 1; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/taxonomy1010001 - 26 Oct 2020

Abstract

Taxonomy is as old as the human language; it arose from the need to differentiate and name edible as well as poisonous plants and to be able to pass on this knowledge to the next generation [...] Full article

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