A new isopod: Protracheoniscus sarii

Terrestrial isopods are commonly known as sowbugs, woodlice, pillbugs, and slaters. While most crustaceans need to live in water, the terrestrial isopods are the only larger group to become adapted for life on land. The only other crustaceans which include a small number of terrestrial species are amphipods (e.g. sandhoppers) and decapods (some crabs).  Like all members of the crustaceans, terrestrial isopods breathe through their gills, but these must stay moist to operate. This means the animals need to live in damp places, usually underneath something like decaying wood or leaves. 

Unable to return to the water to breed, females must carry water around with them. Fertilized eggs are deposited in a water-filled brood pouch, located beneath the thorax. When the eggs hatch, the young isopods must remain in the pouch until they can fend for themselves.

This new species was found in Khak-e Ali, Iran and named after Dr. Alireza Sari, professor in animal biosystematics at the University of Tehran. 

For the experts: Six species of terrestrial isopods from the province of Qazvin, central Iran, are recorded. Three species, Hemilepistus klugii (Brandt, 1833), Protracheoniscus ehsani Kashani, 2014 and Mongoloniscus persicus Kashani, 2014, were previously reported from the province. Hemilepistus elongatus Budde-Lund, 1885 and Protracheoniscus major (Dollfus, 1903) are recorded for the first time, and one species, Protracheoniscus sarii sp. n., is described as new. The diagnostic characters of the new species are figured.

A new fish: Bryconops munduruku

Today's new species belongs to the fish family Characidae. The characids or are a family of freshwater subtropical and tropical fish. Among those fishes are the tetras, comprising the very similar genera Hemigrammus and Hyphessobrycon, as well as a few related forms such as the cave and neon tetras. Fish of this family are important as food and also include popular aquarium fish species.

All these species live only in the Americas, most of them in Central and South America. Bryconops munduruku belongs to a genus that is restricted to freshwater drainages in South America. The species name is in reference to a tribe of Munduruku People, who settled on the right margin of the Tapajós River, giving rise to what today is the city of Aveiro, the type locality of the new species.

For the experts: A new species of Bryconops is described from a right tributary of the lower Tapajós River, State of Pará, Brazil. Bryconops munduruku, sp. nov., differs from its congeners, except B. inpai and B. piracolina, by having a black adipose fin (vs. adipose fin hyaline in alcohol) and, except B. inpai, by possessing two humeral blotches (vs. lack of humeral blotch or only one humeral blotch). Bryconops munduruku differs from B. inpai by having a uniform color pattern on the posterior portion of the side of the body (vs. a dark stripe extending posteriorly from the half of the anal-fin base onto the base of the middle caudal-fin rays). It differs further from B. inpai and B. piracolina by the presence of a black adipose fin that is hyaline along its base (vs. entirely black adipose fin in B. inpai and B. piracolina). The new species is allocated in the subgenus Creatochanes by having a maxillary bone with one to three teeth on both sides, and its posterior extension reaching the junction of second and third infraorbital bones.

A new mussel: Scabies songkramensis

Mussels of the family Unionidae are commonly referred to as pearly mussels or unionids. There are about 700 species worldwide with the highest diversity in North America, where there are approximately 290 species. 

Unionids are found in freshwater sources such as lakes, streams, and rivers. Interestingly, they are not found in high mountain lakes, probably due to a lack of proper fish hosts for their parasitic larval stage called glochidium. A glochidium has hooks, enabling it to attach itself to fish (e.g to the gills) for some time before it detaches and falls to the substrate where it changes the typical form of a juvenile mussel. This passive dispersal process helps distributing these mussel species into areas they otherwise would not be able to reach.

The species name of our newcomer refers to the Songkram River in Thailand, where this new species was found.

For the experts: Morphological and chromosomal characteristics of a number of unionid freshwater mussels were studied from northeastern Thailand. Karyotypes of eight species from seven genera (Chamberlainia, Ensidens, Hyriopsis, Physunio, Pseudodon, Scabies and Trapezoideus) were examined. Six species possess 2n = 38 karyotypes, whereas Scabies crispata and an unidentified Scabies sp. lack three small chromosome pairs, giving a diploid number of 32. Moreover, the karyotypes of the unidentified Scabies differ from S. crispata as it exhibits a telocentric chromosome pair (6m + 7sm + 2st + 1t). Most of the conchological characters also differ between the two species – adult size, colour pattern, muscle scars, pseudocardinal and lateral teeth. The name Scabies songkramensis sp. n. is proposed for the unidentified species, and its description is included in this paper. Interestingly, seven species contain mostly bi-armed chromosomes, but only the mud-dweller in stagnant water, Ensidens ingallsianus, contains predominantly five telocentric pairs. In addition, the marker chromosome characteristics of an unbalanced long arm, twisted centromere, a wider angle 180° arrangement, a twisted arm and telomeric end union reported in this study are described for the first time for unionid mussels.

A new true bug: Cystococcus campanidorsalis

Bush coconuts, also known as bloodwood apples, are a type of gall. Such galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues. They can be caused by various parasites, from fungi and bacteria, to insects and mites. A researcher investigated the insect responsible for these bush coconuts and found that they were caused by a new species.

And a strange one it is:  These insects display sexual dichronism, with females giving birth first to males, and then to females once the males almost matured inside the gall. The wingless female nymphs cling to their winged adult brothers, hitching a ride out of the maternal gall when the males fly to find mates. This bizarre behaviour is called intersexual phoresy.

The new species was named Cystococcus campanidorsalis for the insect's bell-shaped back that plugs the entrance to the gall.

For the experts: Australia houses some unusual biota (insects included), much of which is undescribed. Cystococcus Fuller (Hemiptera : Sternorrhyncha : Coccoidea : Eriococcidae) currently comprises two species, both of which induce galls exclusively on bloodwoods (Myrtaceae: Corymbia Hill & Johnson). These insects display sexual dichronism, whereby females give birth first to sons and then to daughters. Wingless first-instar females cling to their winged adult brothers and are carried out of the maternal gall when the males fly to find mates – a behaviour called intersexual phoresy. Here, we use data from two gene regions, as well as morphology and host-use of the insects, to assess the status of a previously undescribed species. We describe this newly recognised species as Cystococcus campanidorsalis, sp. nov. Semple, Cook & Hodgson, redescribe the two existing species – C. echiniformis Fuller and C. pomiformis (Froggatt), designate a lectotype for C. echiniformis, and provide the first descriptions of adult males, and nymphal males and females for the genus. We have also reinterpreted a key morphological character of the adult females. This paper provides a foundation for further work on the genus, which is widespread across northern Australia and could prove to be useful for studies on biogeography and bloodwood ecosystems.

A new bat: Lonchophylla inexpectata

Lonchophylla mordax (Credit  Frederico Acaz Sonntag)

During their study of the bat genus Lonchophylla two Brazilian researchers found that some of the specimens had considerably paler fur and that some of their measurements were inconsistent with those of other specimens of the presumed species (Lonchophylla mordax). To their surprise, a closer look revealed that this was indeed a completely different species, previously unknown to science.

The new species was named Lonchophylla inexpectata - inspired by the surprise element in this new discovery. Using specimens from all currently recognised Brazilian representatives of the Lonchophylla genus, the scientists concluded that what they had thought a mere variation of the colouring, is in fact one of the species' distinguishable characteristics. Others include differences in the skull and the teeth morphology. Specimens from the 'unexpected' bat species had been misidentified for more than a century.

For our experts: We describe Lonchophylla inexpectata sp. n. from the Caatinga of Brazil. This new species can be distinguished from all known species of Lonchophylla that occur in Brazil by dental traits, cranial size, and fur colour. Specimens of L. inexpectata have been misidentified as L. mordax; but L. inexpectata is a pale-venter species, similar in external appearance to L. dekeyseri. We have found L. inexpectata in the Caatinga of North-eastern Brazil; L. mordax along the eastern border of the Caatinga and in the Atlantic Forest–Caatinga ecotone in North-eastern Brazil; and L. dekeyseri in the Cerrado of Mid-western Brazil, in the Brazilian Cerrado–Caatinga ecotone, and as far west as the Cerrado of Bolivia.

Two new dogbanes: Hoya ruthiae and Hoya bakoensis

Hoya bakoensis

Hoya ruthiae was named after the tropical botanist who collected the original plants, Ruth Kiew. It grows on limestone with its so far only location being Malaysia. Therefore, its conservation status is not yet known and the plant species is categorised as Data Deficient following the IUCN guidelines. However, it is widely available in cultivation.

The second new species, Hoya bakoensis, was discovered in 2015 and was named after its for now sole locality, the Bako National Park in Malaysia. The species prefers moist, shady kerangas heath forests near streams. Most often, it sprouts its seedlings in the openings of small ant nests from inside hollow tree trunks and climbs up its host tree likely in need for more light.

For our experts: Two new Hoya R.Br. species from Borneo are described and illustrated. The first, Hoya ruthiae Rodda was collected in Sabah on Bukit Baturong, a limestone outcrop. It is one of the few species in the genus to have clear exudate. It is compared with the morphologically related Hoya uncinata Teijsm. and Binn. The other, Hoya bakoensis Rodda, was collected in the kerangas forests of Bako National Park. It belongs to Hoya section Acanthostemma (Bl.) Kloppenb., a section with numerous members in the Philippines but under-represented in Borneo.

A new fish: Coryphopterus curasub

Marine biodiversity inhabiting shallow Caribbean coral reefs has been studied for more than 150 years, but much less is known about what lives at depths just below those accessible with conventional SCUBA gear. Thanks to the availability of a privately owned, manned submersible on the island of Curacao, the Curasub, scientists are now able to intensively study depths to 300 m (1,000 ft).

Researchers from the Smithsonian Institution discovered a new small goby fish that differs from its relatives not only in its size and colors, but also in the depth of its habitat (70-80 m). They named the fish name Coryphopterus curasub in recognition of the submersible that was used in their deep-reef exploration.

For our experts: A new species of western Atlantic Coryphopterus is described from mesophotic depths off Curaçao, southern Caribbean. Coryphopterus curasub sp. n., is similar to C. dicrus in, among other features, having two prominent pigment spots of roughly equal intensity on the pectoral-fin base, the pelvic fins fused to form a disk, and no pelvic frenum. The two species can be differentiated by body depth (shallower in C. curasub at origin of dorsal fin and caudal peduncle); differences in the pigmentation on the head, trunk, and basicaudal region; and usually by total number of rays (spinous plus soft) in the second dorsal fin (10–11, usually 11, in C. curasub, 10 in C. dicrus). Coryphopterus curasub differs from other Coryphopterus species that have a prominent pigment spot on the lower portion of the pectoral-fin base (C. punctipectophorus and C. venezuelae) in, among other features, lacking a pelvic frenum. Coryphopterus curasub was collected between 70 and 80 m, the deepest depth range known for the genus. Collections of C. venezuelae at depths of 65–69 m extend the depth range of that species by approximately 50 m. Mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) data corroborate the recognition of C. curasub as a distinct species but do not rigorously resolve its relationships within the genus. A revised key to the western Atlantic species of Coryphopterus is presented.