Pensoft Editorial Team

North American turtles establish succcessful populations in Germany, possibly threathening ecosystems

For the first time, self-sustaining populations of three non-native species of turtles were identified in south-western Germany by researchers at the University of Freiburg

Original text published by the University of Freiburg

Three species of turtles native to North America have been successfully reproducing in the wild in Germany, report for the first time environmental researcher Benno Tietz and biologist Dr. Johannes Penner of the University of Freiburg, along with Dr. Melita Vamberger of the Senckenberg Natural History Collection in Dresden.

Their results were published in the open-access scientific journal NeoBiota.

The scientists examined a total of nearly 200 animals living in the wild in lakes in Freiburg and Kehl. Their findings suggest that the turtles have established themselves in a new habitat, where they could become a threat to the local ecosystem.

For two species, this is the first evidence of independent reproduction outside of their natural reproductive range. For the third species, this is the northernmost evidence of its presence up to now,
says Penner.

The false map turtle (*Graptemys pseudogeographica*) enjoys the sun’s warmth. Photo: Johannes Penner.

Turtles released into the wild

Invasive species do a great deal of economic damage world-wide. They also contribute to advancing global species extinctions.

Alien reptiles regularly make their way into the wild in Germany. Most often, this is because they have been released by pet owners.

Large numbers of North American pond sliders (Trachemys scripta) were imported into the European Union (EU) in the 1980s and 1990s as house pets. In 1997, their import into the EU was banned. By 2016, the sale of specimens born here was also made illegal. Since then, pet shops have replaced them with other freshwater turtles, such as the river cooter (Pseudemys concinna) and the false map turtle (Graptemys pseudogeographica).

Genetic analyses of specimens of all three species in a range of ages have now demonstrated that they are reproducing independently in local waters.

What’s surprising is that the invasive species have established themselves so far north. In Europe, successful reproduction and self-maintaining populations of Trachemys scripta were only known in the Mediterranean regions and the continental climate zone of Slovenia,
explains Benno Tietz.

Until recently, it had been assumed the turtles being examined couldn’t reproduce in Central Europe due to the colder climate. Especially the false map turtle is actually quite sensitive to the cold,
he says.

A North American pond slider (*Trachemys scripta*) resting on a lily pad. Photo: Johannes Penner.

Consequences for local species unclear

The invasive turtles could become a problem for indigenous species.

The European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis), for example, is now only present in Germany in parts of Brandenburg.

In an experimental setup, the European pond turtle showed weight loss and an increased death rate when being kept together with Trachemys scripta,
reports Penner.

Penner says that could be caused by the larger, alien species forcing the smaller local turtles from places where they sun themselves, leading the local turtles to have problems with thermoregulation. Or perhaps the competition led to them having greater challenges when seeking food.

Beyond that, aquatic turtles could be hosts for viruses and parasites, leading them to play a role in the spread of diseases. This could potentially have a damaging influence on other parts of the ecosystem, including amphibians, fish, or aquatic plants.

On the other hand, in their study, the researchers consider the alien species could assume functions in damaged ecosystems that would otherwise go unreplaced.

Vamberger says these questions urgently need to be explored further.

We need to raise public awareness that people should not release – no matter what kind of species – any animals into the wild in future.”
she insists.

A river cooter (*Pseudemys concinna*) lets itself drift in the water. Photo: Johannes Penner.

Meet the research team:

Dr. Johannes Penner was the scientific coordinator of the research training group “Conservation of Forest Biodiversity in Multiple-Use Landscapes of Central Europe” (ConFoBi) and a lecturer for the Chair of Wildlife Ecology and Management of the University of Freiburg. Currently, he is a curator at the NGO “Frogs and Friends” and a guest researcher in wild animal ecology.

Benno Tietz has completed a Master’s degree in Environmental Sciences at the University of Freiburg. His thesis – finished in the Winter Semester of 2020/2021 – investigated alien turtles. Currently, he is a research assistant at the Freiburg Institute of Applied Animal Ecology.

Dr. Melita Vamberger is a researcher at the Senckenberg Natural History Collection in Dresden.

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The study was supported by the Hans Schimenz Fund of the German Society for Herpetology and Terrarium Science (DGHT) as well as the Academic Society of Freiburg.

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Research paper:

Tietz B, Penner J, Vamberger M (2023) Chelonian challenge: three alien species from North America are moving their reproductive boundaries in Central Europe. NeoBiota 82: 1-21. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.82.87264

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Interoperable biodiversity data extracted from literature through open-ended queries

OpenBiodiv is a biodiversity database containing knowledge extracted from scientific literature, built as an Open Biodiversity Knowledge Management System.

The OpenBiodiv contribution to BiCIKL

Apart from coordinating the Horizon 2020-funded project BiCIKL, scholarly publisher and technology provider Pensoft has been the engine behind what is likely to be the first production-stage semantic system to run on top of a reasonably-sized biodiversity knowledge graph.

OpenBiodiv is a biodiversity database containing knowledge extracted from scientific literature, built as an Open Biodiversity Knowledge Management System.

As of February 2023, OpenBiodiv contains 36,308 processed articles; 69,596 taxon treatments; 1,131 institutions; 460,475 taxon names; 87,876 sequences; 247,023 bibliographic references; 341,594 author names; and 2,770,357 article sections and subsections.

In fact, OpenBiodiv is a whole ecosystem comprising tools and services that enable biodiversity data to be extracted from the text of biodiversity articles published in data-minable XML format, as in the journals published by Pensoft (e.g. ZooKeys, PhytoKeys, MycoKeys, Biodiversity Data Journal), and other taxonomic treatments – available from Plazi and Plazi’s specialised extraction workflow – into Linked Open Data.

“I believe that OpenBiodiv is a good real-life example of how the outputs and efforts of a research project may and should outlive the duration of the project itself. Something that is – of course – central to our mission at BiCIKL.”
explains Prof Lyubomir Penev, BiCIKL’s Project Coordinator and founder and CEO of Pensoft.

“The basics of what was to become the OpenBiodiv database began to come together back in 2015 within the EU-funded BIG4 PhD project of Victor Senderov, later succeeded by another PhD project by Mariya Dimitrova within IGNITE. It was during those two projects that the backend Ontology-O, the first versions of RDF converters and the basic website functionalities were created,”
he adds.

At the time OpenBiodiv became one of the nine research infrastructures within BiCIKL tasked with the provision of virtual access to open FAIR data, tools and services, it had already evolved into a RDF-based biodiversity knowledge graph, equipped with a fully automated extraction and indexing workflow and user apps.

Currently, Pensoft is working at full speed on new user apps in OpenBiodiv, as the team is continuously bringing into play invaluable feedback and recommendation from end-users and partners at BiCIKL.

As a result, OpenBiodiv is already capable of answering open-ended queries based on the available data. To do this, OpenBiodiv discovers ‘hidden’ links between data classes, i.e. taxon names, taxon treatments, specimens, sequences, persons/authors and collections/institutions.

Thus, the system generates new knowledge about taxa, scientific articles and their subsections, the examined materials and their metadata, localities and sequences, amongst others. Additionally, it is able to return information with a relevant visual representation about any one or a combination of those major data classes within a certain scope and semantic context.

Users can explore the database by either typing in any term (even if misspelt!) in the search engine available from the OpenBiodiv homepage; or integrating an Application Programming Interface (API); as well as by using SPARQL queries.

On the OpenBiodiv website, there is also a list of predefined SPARQL queries, which is continuously being expanded.

*Sample of predefined SPARQL queries at OpenBiodiv.*

“OpenBiodiv is an ambitious project of ours, and it’s surely one close to Pensoft’s heart, given our decades-long dedication to biodiversity science and knowledge sharing. Our previous fruitful partnerships with Plazi, BIG4 and IGNITE, as well as the current exciting and inspirational network of BiCIKL are wonderful examples of how far we can go with the right collaborators,”
concludes Prof Lyubomir Penev.

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Follow BiCIKL on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation on Twitter at #BiCIKL_H2020.

You can also follow Pensoft on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin and use #OpenBiodiv on Twitter.

Where did all those insects come from? Tracking the history of insect invasion in Chile

Going through centuries-old literature, researchers compiled a database of the exotic insects established in the country.

Guest blog post by Daniela N. López, Eduardo Fuentes-Contreras, Cecilia Ruiz, Sandra Ide, Sergio A. Estay

Understanding the history of non-native species arrivals to a country can shed light on the origins, pathways of introduction, and the current and future impacts of these species in a new territory. In this sense, collecting this information is important, and sometimes essential, for researchers and decision makers. However, in most cases, reconstructing this history takes a lot of work. Finding antique references is hard work. To add more complexities, changes in the taxonomy of species or groups could be frustrating as we try to track the moment when a species was referenced in the country for the first time, sometimes centuries ago. Of course, we only learned about these issues when, almost seven years ago, we thought that compiling a database for the exotic insects established in Chile would be interesting to people working on invasive species in the country.

Tremex fuscicornis caught in Chile. Photo by Sergio Estay

First, we collected information from physical and electronic books and journals available in our institutional libraries, but soon we noticed that we needed a more significant effort. In Chile, the National Library and The National Congress library allowed us to review and collect information from texts, in many cases, over a hundred years old. We also had to request information from foreign specialized libraries and bookstores. Sometimes, we had to negotiate with private collectors to buy antique books or documents. When we figured the first version of the database was ready, we began a second step for detecting errors, correcting the taxonomy, and completing the information about the reported species.

Ctenarytaina eucalypti individuals and damage in Chile. Photo by Sergio Estay

The analysis began when we finally completed the database. What types of questions could we answer using this data? Was the database complete enough to detect historical, biogeographic, and ecological patterns? Two competing hypotheses were the starting point for the study at this stage. On the one hand, the species that dominated the non-native insect assemblage could have come from original environmental conditions that matched Chile’s. Or, the pool of non-native insects arrived using pathways associated with the country’s economic activities, regardless of their origin.

We found records of almost 600 non-native insect species established in continental Chile. Most species corresponded to Hemiptera (true bugs and scales, among others) from Palaearctic origin and were linked to agriculture and forestry, as we initially hypothesized. These characteristics point to the central role of intercontinental human-mediated transport in structuring non-native insect assemblages in Chile. Non-native insect introductions began immediately after the arrival of Europeans to the central valley of Chile and have shown an enormous acceleration since 1950. Using data on the economic history of Chile, we can preliminary link this acceleration with the strong development in agriculture and forestry in Chile after World War II and the increase in intercontinental air traffic.

Exotic aphids in garden in Chile. Photo by Sergio Estay

The development and analysis of this database gave us some preliminary answers about the ecology of invasive insect species and opened the door to new questions. Also, this is a work in progress. We need the scientific community’s support to improve and correct the records, provide new reports and collect further references to support the database. Our data and analysis may be representative of other countries in South America. Similarities between our countries can facilitate using this information to manage recent introductions and prevent significant economic, social, or environmental damage.

Reference

López DN, Fuentes-Contreras E, Ruiz C, Ide S, Estay SA (2023) A bug’s tale: revealing the history, biogeography and ecological patterns of 500 years of insect invasions. NeoBiota 81: 183-197. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.81.87362

New frog species named after fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien

The frog lives in the pristine streams of the Río Negro-Sopladora National Park, a protected area with thousands of hectares of almost primary forests in Ecuador.

“In a stream in the forest there lived a Hyloscirtus. Not a nasty, dirty stream, with spoor of contamination and a muddy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy stream with nothing in it to perch on or to eat: it was a Hyloscirtus-stream, and that means environmental quality.”
(adapted from the opening of “The Hobbit” by J. R. R. Tolkien)

A magnificent new species of stream frog from the Andes of Ecuador was named after J. R. R. Tolkien, creator of Middle-earth and author of famous fantasy works “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings. It lives in the pristine streams of the Río Negro-Sopladora National Park, a recently declared protected area that preserves thousands of hectares of almost primary forests in southeastern Ecuador.

Stream frogs are a group of amphibians that inhabit the high Andes of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuado, Peru, and Bolivia. Their life is closely linked to the pure rivers and streams in the mountain areas of the Andes, hence the name “stream frogs”. The adults live in the riparian vegetation, and their tadpoles develop among the rocks of the rapid waters of the rivers.

The researchers, Juan C. Sánchez-Nivicela, José M. Falcón-Reibán, and Diego F. Cisneros-Heredia, named the new frog Hyloscirtus tolkieni in honour of one of their favourite writer. JRR Tolkien, a renowned author, poet, philologist and academic, is the creator of Middle-earth and the father of fantastic works such as “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings”. The amazing colours of this new frog species reminded them of the magnificent creatures from Tolkien’s fantasy worlds.

Expeditions carried out since 2020 in the Río Negro-Sopladora National Park in Ecuador have allowed the discovery of a large number of species yet unknown to science. A protected area since 2018, this national park, located in the south of the country, is home to large forested areas that remain unstudied.

“For weeks, we explored different areas of the Río Negro-Sopladora National Park, walking from paramo grasslands at 3,100 meters elevation to forests at 1,000 m. We found a single individual of this new species of frog, which we found impressive due to its colouration and large size.”, indicated Juan Carlos Sánchez Nivicela, associate researcher at the Museum of Zoology of the Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ and the National Institute of Biodiversity, and co-author of the study where the frog is described.

The Río Negro Stream Frog is easily differentiated from all its frog releatives by its appearance and unique colouration. It is relatively large (65 mm long), a greyish green back with yellow spots and black specks, and a pale pink and black iris. Its throat, belly and flanks as well as the undersides of its legs are golden yellow with large black spots and dots, and its fingers and toes have black bars and spots and broad skin stripes.

“The new species of frog has amazing colours, and it would seem that it lives in a universe of fantasies, like those created by Tolkien. The truth is that the tropical Andes are magical ecosystems where some of the most wonderful species of flora, funga, and fauna in the world are present. Unfortunately, few areas are well protected from the negative impacts caused by humans. Deforestation, unsustainable agricultural expansion, mining, invasive species, and climate changes are seriously affecting Andean biodiversity”, said Diego F. Cisneros-Heredia, director of the Museum of Zoology of the Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ and associate researcher of the National Institute of Biodiversity, and co-author of the study.

The species is still only known from one locality and one individual, so information is insufficient to assess its conservation status and the risk of extinction. However, the authors agree that it is urgent to establish research and monitoring actions to study its life history and ecology, as well as its population size and dynamics. In addition, they suggest exploring new sites where additional populations may exist, and assessing whether their long-term conservation is affected by any threats, such as invasive species, mining, emerging diseases, or climate change.

The description of new species is an important mechanism to support global strategies for the conservation of vulnerable environments, since it reveals the great wealth of biodiversity that is linked to countless natural resources and environmental services. For example, amphibians are important pest controllers and play vital ecological roles in the stability of nature. Unfortunately, 57% of amphibian species in Ecuador are threatened by extinction.

Research article:

Sánchez-Nivicela JC, Falcón-Reibán JM, Cisneros-Heredia DF (2023) A new stream treefrog of the genus Hyloscirtus (Amphibia, Hylidae) from the Río Negro-Sopladora National Park, Ecuador. ZooKeys 1141: 75-92. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1141.90290

Photos by Juan Carlos Sánchez-Nivicela / Archive Museo de Zoología, Universidad San Francisco de Quito

Follow ZooKeys on Facebook and Twitter.

EU responsible for extinction domino effect on frog populations

New study shows EU frogs’ legs imports put a serious risk to frogs in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe

**In Europe, frogs’ legs are mostly offered as appetizers. © Pixabay**

Between 2010 and 2019, total imports of frog’s legs into the EU numbered 40.7 million kg, which equals to up to roughly 2 billion frogs. While Belgium is the main importer, France is the main consumer. These insights are part of a new study, published in the journal Nature Conservation, which found “inexplicable volatility” in the trade of frog legs and an extreme dependency of the EU on other countries to meet its demand.

Leading author Dr. Auliya of the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change in Bonn, Germany, outlines the manifold uncertainties underlying this trade: “The international trade in frogs’ legs is a black box, whether it is the lack of species-specific trade data, which would be needed to ensure sustainability, or the large-scale mislabeling in trade and the challenges to identify species when it comes to processed, skinned and frozen frogs’ legs.”

Frogs’ legs from large ranids at a large-scale reptile collector in North Sumatra, Indonesia. Photo by Mark Auliya

Frogs have a central role in the ecosystem as insect predators – and where frogs disappear, the use of toxic pesticides increases. Hence, the frogs’ legs trade has direct consequences not only for the frogs themselves, but for biodiversity and ecosystem health as a whole. The extent to which pesticide residues in frogs’ legs are traded internationally remains unclear.

In the 1970s and 1980s, India and Bangladesh were the top suppliers of frogs’ legs to Europe, but when their wild frog populations collapsed, both countries banned exports. Since then, Indonesia has taken over as the largest supplier. In the Southeast Asian country, as now also in Turkey and Albania, large-legged frog species are dwindling in the wild, one after the other, causing a fatal domino effect for species conservation. This increasingly threatens frog populations in the supplier countries.

“The EU is by far the world’s largest importer of frogs’ legs, and large-legged species such as the crab-eating grass frog (Fejervarya cancrivora), the giant Javan frog (Limnonectes macrodon) and the East Asian bullfrog (Hoplobatrachus rugulosus) are in particular demand among supposed gourmets in Europe”, points out co-author Dr. Sandra Altherr, a biologist and wildlife trade expert of the Germany-based charity Pro Wildlife.

Frozen frogs’ legs on sale in a French supermarket, August 2022. Photo by Sandra Altherr / Pro Wildlife

While commercial frog farms, like those operated in Viet Nam, may at first glance seem to be an alternative that can relieve the pressure from wild frog populations, ongoing restocking of frog farms with native species from the wild and, in the case of non-native species, such as the American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) the risk of escape, invasion and potential risk of disease spread, are serious risks for the environment.

The harvest of wild frog populations and species produced at commercial frog farms for the purpose of consumption also leaves disease control and hygiene measures by the wayside; additionally, the cross-border trade of species for consumption has led to genetic pollution and hybridization between species.

Limnonectes blythii species complex from a large-scale collector in North Sumatra. Photo by Mark Auliya

„During the course of this study, it became clear just how difficult it is to obtain concrete data on the current international trade in frogs’ legs. Specifically, relevant data are scattered across different unconnected databases,“ the researchers write in their paper.

In the course of their review, they were not able to find any published data out whether pesticide residues and other potentially toxic substances in (processed) frogs or their legs imported into the EU have been monitored. “This in itself is shocking and in view of the situation in exporting countries and the lack of transparency and management in the application of agrochemicals and veterinary medicinal substances within commercial farms, we strongly recommend that this monitoring become an urgent near-future task for importing countries,” they write.

“The complexity of issues underlying the frogs’ legs trade is not a priority policy item for the EU,” the authors conclude. They add that a listing of the most-affected frog species under CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, would help to monitor trade and ensure its sustainability, and the EU as the main destination should take the lead on that.

Research article:

Auliya M, Altherr S, Nithart C, Hughes A, Bickford D (2023) Numerous uncertainties in the multifaceted global trade in frogs’ legs with the EU as the major consumer. Nature Conservation 51: 71-135. https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.51.93868

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Tag team: a tale of two Antarctic blue whales

For the first time, the satellite tracks of two Antarctic blue whales, tagged a decade ago, have been published in the open-access Biodiversity Data Journal.

Ten years ago, Dr Virginia Andrews-Goff was riding the bowsprit of a six-metre boat, as a 30-metre, 120-tonne Antarctic blue whale surfaced alongside.

That day in the Southern Ocean, she became the first and, so far, the only person, to deploy satellite tags on two of these critically endangered and rarely sighted giants.

Scientists approach a 30 metre blue whale in their six metre boat. **©Kylie Owens/Australian Antarctic Division**

At the time, her success added weight to a case in the United Nations International Court of Justice, demonstrating that scientific research on whales could be conducted without killing them.

Dr Andrews-Goff and her colleagues at the Australian Antarctic Division have now published the two satellite tracks generated by that 2013 work, in the open-access Biodiversity Data Journal.

This is a unique data set that was incredibly challenging to get.
Dr Virginia Andrews-Goff

The tracks give an insight into the animals’ movement and behaviour on their feeding grounds, and illustrate the significant logistical challenges needed to successfully locate, tag, and track Antarctic blue whales.

“This is a unique data set that was incredibly challenging to get, and, unfortunately, for 10 years no-one has been able to generate more data,” Dr Andrews-Goff said.

“We know very little about the movement and distribution of Antarctic blue whales, where they migrate, where they forage and breed, and we don’t understand the threats they might face as they recover from whaling.”

Two satellite tagged Antarctic blue whales have provided the first insights into the movement and behaviour of these critically endangered ocean giants on their feeding grounds. **©Australian Antarctic Division**

Part of the issue is that the animals are incredibly difficult to find. Commercial whaling in the 1960s and ‘70s killed about 290,000 Antarctic blue whales, accounting for 90% of the population. By the late 1990s, the world’s population of Antarctic blue whales was estimated at 2280 animals.

Back in 2013, the research team used novel acoustic tracking techniques to detect blue whale calls and hone in on their location from up to 1000 kilometres away. Once the whales were in sight (in two separate locations), an expert crew manoeuvred close to their fast-moving targets.

The satellite tags showed that the whales travelled 1390 kilometres in 13 days and 5550 kilometres in 74 days, with an average distance of more than 100 kilometres per day.

“The two whales did entirely different things, but what became obvious is that these animals can travel really quickly,” Dr Andrews-Goff said.

“If you consider how far and fast these animals moved, protecting the broader population against potential threats will be tricky because they could potentially circumnavigate Antarctica within a single feeding season.”

his map shows the movement of two satellite tagged Antarctic blue whales. The track on the bottom right are the movements of one whale over 13 days. The other three tracks capture segments of movement by the second whale over 74 days. The tag for this second whale did not transmit data consistently, resulting in data gaps throughout the tracking period.
The blue portions of track show where the whales were moving quickly and directly, suggesting they were in transit, while the orange locations show where they slowed down and appeared to be searching or foraging. ©Australian Antarctic Division

Since the tracks were obtained, new analytical methods have added some behavioural context to the data.

Two movement rates were observed – a faster ‘in transit’ speed averaging 4.2 km/hr and a slower speed of 2.5 km/hr, thought to correspond with searching or foraging.

“It looks like the whales might hang around in one area to feed and then move quickly to another area and hang around there for another feed,” Dr Andrews-Goff said.

“There may be certain areas that are better feeding grounds than others. From a management perspective, it would be good to understand what is it that makes these areas important?”

Even at a sample size of two, Dr Andrews-Goff said the satellite tracks will assist the International Whaling Commission’s management of Antarctic blue whales, by providing initial insights into blue whale foraging ecology, habitat preferences, distribution, movement rates, and feeding. These will inform an in-depth assessment of Antarctic blue whales due to begin in 2024.

Original source:

Andrews-Goff V, Bell EM, Miller BS, Wotherspoon SJ, Double MC (2022). Satellite tag derived data from two Antarctic blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus intermedia) tagged in the east Antarctic sector of the Southern Ocean. Biodviersity Data Journal 10: e94228 https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.10.e94228

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Hidden in plain sight: snake named 46 years after first discovery

Although it had been documented and studied for years, it took molecular analyses to confirm that the snake was in fact a species new to science.

A new species of snake was described from western Panama. First documented in 1977 by Dr. Charles Myers, a scientist studying amphibians and reptiles throughout Panama, it was only now that it got a scientific description.

The new snake has been given the name Dipsas aparatiritos. The genus Dipsas includes the snailsuckers, a unique group of snakes that feed on soft-bodied prey including snails extracted from their shells, slugs, and earthworms. The species epithet “aparatiritos” is Greek for unnoticed: a reference to the fact that the snake had remained hidden in plain sight for over forty years at a very well-studied field site.

A snail-eating snake. — Live individual of Dipsas aparatiritos in Parque Nacional General de División Omar Torrijos Herrera photographed in the wild. Photo by Kevin Enge

Scientists Dr. Julie Ray, University of Nevada – Reno, Paola Sánchez-Martínez, Abel Batista, Daniel G. Mulcahy, Coleman M. Sheehy III, Eric N. Smith, R. Alexander Pyron and Alejandro Arteaga, have described the new species in a paper published in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

Dipsas aparatiritos has the characteristic bulbous head and brown-and-black patterning of many of the snakes in the genus. It looks very similar to its closest known relative, Dipsas temporalis, which is also found in Panama. It is now known that D. aparatiritos is endemic to, or known only from, the western and central parts of the country.

The Hidden Snail-eating Snake, Dipsas aparatiritos. Photo by Dr. Julie M. Ray

Panama has a rich diversity of snakes, with over 150 documented species in a country the size of Ireland or the U.S. state of South Carolina. Dr. Ray has documented over 55 species of snakes in Parque Nacional General de División Omar Torrijos Herrera where the newly described snake is best studied, and over 80 species in Coclé Province in Central Panama. She published a field guide, Snakes of Panama, in 2017.

Four individuals of Dipsas aparatiritos intertwined on one plant at Parque Nacional General de División Omar Torrijos Herrera. Photo by Noah Carl

Co-author of the species description Dr. Alex Pyron, The George Washington University, visited Parque Nacional General de División Omar Torrijos Herrera in June 2013 with Dr. Frank Burbrink, American Museum of Natural History. “That was my first trip to Central America,” he says. “We were able to see the after-effects of the amphibian declines. But I was struck by the diversity and abundance of snakes that were still present, including this species of snail-eater we have just described, the rare Geophis bellus [a small leaf litter snake known from just one specimen prior to this discovery] and an unusual Coralsnake.”

Despite being a new species, Dipsas aparatiritos is relatively common in Parque Nacional General de División Omar Torrijos Herrera and has been studied for years before it was described. Dr. Ray has published a paper about the diet of snail-eating snakes, where it was found that earthworms from bromeliads compose a large portion of the diet of Dipsas aparatiritos. She also co-authored a paper on trophic cascades following amphibian declines, where it was found that Dipsas aparatiritos actually was increasing in numbers due to a diet independent of amphibians.

Dipsas aparatiritos is already considered Near Threatened based on IUCN Red List standards. The snake is endemic to Panama and comes from a limited range in the cloud forests of mid-elevation, where at least 44% of the overall range has been deforested. In addition, as snakes are constantly persecuted by humans, almost all snake species are in danger of extinction in the near future. Efforts must be made to conserve these rare species, the researchers believe, especially as so many are just being described now.

“This work was a true collaboration of scientists from different countries each contributing their expertise to thoroughly understand this new species, morphologically and molecularly,” said Dr. Ray.

“We are in an exciting time in science. Naturalists and scientists must continue to document the natural world; there are many species out there yet to be found and described. The usage of molecular techniques is exciting and facilitates the confirmation of so many new species.”

Research article:

Ray JM, Sánchez-Martínez P, Batista A, Mulcahy DG, Sheehy III CM, Smith EN, Pyron RA, Arteaga A (2023) A new species of Dipsas (Serpentes, Dipsadidae) from central Panama. ZooKeys 1145: 131-167. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1145.96616

Seven new species of whitefish described in Central Switzerland

Biologists at Eawag identified whitefish species in the lakes of the Reuss river system. Of them, seven are described as new to science.

Biologists at Eawag have identified ten species of whitefish in the lakes of the Reuss river system. Of these, seven have been described as distinct species for the first time – although in two cases this required inspection of specimens from historical collections, since eutrophication of lakes in the 20th century also led to the extinction of fish species in Central Switzerland.

These seven whitefish were described as separate species for the first time, including the “Albeli” from Lake Lucerne, which now bears the name Coregonus muelleri in memory of the whitefish expert Rudolf Müller. Image by Eawag

The “Edelfisch” (Coregonus nobilis) was, after the smaller “Albeli”, the second most commonly caught species of whitefish in Lake Lucerne until, in the second half of the 20th century, phosphate from domestic wastewater and nutrient-rich run-off from farmland led to a massive increase in algal blooms. Compared to the lakes of the Central Plateau, nutrient levels in Lake Lucerne were moderate, and eutrophication was short-lived; even so, due to algal decomposition, oxygen was depleted in the deeper layers of the lake. The “Edelfisch”, which reproduces in the late summer at a spawning depth of 80 metres or more, suffered as a result. Shortly before nutrient inputs decreased following the ban on phosphates in detergents and the expansion of wastewater treatment plants, stocks of this species collapsed and it was considered to be extinct in 1980. Only from the late 1990s were individual specimens caught once again, unequivocally identified as C. nobilis in 2000 by the whitefish specialist and Eawag researcher Rudolf Müller.

Coregonus nobilis, Lake Lucerne, Switzerland.

Five whitefish species in Lake Lucerne

As the “Edelfisch” is now a protected species, Lake Lucerne has not lost any of its historically recorded whitefish species. Indeed, in addition to the familiar “Edelfisch”, “Albeli” and “Bodenbalchen”, Eawag scientists have identified two new species – two large whitefish, differing from the previously known species in their habits, morphological characteristics and genetic composition. The pelagic “Schwebbalchen” (Coregonus suspensus) probably lives permanently in the open water, not only for foraging but also for reproduction – a spawning behaviour only previously observed in the “Blaufelchen” (C. wartmanni) of Lake Constance. Occupying a position intermediate to the pelagic “Schwebbalchen” (C. suspensus) and the “Bodenbalchen” (C. litoralis) is the littoral “Schwebbalchen” (C. intermundia).

Lake Zug survivor

Particularly affected by eutrophication in the mid-20th century were whitefish in Lake Zug, which – like other Central Plateau lakes – was exposed to higher nutrient levels, for a longer period, than waterbodies further upstream. As only the uppermost water layers of this 200-metre-deep lake maintained oxygen levels sufficient to support fish, two whitefish species spawning in the depths of the lake died out – the (Lake Zug) “Albeli” (C. zugensis) and “Albock” (C. obliterus). Indeed, the Lake Zug “Albock” would have been completely forgotten if specimens had not been found by Eawag scientists Oliver Selz and Ole Seehausen in the historical Steinmann-Eawag Collection. Its morphology and historical accounts indicate that the Lake Zug “Albock” was a deep‑water specialist – a specialisation only otherwise observed to the same degree in the (likewise extinct) Lake Constance Kilch (C. gutturosus) and the (still extant) Lake Thun Kropfer (C. profundus).

The only whitefish species still found in Lake Zug today, spawning near the shore, is the “Balchen”. Testifying to its survival is its new scientific name – Coregonus supersum (“I have survived”).

Species endemic to each lake

Also new are the scientific names of the Lake Lucerne “Bodenbalchen” (C. litoralis) and “Albeli” (C. muelleri). For the morphological and genetic studies carried out by Oliver Selz and Ole Seehausen in order to revise the taxonomy of whitefish showed that almost every lake in Central Switzerland has its own species of “Albeli” and “Bodenbalchen”.

Previously, the “Albeli” of Lakes Zug and Lucerne had been classified as members of the same species (C. zugensis), while the “Balchen” spawning near the shore of the various Central Swiss lakes were known as C. suidteri. These collective species names have now been inherited by the extinct Lake Zug “Albeli” (C. zugensis) and the Lake Sempach “Balchen” (C. suidteri).

The Lake Lucerne “Albeli” received the new name C. muelleri in honour of the fisheries biologist and whitefish specialist Dr Rudolf Müller (1944–2023).

Ruedi Müller with the then Lucerne fisheries and hunting administrator, Josef Muggli, catching whitefish. Photo by Robert Muggli, Archive

A reflection of Switzerland

The lakes of the Reuss river system are a reflection of Switzerland as a whole. Since the last ice age, at least 35 whitefish species evolved in the pre-alpine lakes, usually two or more in each lake. Switzerland lost a third of these species during the period of lake eutrophication around the middle of the 20th century. Many of the lost species are known to researchers only thanks to historical collections, such as that created before the eutrophication period by the naturalist Paul Steinmann and currently curated by the Natural History Museum of Bern.

Original source:

Selz OM, Seehausen O (2023) A taxonomic revision of ten whitefish species from the lakes Lucerne, Sarnen, Sempach and Zug, Switzerland, with descriptions of seven new species (Teleostei, Coregonidae). ZooKeys 1144: 95-169. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1144.67747

How non-native tree species affect biodiversity

Non-native forest tree species can reduce native species diversity if they are planted in uniform stands, finds an international review study.

Non-native forest tree species can reduce native species diversity if they are planted in uniform stands. In contrast, the effects of introduced species on soil properties are small. This was found by an international review study with the participation of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL.

Curse or blessing? Opinions are divided on non-native tree species. In addition to native species, many foresters also plant non-native species that can withstand the increasing summer drought. In various parts of Europe, the latter are already important suppliers of timber. However, conservationists fear ecological damage, for example if native species are displaced or tree pathogens and insect pests are introduced.

In Switzerland, Douglas fir is partly used for afforestation. However, large pure stands, such as those found in Germany, are prohibited there. Photo by Thomas Reich

Now a team of European researchers, led by Thomas Wohlgemuth of WSL, has looked at the state of knowledge on the ecological consequences of alien tree species in Europe. They analysed the results of 103 studies on seven such species. All of these studies had investigated how stands dominated by non-native tree species affected biodiversity or soil condition under the trees compared to stands of native tree species. The organisms studied included plants, mosses, microorganisms and insects from the forest floor to the treetops.

Of the seven alien species studied, only the Douglas fir is currently planted in larger numbers in the Swiss forests. While foresters used to value its fast, straight growth and its versatile wood, today they appreciate its higher drought tolerance compared to spruce. Other species are problematic because they can spread uncontrollably. The North American Robinia, for example, is invasive and can displace native species. It was already introduced in Europe 400 years ago and used in Switzerland, among other things, to stabilise soils.

Robinia can spread rapidly and form stands as here in Valais. Photo by Thomas Reich

Negative effects on biodiversity predominate

Across the 103 studies, the consequences of non-native species for biodiversity were negative. Comparisons from 20 studies show, for example, that on average fewer insect species live on and in Douglas fir than in spruce or beech stands. Robinia also reduces the diversity of insects, eucalyptus that of birds. This is hardly surprising, says Wohlgemuth, head of the WSL Forest Dynamics Research Unit. Because: “These results apply to comparisons between pure stands.” In continuous, uniform plantations, many alien species clearly have worse impacts than native species.

Proportion of cases with increasing (green), decreasing (red) or non-significant (grey) effects of tree species non-native to Europe on diversity attributes (abundance, species richness or diversity) of different taxonomic groups in comparison to native vegetation. Numbers of cases are shown next to the NNTs names, below the diversity attributes and above the bars.

But alien species do not only have negative impacts. Most of them do not affect soil properties. The easily degradable needles of Douglas firs can even make more nutrients available than the poorly degradable spruce needles. “When it comes only to soil properties, the Douglas fir has no negative impact,” Wohlgemuth says. In general, an equal number of studies found positive and negative effects of the seven non-native species on the soil.

Douglas firs are attractive for forestry because of their fast growth, good wood properties and – in regard to climate change – their drought resistance. Photo by Thomas Reich

Furthermore, it makes a difference whether the alien species are more closely or more distantly related to European tree species. “Tree species without closer relatives, such as eucalyptus and acacia from Australia, reduce species diversity more strongly across all studies than closely related species, such as Douglas fir and wild black cherry from North America,” adds Martin Gossner, head of the WSL Forest Entomology Group and second author of the study.

A Douglas fir. Photo by Neptuul under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license

It all depends on the management

Management has a significant influence on whether Douglas fir or other tree species are good or bad for a forest overall. Uniform and dense Douglas fir stands are unsuitable habitats for many organisms. However, the same is true for spruces, which have been planted extensively for timber production in lowland areas of Central Europe over the last 100 years. On the other hand, Douglas firs in stands of native forest trees, individually or in small groups, would hardly disturb the ecosystem, Wohlgemuth says: “We conclude that the impact on native biodiversity is low with mixed-in Douglas firs.”

Should foresters plant non-native tree species or not? Despite certain negative aspects, Wohlgemuth does not recommend total renunciation. “Particularly in the case of Douglas fir, the facts show that moderate admixture in stands has little impact on native biodiversity, while at the same time preserving ecosystem services such as the production of construction timber. This is especially true when other, less drought-resistant conifers are increasingly lacking with regard to unchecked climate change.”

Research article:

Wohlgemuth T, Gossner MM, Campagnaro T, Marchante H, van Loo M, Vacchiano G, Castro-Díez P, Dobrowolska D, Gazda A, Keren S, Keserű Z, Koprowski M, La Porta N, Marozas V, Nygaard PH, Podrázský V, Puchałka R, Reisman-Berman O, Straigytė L, Ylioja T, Pötzelsberger E, Silva JS (2022) Impact of non-native tree species in Europe on soil properties and biodiversity: a review. NeoBiota 78: 45-69. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.78.87022

Web news piece originally published by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL. Republished with permission.

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Save the Nautilus! Three new species described from the Coral Sea and South Pacific

The enigmatic animals with beautiful shells are facing population declines and, possibly, even extinctions due to the activity of unregulated fisheries.

Guest blog post by Dr Gregory Barord, marine biology instructor at Central Campus and conservation biologist at the conservation organization Save the Nautilus

Nautiloids were once quite plentiful throughout the oceans, based upon the fossil record. Today, they are represented by just a handful of species, including the newly described Nautilus vitiensis of Fiji, Nautilus samoaensis of American Samoa, and Nautilus vanuatuensis of Vanuatu. These descriptions highlight the concept of allopatric speciation, or biogeographic isolation, where populations are geographically separated from other populations, resulting in a barrier to gene flow. Over time, these populations may eventually evolve into distinct species.

Nautilus trap construction. Photo by Gregory Barord

But what does it take to be able to collect the evidence needed to determine if three different populations of nautiluses are in fact three different species? For me, this is the best/worst part of the overall process, because nautilus fishing is not easy. For our team, it starts with building large, steel traps that are about a meter cubed. Then, we wrap the steel frame (ouch), with chicken wire (ouch) mesh (ouch), create an entry hole (ouch), attach it to a surface buoy with about 300 meters of fishing line, and bait it with (ouch) raw meat, usually chicken! Trap construction may take place on a nice beach or a bit inland in the rain or in a warm warehouse. Wherever it takes place, you will have some memories, I mean little scars, on your hands from working with the chicken wire. Looking down at my hands right now, I can remember where I was by looking at each of those scars… worth it!

Tossing the traps into the sea at dusk is the easy part. Load them on the boat, find the right depth, and tip them over the side of the boat. The hard part is retrieving the traps the next day, after about 12 hours of the raw chicken scent moving through the currents. There are a number of methods we’ve used to pull the traps up, from mechanical winches, hand-powered winches, float systems, boat pulls, and of course, just pulling with one hand at a time. Invariably, something happens in each location where we are just pulling the trap up from 300 meters one meter at a time, which takes a good half hour at least. But, at least you are getting a VERY good work-out. Eventually, you see the trap and these white little orbs in it and you know you’ve caught some nautiluses and the pulling is almost done, for now.

Nautilus trap in water with nautiluses in it. Photo by Gregory Barord

The next step might be my favorite. One of us jumps in the water and free dives about 5 meters to carefully (ouch, that chicken wire) reach for the nautiluses in the trap and bring them to the surface. You are face to face with these uniquely, misunderstood organisms who seem like this is just another day for them. For me, this is exhilarating! Once on the boat, they are placed in chilled seawater and from then on, the data collection happens fast. With the living organism in hand, you can start to glean even more of the differences between the species, examining the hood ornaments, or lack thereof. After some photos, measurements, and non-lethal tissue samples, the nautiluses are released and burped.

Maybe nautilus burping is my favorite part. To do this, we either dive with SCUBA or free dive with the nautiluses, and ensure there are no air bubbles trapped in the shell that may cause them to be positively buoyant. Imagine, you have one nautilus in each hand and you start swimming down, your feet and the nautilus tentacles pointed toward the surface. At a sufficient depth, you release them and observe their buoyancy. As the nautiluses compose themselves and jet back down to their nektobenthic habitat 300 meters below, you realize you may never see that individual nautilus again, and that nautilus may never see another human, well, maybe they will…

For me, the impetus for this publication in ZooKeys is rooted in nautilus conservation efforts. Over the last 20 years, I have studied nautiluses from many angles and for over 10 years now, have worked with an international team of folks to address nautilus conservation issues. For many nautiluses, probably millions, they were caught in much the same way that our team collected nautiluses. However, their first meeting with humans was their last as they were pulled from the trap, ripped from their protective shell, and tossed back in the ocean, used as bait, or, rarely, consumed. The shell is the attractive piece for shell traders and the living body has no value. It is like shark finning in that sense. As a direct result of these unregulated fisheries, populations of nautiluses have crashed, some have reportedly gone extinct, and international and country level legislation and regulations has been enacted.

A nautilus shell shop. Photo by Gregory Barord

Currently, there are no known fisheries in Fiji, American Samoa, or Vanuatu so the risk of these populations decreasing from fisheries is low, at the moment. Now, what is the risk to these same populations from ocean acidification, increased sedimentation, eutrophication, warming seas, and over-fishing of other species connected to the ecosystem nautiluses reside in? Right now, we simply do not know. Our conservation efforts started with simply counting how many nautiluses were left in different areas across the Indo-Pacific, then recording them in their natural habitat, then tracking their migrations, and now describing new species. There are still many questions to address regarding where they lay eggs, what they eat, and how they behave.

All nautiluses have long been grouped together when describing their natural history, but as we continue to uncover the nautilus story, it is increasingly obvious that each population of nautiluses is different, as exemplified by these three new species descriptions. This is certainly an exciting time for nautilus research, as we uncover more and more information about the secret life of nautiluses. I just hope that this is also an exciting time for nautiluses as well, and they continue doing their nautilus thing as they have done for millions of years.