Category: Zookeys

Newly discovered turtle species is facing extinction

For decades, it has been assumed that the Chinese Softshell Turtles from East Asia all belonged to one and the same species, Pelodiscus sinensis. Widely distributed all the way from the Russian Far East through the Korean Peninsula to China and Vietnam, the species was said to vary substantially in terms of its looks across localities. However, around the turn of the century, following a series of taxonomic debates, scientists revalidated or discovered a total of three species distinct from the ‘original’.

Recently, a Hungarian-Vietnamese-German team of researchers described a fifth species in the genus. Their discovery is published in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

The new species, which differs both genetically and morphologically from the other four, has well-pronounced dark blotches on the underside of its shell. The markings are also the reason why these turtles are going by the scientific name Pelodiscus variegatus, where “variegatus” translates to “spotted” in Latin.

“This morphological feature, among others, led to the discovery that these animals belong to a hitherto undescribed species,” explains Professor Dr. Uwe Fritz of the Senckenberg Natural History Collections in Dresden.

Unfortunately, the identification of multiple species within what used to be a single one has its potentially ill-fated consequences. While the Chinese Softshell Turtle was once considered widespread and not threatened, each newly discovered species “reduces” the individual population numbers.

“When we look at each species, the distribution range as well as the number of individuals is much smaller than when all were combined. Until now, the newly described Spotted Softshell Turtle was considered part of the Lesser Chinese Softshell Turtle Pelodiscus parviformis, which was discovered by Chinese researchers in 1997. Pelodiscus parviformis was already considered critically endangered. Now that its southern representatives have been assigned to a different species, the Spotted Softshell Turtle, the overall population size of each species is even smaller,” explains Balázs Farkas, the study’s Hungarian lead author.

Because of its restricted range and the levels of exploitation it is subjected to, the conservation status of the new species is proposed to be Critically Endangered, according to the criteria of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

*Habitat of the newly discovered softshell turtle, Pelodiscus variegatus. Photo by An Vinh Ong.*

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Original source:

Farkas B, Ziegler T, Pham CT, Ong AV, Fritz U (2019) A new species of Pelodiscus from northeastern Indochina (Testudines, Trionychidae). ZooKeys 824: 71-86. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.824.31376

New puddle frog species leaps into the spotlight from an unexplored mountain, Ethiopia

*Two females and eggs of the newly described species (Phrynobatrachus bibita). Photo by S. Goutte and J. Reyes-Velasco.*

A new species of puddle frog has just been discovered by NYU Abu Dhabi researchers at the unexplored and isolated Bibita Mountain in southwestern Ethiopia. The research team named the new species Phrynobatrachus bibita sp. nov., or Bibita Mountain dwarf puddle frog, inspired by its home.

In summer 2018, NYU Abu Dhabi Postdoctoral Associates Sandra Goutte and Jacobo Reyes-Velasco explored an isolated mountain in southwestern Ethiopia where some of the last primary forest of the country remains. Bibita Mountain was under the radars of the team for several years due to its isolation and because no other zoologist had ever explored it before.

“Untouched, isolated, and unexplored: it had all the elements to spike our interest,” says Dr. Reyes-Velasco, who initiated the exploration of the mountain. “We tried to reach Bibita in a previous expedition in 2016 without success. Last summer, we used a different route that brought us to higher elevation,” he added.

*Female (Phrynobatrachus bibita) next to egg clutches. Photo by S. Goutte and J. Reyes-Velasco.*

Their paper, published in ZooKeys journal, reports that the new, tiny frog (17 mm for males and 20 mm for females) is unique among Ethiopian puddle frogs. Among other morphological features, a slender body with long legs, elongated fingers and toes, and a golden coloration, set this frog apart from its closest relatives.

“When we looked at the frogs, it was obvious that we had found a new species, they look so different from any Ethiopian species we had ever seen before!” explains Dr. Goutte.

Back in NYU Abu Dhabi, the research team sequenced tissue samples from the new species and discovered that Phrynobatrachus bibita sp. nov. is genetically different from any frog species in the region.

“The discovery of such a genetically distinct species in only a couple of days in this mountain is the perfect demonstration of how important it is to assess the biodiversity of this type of places. The Bibita Mountain probably has many more unknown species that await our discovery; it is essential for biologists to discover them in order to protect them and their habitat properly,” explains NYU Abu Dhabi Program Head of Biology and the paper’s lead researcher Stéphane Boissinot, who has been working on Ethiopian frogs since 2010.

/Original text by New York University Abu Dhabi, UAE./

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Original source:

Goutte S, Reyes-Velasco J, Boissinot S (2018) A new species of puddle frog from an unexplored mountain in southwestern Ethiopia (Anura, Phrynobatrachidae, Phrynobatrachus). ZooKeys 824: 53–70. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.824.31570

The first case of a Portuguese beetle living exclusively in groundwater

New to science, the species was named after Pluto, the ruler of the underworld in Greek mythology

A diving beetle demonstrating various adaptations to the life underground, including depigmentation and evolutionary loss of eyes, was discovered at the bottom of a clay pound in the cave Soprador do Carvalho, Portugal. The species turned out to be the very first in the whole order of beetles (Coleoptera) to be known exclusively from the underground waters of the country.

*The Soprador do Carvalho cave (Portugal) is the type locality of the newly described species Iberoporus pluto. Photo by Ignacio Ribera.*

Despite not being able to find any other specimens during their study – save for the single female, the team of Dr Ignacio Ribera, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (Spain) and Prof Ana Sofia P. S. Reboleira, University of Copenhagen (Denmark) identified the beetle as new to science, thanks to its unambiguous morphology in combination with molecular data.

*Profile view of the newly described species Iberoporus pluto. Photo by Ignacio Ribera.*

Aptly named Iberoporus pluto in reference to the ruler of the underworld in Greek mythology Pluto, the species was recently described in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

With a uniformly pale orange body measuring 2.8 mm in length and 1.1 mm in its widest part, the beetle is larger than the rest species known in its genus, and its appendages are longer and more slender. While blindness and depigmentation are clear adaptation to life away from sunlight, the elongated limbs and antennae reflect poor swimming abilities needed in a subterranean habitat. Going for 4 km in horizontal direction, Soprador do Carvalho is the largest in the Dueça cave system, located in the north-eastern part of the Sicó karst area in central Portugal. In recent years, the cave is being explored for tourism.

“The knowledge of the subterranean fauna from Portugal has significantly increased over the last decade, with the description of a high number of obligate subterranean species (tripling their number) and the establishment of new biogeographic patterns,” explain the authors of the study. “A high number of these species are stygobiont (i.e. confined to groundwater), mostly from wells in the north of the country, where evapotranspiration is higher.”

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Original source:

Ribera I, Reboleira ASPS (2019) The first stygobiont species of Coleoptera from Portugal, with a molecular phylogeny of the Siettitia group of genera (Dytiscidae, Hydroporinae, Hydroporini, Siettitiina). ZooKeys 813: 21-38. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.813.29765

Extraordinary treefrog discovered in the Andes of Ecuador

*An adult of the newly described species, Hyloscirtus hillisi. Photo by Gustavo Pazmiño, BIOWEB Ecuador.*

A new treefrog species was discovered during a two-week expedition to a remote tabletop mountain at Cordillera del Cóndor, a largely unexplored range in the eastern Andes.

“To reach the tabletop, we walked two days along a steep terrain. Then, between sweat and exhaustion, we arrived to the tabletop where we found a dwarf forest. The rivers had blackwater and the frogs were sitting along them, on branches of brown shrubs similar in color to the frogs’ own. The frogs were difficult to find, because they blended with their background,” Alex Achig, one of the field biologists who discovered the new species comments on the hardships of the expedition.

Curiously, the frog has an extraordinary, enlarged claw-like structure located at the base of the thumb. Its function is unknown, but it could be that it is used either as a defence against predators or as a weapon in fights between competing males.

Having conducted analyses of genetic and morphologic data, scientists Santiago R. Ron, Marcel Caminer, Andrea Varela, and Diego Almeida from the Catholic University of Ecuador concluded that the frog represented a previously unknown species. It was recently described in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

*Unlike other frogs, the new species has a claw at the base of the thumb. Photo by Gustavo Pazmiño, BIOWEB Ecuador.*

The species name, Hyloscirtus hillisi, honors Dr. David Hillis, a member of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, who discovered three closely related frog species in the same genus in the 1980s, while conducting a series of field trips to the Andes of southern Ecuador. Throughout his career, Dr. Hillis has made significant contributions to the knowledge of Andean amphibians and reptiles.

Despite being newly described, Hyloscirtus hillisi is already at risk of extinction. It has a small distribution range near a large-scale mining operation carried out by a Chinese company. Habitat destruction in the region has been recently documented by the NGO Amazon Conservation.

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Original source:

Ron SR, Caminer MA, Varela-Jaramillo A, Almeida-Reinoso D (2018) A new treefrog from Cordillera del Cóndor with comments on the biogeographic affinity between Cordillera del Cóndor and the Guianan Tepuis (Anura, Hylidae, Hyloscirtus). ZooKeys 809: 97-124. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.809.25207

*A metamorph of the new species, Hyloscirtus hillisi. Photo by Darwin Núñez, BIOWEB Ecuador.*

Eco-certified Ashtamudi short-neck clam acquires its rightful identity

*Fishermen fishing Ashtamudi short-neck clam.*

Even though the short-neck clam is the major resource and export coming from Ashtamudi Lake in Kerala, India – the first fishery to be awarded with a a Marine Stewardship Council certification for sustainability in the country, a recent study found out that the mollusc had been subject to mistaken identity.

Further, this is not the first time when the species and genus name of this clam has been changed. At first, the species was identified as Paphia malabarica, which is also the name one could read in all hitherto published reports, including the Marine Stewardship Council’s register. Later on, as the name was proved to not be compliant with the current nomenclature, the Ashtamudi short-neck clam began to be referred to as Protapes gallus.

*Marcia recens from Ashtamudi lake, India.*

However, the latest in-depth taxonomic study points to the clam having been misidentified from the very beginning. According to the finding of the team of A. Arathi, R. Ravinesh and A. Biju Kumar of the Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, University of Kerala, and Graham Oliver of National Museum Wales, United Kingdom, the Ashtamudi short-neck clam belongs to a totally different genus, while its rightful scientific name actually is Marcia recens. Their paper was published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

*Protapes gallus (Paphia malabarica) (above) and Marcia recens (below) showing obvious external morphological variations.*

During their research, the scientists identified another edible species from Ashtamudi Lake that belongs to the Marcia genus: Marcia opima. While it could easily be mistaken for its commercially important relative thanks to a multitude of colour variations, it does not appear to contribute significantly to the export. Meanwhile, the actual species identified as Paphia malabarica (Protapes gallus) can be found in shallow coastal waters in the south of the country, but not in the studied brackishwater lake.

“No deleterious effects on the viability of the fishery have resulted from this error in identification, but from a legislative perspective applying the incorrect name to the exploited species could undermine its certification and protection,” comment the researchers.

“On the basis of this study, the species involved in the Marine Stewardship Council certification would be better considered at the generic level of Marcia or at the species level for Marcia recens, the most dominant species in the Ashtamudi Lake clam fishery zone.”

In conclusion, the authors of the study say that, “misidentification can undermine comparative biological studies and conservation, while more molecular studies are required to resolve the taxonomy of all clams involved in fishery.”

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Original source:

Arathi AR, Oliver PG, Ravinesh R, Kumar AB (2018) The Ashtamudi Lake short-neck clam: re-assigned to the genus Marcia H. Adams & A. Adams, 1857 (Bivalvia, Veneridae). ZooKeys 799: 1-20. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.799.25829

Photos by Dr Biju Kumar.

Austrian-Danish research team discover as many as 22 new moth species from across Europe

The last time so many previously unknown moths have been discovered at once in the best-studied continent was in 1887

*One of the newly discovered moths, Megacraspedus faunierensis, in its natural habitat in the Alps.*

Following a long-year study of the family of twirler moths, an Austrian-Danish research team discovered a startling total of 44 new species, including as many as 22 species inhabiting various regions throughout Europe.

Given that the Old Continent is the most thoroughly researched one, their findings, published in the open access journal ZooKeys, pose fundamental questions about our knowledge of biodiversity. Such wealth of new to science European moths has not been published within a single research article since 1887.

“The scale of newly discovered moths in one of the Earth’s most studied regions is both sensational and completely unexpected,” say authors Dr Peter Huemer, Tyrolean State Museum, and Ole Karsholt of the University of Copenhagen‘s Zoological Museum. To them, the new species come as proof that, “despite dramatic declines in many insect populations, our fundamental investigations into species diversity are still far from complete”.

The challenge of taxonomy

*Type locality of the new moth species Megacraspedus faunierensis, Cottian Alps, Italy.*

For the authors, it all began when they spotted what seemed like an unclassifiable species of twirler moth in the South Tyrolean Alps. In order to confirm it as a new species, the team conducted a 5-year study into the type specimens of all related species spread across the museum collections of Paris, London, Budapest and many in between.

To confirm the status of all new species, the scientists did not only look for characteristic colouration, markings and anatomical features, but also used the latest DNA methods to create unique genetic fingerprints for most of the species in the form of DNA barcodes.

What’s in a name?

A particular challenge for the researchers was to choose as many as 44 names for the new species. Eventually, they named one of the species after the daughter of one of the authors, others – after colleagues and many others – after the regions associated with the particular species. Megacraspedus teriolensis, for example, is translated to “Tyrolean twirler moth”.

Amongst the others, there is one which the scientists named Megacraspedus feminensisbecause they could only find the female, while another – Megacraspedus pacificus, discovered in Afghanistan – was dubbed “an ambassador of peace”.

Mysterious large twirler moths

All new moths belong to the genus of the large twirler moths (Megacraspedus) placed in the family of twirler moths (Gelechiidae), where the common name refers to their protruding modified mouthparts (labial palps).

The genus of the large twirler moths presents an especially interesting group because of their relatively short wings, where their wingspan ranges between 8 and 26 millimetres and the females are often flightless. While it remains unknown why exactly their wings are so reduced, the scientists assume that it is most likely an adaptation to the turbulent winds at their high-elevation habitats, since the species prefer mountain areas at up to 3,000 metres above sea level.

Out of the 85 documented species, however, both sexes are known in only 35 cases.

The scientists suspect that many of the flightless females are hard to spot on the ground. Similarly, caterpillars of only three species have been observed to date.

While one of the few things we currently know about the large twirler moths is that all species live on different grasses, Huemer and Karsholt believe that it is of urgent importance to conduct further research into the biology of these insects, in order to identify their conservation status and take adequate measures towards their preservation.

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Original source:

Huemer P, Karsholt O (2018) Revision of the genus Megacraspedus Zeller, 1839, a challenging taxonomic tightrope of species delimitation (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae). ZooKeys 800: 1-278. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.800.26292

The first cave-dwelling centipede from southern China

Chinese scientists recorded the first cave-dwelling centipede known so far from southern China. To the amazement of the team, the specimens collected during a survey in the Gaofeng village, Guizhou Province, did not only represent a species that had been successfully hiding away from biologists in the subterranean darkness, but it also turned out to be the very first amongst the order of stone centipedes to be discovered underground in the country.

Found by the team of Qing Li, Xuan Guo and Dr Hui-ming Chen of the Guizhou Institute of Biology, and Su-jian Pei and Dr Hui-qin Ma of Hengshui University, the new cavedweller is described under the name of Australobius tracheoperspicuus in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

The new centipede is quite tiny, measuring less than 20 mm in total body length. It is also characterised with pale yellow-brownish colour and antennae comprised of 26 segments each. Similar to other cave-dwelling organisms which have evolved to survive away from sunlight, it has no eyes.

In their paper, the authors point out that Chinese centipedes and millipedes remain poorly known, where the statement holds particularly true for the fauna of stone centipedes: the members of the order Lithobiomorpha. As of today, there are only 80 species and subspecies of lithobiomorphs known from the country. However, none of them lives underground.

In addition, the study provides an identification key for all six species of the genus Australobius recorded in China.

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Original source:

Li Q, Pei S-j, Guo X, Ma H-q, Chen H-m (2018) Australobius tracheoperspicuus sp. n., the first subterranean species of centipede from southern China (Lithobiomorpha, Lithobiidae). ZooKeys 795: 83-91. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.795.28036

Tiny thorn snail discovered in Panama’s backyard

*Close-up view of live individuals of the new species crawling on a leaf.*

Discoveries of biodiversity at the Lilliputian scale are more tedious than it is for larger animals like elephants, for example. Furthermore, an analysis producing a DNA barcode – a taxonomic method using a short snippet of an organism’s DNA – is not enough to adequately identify it to the species level.

In the case of tiny thorn snails – appearing as minute white flecks grazing in moist, decomposing leaf litter – it is the shell that provides additional and reliable information needed to verify or question molecular assessment of these otherwise, nondescript critters.

*Broadleaf forest litter with white arrows indicating the newly described species on the leaves.*

However, at 2 mm, thorn snails are too small and fragile to handle and the few, if any, tangible details on the outside of the shells can only be seen using a high-powered microscope and computed tomographic (CT) images.

This is exactly how the interdisciplinary team of Dr Adrienne Jochum, Naturhistorisches Museum der Burgergemeinde Bern (NMBE) and University of Bern, Dr. Bernhard Ruthensteiner, Zoologische Staatssammlung Muenchen, Germany, Dr. Marian Kampschulte, University Hospital of Giessen and Marburg, Gunhild Martels, Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Jeannette Kneubühler, NMBE and University of Bern, and Dr. Adrien Favre, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, managed to clarify the identity of a new Panamanian species. Their study is published in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

Even though the molecular analysis flagged what it was later to be named as the new to science species, Carychium panamaense, the examination left no shell for the description of the new snail to be completed, let alone to serve as tangible, voucher material in a museum collection available to future researchers. The mini forest compost-grazer had to wait for another five years and Dr. A. Favre, who collected fresh material while traveling in Panama.

The new snail is currently the second member of the family Carychiidae to be discovered in Panama. The first Panamanian, and southern-most member of its kind in the Western Hemisphere, is C. zarzaae, which was also described by Dr. A. Jochum and her team along with two sister species from North and Central America. The study was published in ZooKeys last year.

Much like X-rays showing the degree of damage in a broken bone, CT images visualise the degree of sinuosity of the potato chip-like wedge (lamella) along the spindle-like mast (columella) inside the thorn snail’s shell. These structures provide stability and surface area on which the snail exerts muscular traction while manoeuvring the unwieldy and pointed, signature thorn-like shell into tight nooks and crannies. The alignment and degree of waviness of the lamella on the columella is also used by malacologists (mollusc specialists) to differentiate the species.

*These are computed tomographic (CT) images of the new thorn snail species.*

Normally, a study of a thorn snail’s shell would require drilling out minute ‘windows’ in the shell by using a fine needle under a high microscope magnification.

“This miserable method requires much patience and dexterity and all too often, the shell springs open into oblivion or disintegrates into dust under pressure,” explains Dr. A. Jochum. “By exposing the delicate lamella using non-manipulative CT imaging, valuable shell material is conserved and unknown diversity in thorn snails becomes widely accessible for further study and subsequent conservation measures.”

The authors are hopeful that C. panamaense and C. zarzaae, which both inhabit the La Amistad International Park, Chiriquí, will remain a conservation priority along with other animalian treasures including the Resplendent Quetzal, Three-Wattled Bellbird and the Crested Eagles.

The park is considered the 1st bi-national biosphere reserve, as it occupies land in both Costa Rica and Panama, and constitutes a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990.

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Original Source:

Jochum A, Ruthensteiner B, Kampschulte M, Martels G, Kneubühler J, Favre A (2018) Fulfilling the taxonomic consequence after DNA Barcoding: Carychium panamaense sp. n. (Eupulmonata, Ellobioidea, Carychiidae) from Panama is described using computed tomographic (CT) imaging. ZooKeys 795: 1-12. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.795.29339

Large-sized fossilised lacewings prove remarkable species diversity during Middle Jurassic

Middle Jurassic has always been considered as a mysterious ancient period full of ‘magical’ dinosaurs, pterosaurs and plants. However, when we think about the Jurassic landscape, we should take insects into consideration as well.

The lacewings, for example, are a graceful group famous for the lovely net-like veins on their wings, beautiful enough to stand the test of time, preserved as fossils. In addition, the wing spots on their wings form various patterns, which serve to tell us more about their adaptation to the particular environment.

Having carefully studied several pieces of compressed fossils of the large and distinct insects they found in Dohugou village, Inner Mongolia, Chinese scientists Hui Fang, Dong Ren, Jiaxi Liu and Yongjie Wang, College of Life Science, Capital Normal University, Beijing, discovered two species new to science.

Due to their complex, one-of-a-kind wing venations, all three of them were placed in the same genus (Laccosmylus) in the family Saucrosmylidae. Their descriptions, along with the redescription of another previously known species, are published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

“Fossil lacewing insects are much more abundant compared to living ones,” comment the authors.

“These large-sized fossil lacewing species reflect a high lacewing diversity in Middle Jurassic. Soon, they will help us reconstruct the wonderful environment of the Jurassic world.”

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Original source:

Fang H, Ren D, Liu J, Wang Y (2018) Revision of the lacewing genus Laccosmylus with two new species from the Middle Jurassic of China (Insecta, Neuroptera, Saucrosmylidae). ZooKeys 790: 115-126. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.790.28286

Newly discovered moth named Icarus sports a flame-shaped mark and prefers high elevations

The paper describing the new species is part of a special issue dedicated to macro moths of the New World published in the open-access journal ZooKeys

Newly-recognized species of owlet moth recently discovered to inhabit high-elevation mountains in western North America was named after the Greek mythological character Icarus. From now on, scientists will be referring to the new insect as Admetovis icarus.

In their paper, Dr Lars Crabo, Washington State University, USA, and Dr Christian Schmidt, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, explain that the combination of the distinct flame-shaped mark on the moth’s forewing and its high-elevation habitat were quick to remind them of Icarus, who is said to have died after flying so close to the sun that his wings made of wax and feathers caught fire.

The study is part of the seventh volume of the “Contributions to the systematics of New World macro-moths” series, where all previous volumes have also been published as special issues in ZooKeys.

Found in the town of Nederland, Colorado, the moth was collected at an elevation of 2,896 m above sea level. The species has also been recorded all the way from central Utah and central Colorado to the Selkirk Mountains of southeastern British Columbia, including a record from northeastern Oregon. It can be spotted between June and August at night.

In fact, it turns out that the moth has been collected during surveys in the past on multiple occasions, but has been misidentified with another closely related species: Admetovis oxymorus.

While the flame mark is a characteristic feature in all three species known in the genus (Admetovis), in the newly described species it is darker. When compared, the wings of the Icarus moth are also more mottled.

Despite the biology of the larvae being currently unknown, the scientists believe they are climbing cutworms and feed on woody shrubs, similarly to the species Admetovis oxymorus.

“Finding undiscovered moths is not that unusual, even though scientists have been naming insects since the eighteenth century,” says lead author Dr Lars Crabo.

“The Contributions series, edited by Don Lafontaine and Chris Schmidt, in which this discovery is published, really encourages professional and citizen scientists alike to go through the steps necessary to properly name the species that they have discovered. This series of seven volumes also includes a new check list for the United States and Canada, which has led to a re-kindling of interest in moths during the last decade.”

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Original source:

Crabo LG, Schmidt BC (2018) A revision of Admetovis Grote, with the description of a new species from western North America (Noctuidae, Noctuinae, Hadenini). In: Schmidt BC, Lafontaine JD (Eds) Contributions to the systematics of New World macro-moths VII. ZooKeys788: 167-181. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.788.26480