Pensoft blog - Part 87

Chinese scientists discover a new species of catfish in Myanmar

During a survey of the freshwater fishes of the Mali Hka River drainage in the Hponkanrazi Wildlife Sanctuary, Myanmar, scientists Xiao-Yong Chen, Tao Qin and Zhi-Ying Chen, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), identified a new catfish species among the collected specimens. It is distinct with a set of morphological features including its mouthparts and coloration. The discovery is published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

The new catfish belongs to a genus (Oreoglanis) of 22 currently recognised species. They are characterised with unusual teeth. While pointed in the upper and the back of the lower jaw, the teeth at the front of the lower jaw are shorter and broad. The latter are placed in a continuous dent. Out of the 22 species of the genus, there are only two known to live in Myanmar.

The new catfish, scientifically named Oreoglanis hponkanensis, has a moderately broad and strongly depressed head and body, and small eyes. The species is predominantly brown in colour, with light yellow belly and several yellowish patches across the body. Noticeable are also two round, bright orange patches in the middle of the fin.

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Original source:

Chen X-Y, Qin T, Chen Z-Y (2017) Oreoglanis hponkanensis, a new sisorid catfish from north Myanmar (Actinopterygii, Sisoridae). ZooKeys 646: 95-108. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.646.11049

First of a kind footage of a living stylodactylid shrimp filter-feeding at depth of 4826 m

Depths such as those at the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument are an extreme challenge for explorers, providing scarce information about their inhabitants, let alone their behavior.

While most of them are known from dead specimens gathered by trawls, a team of scientists, led by Dr. Mary Wicksten, Texas A&M University, USA, have recently retrieved footage of a living shrimp from the seafloor at a striking depth of 4826 m. The video presumably shows a species, previously known from a single broken specimen from the Coral Sea, while filter-feeding. The observation is published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

With the help of the remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer, part of the equipment the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have used in the “2016 Exploration of the Marianas” expedition, the researchers have obtained the first footage of a living deep-sea benthic shrimp of the Stylodactylidae family. In fact, the video was of such high-quality that the scientists believe they have recognised the shrimp at a species level (Bathystylodactylus bathyalis). This is also the deepest record for this group of shrimps.

Navigating through the seafloor, mostly thickly sedimented with clay-like particles easily disturbed into clouds, the Deep Discoverer spent nearly five hours traversing the bottom, letting the scientists at the shore observe depths ranging from 4840 to 4787 meters. When it reached 4826 m, it approached a tiny shrimp measuring about 120 mm in length.

As soon as they noticed it, the researchers moved the vehicle so that it could face the shrimp and take some detailed shots. At first, the crustacean was seen to stay immobile facing the current for a few minutes, before raising to its back legs and beginning to use the front ones to form what seems to be a “filter basket” that captures particles. Curiously, while such passive feeding behavior is known from some crabs, it has not been observed within any group of carideans, the shrimp infraorder where the studied species belongs.

NOAA’s ship Okeanos Explorer, administered through the Office of Exploration and Research and used in the deep-water expedition, is equipped with the remotely-operated vehicle Deep Discoverer and a camera sled. It relies on two maneuverable and four fixed video cameras, as well as 26 LED lamps. High-speed communication capabilities enable scientists to participate in ship operations via telepresence. Thanks to this technology, anyone with Internet access is able to observe live video feeds from and participate in real time via a private chat room and satellite teleconference line.

Okeanos Explorer is to be employed once again in 2017 to continue its explorative mission focused on deepwater areas of U.S. marine protected areas in the central and western Pacific.

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Original source:

Wicksten M, De Grave S, France S, Kelley C (2017) Presumed filter-feeding in a deep-sea benthic shrimp (Decapoda, Caridea, Stylodactylidae), with records of the deepest occurrence of carideans. ZooKeys 646: 17-23. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.646.10969

New crab species shares name with 2 ‘Harry Potter’ characters and a hero researcher

While not much is known about the animals living around coral reefs, ex-Marine turned researcher Harry Conley would often take to the island of Guam, western Pacific Ocean, and dig deep into the rubble to find fascinating critters as if by magic learnt at Hogwarts. Almost 20 years after his discoveries and his death, a secret is revealed on the pages of the open access journal ZooKeys – a new species and genus of crab, Harryplax severus.

Having dug as deep as 30 m into Guam’s coral reef rubble, Harry Conley collected many specimens which stayed in his personal collection until the early 2000’s when Dr. Gustav Paulay, currently affiliated with the University of Florida, handed the specimens to the second author of the present study, Dr. Peter Ng, National University of Singapore, which resulted in many discoveries and publications. Among the lot, however, were two unusual specimens which were not studied until much later. Only recently did Dr. Peter Ng and his colleague at the National University of Singapore and lead author of the paper, Dr. Jose Christopher E. Mendoza, discover that they represent not only a new species, but also a new genus.

Having chosen the name Harryplax for the new genus, the two authors pay tribute to the crab’s original collector Harry Conley, who they describe as a “soft-spoken ex-Marine with a steely determination and a heart of gold,” and whose endeavours “have substantially advanced the cause of marine science”. The name is also meant to allude to the main protagonist in J. K. Rowling’s famous fantasy novel series, whose magical abilities the scientists liken to Conley’s knack for finding rare or new species. Of the two authors, Dr. Mendoza is the self-confessed ‘Potterhead’, who was not about to pass up the chance of naming a new crab after his favourite fictional characters. In his turn, Dr. Ng, who knew Harry Conley personally, was quite amused and happy to agree.

The crab’s species name, severus, is inspired by another ‘Harry Potter’ character – Professor Severus Snape, who despite being a central character in the series, keeps his background and agenda mysterious until the very end, when he reveals a key secret. Showing his real identity, the character, to the authors, is “just like the present new species which has eluded discovery until now, nearly 20 years after it was first collected”.

The new species is a tiny crab measuring less than a centimeter in both length and width and can be found deep in coral rubble or under subtidal rocks, perhaps also in cavities. To survive in the dark depths, the species has evolved with reduced eyes, well developed antennae, and long, slender legs. For the time being it is known only from the island of Guam.

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Original source:

Mendoza JCE, Ng PKL (2017) Harryplax severus, a new genus and species of an unusual coral rubble-inhabiting crab from Guam (Crustacea, Brachyura, Christmaplacidae). ZooKeys 647: 23-35. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.647.11455

New species of moth named in honor of Donald Trump ahead of his swearing-in as president

Days before Donald J. Trump steps forward on the Inaugural platform in Washington to assume the role of the 45th President of the United States of America, evolutionary biologist and systematist Dr. Vazrick Nazari named a new species in his honour. The author, whose publication can be found in the open access journal ZooKeys, hopes that the fame around the new moth will successfully point to the critical need for further conservation efforts for fragile areas such as the habitat of the new species.

While going through material borrowed from the Bohart Museum of Entomology, University of California, Davis, Dr. Vazrick Nazari stumbled across a few specimens that did not match any previously known species. Following thorough analysis of these moths, as well as material from other institutions, the scientist confirmed he had discovered the second species of a genus of twirler moths.

While both species in the genus share a habitat, stretching across the states of California, USA, and Baja California, Mexico, one can easily tell them apart. The new moth, officially described as Neopalpa donaldtrumpi, stands out with yellowish-white scales present on the head in adults. In fact, it was in these scales that the author found an amusing reference to Mr. Trump’s hairstyle and turned it into an additional justification for its name.

Donald Trump’s flying namesake is announced only a month following the recently described species of basslet named after predecessor President Barack Obama, also published in ZooKeys. The fish is only known from coral reefs in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, Northwestern Hawaii, a nature reserve which the 44th President of the United States of America expanded to become the largest protected marine area in the world.

Being a substantially urbanized and populated area, the habitat of N. donaldtrumpi is also under serious threat.

“The discovery of this distinct micro-moth in the densely populated and otherwise zoologically well-studied southern California underscores the importance of conservation of the fragile habitats that still contain undescribed and threatened species, and highlights the paucity of interest in species-level taxonomy of smaller faunal elements in North America,” says discoverer Dr. Vazrick Nazari. “By naming this species after the 45th President of the United States, I hope to bring some public attention to, and interest in, the importance of alpha-taxonomy in better understanding the neglected micro-fauna component of the North American biodiversity.”

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Original source:

Nazari V (2017) Review of Neopalpa Povolný, 1998 with description of a new species from California and Baja California, Mexico (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae). ZooKeys 646: 79-94. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.646.11411

Robust rattan palm assessed as Endangered, new Species Conservation Profile shows

An African rattan palm species has recently been assessed as Endangered, according to the IUCN Red List criteria. Although looking pretty robust at height of up to 40 m, the palm is restricted to scattered patches of land across an area of 40 km². It grows in reserves and conservation areas in Ghana and a single forest patch in Côte d’Ivoire. Its Species Conservation Profile is published in the open access Biodiversity Data Journal by an international research team, led by Thomas Couvreur, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), France, in collaboration with the University of Yaoundé, Cameroon, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK, and the Conservatoire et jardin botaniques, Geneva, Switzerland.

The rattan palm is confined to moist evergreen forests with high rainfall, located at 100 to 200 meters above sea level. The species is poorly known, yet it is likely very rare judging from the limited amount of forest habitat remaining across its range. Furthermore, the known populations are isolated from each other by large distances, which makes them particularly vulnerable.

Even though there are gaps of knowledge concerning the rattan palm species, the research team conclude that it is most likely currently declining, due to habitat loss, fragmentation and over-harvesting. Often mistaken for a sister species, commonly used in trade, the stems of the endangered species are largely used in furniture production. When longitudinally split into ribbons, the canes are also used as ropes for thatching, for making baskets and sieves, and to make traps.

“As with most African rattan species, there is inadequate information on the international trade, but it is likely to be negligible,” explain the scientists.

“Conservation measures are urgently needed to protect the habitat of this species and to control the unsustainable harvest of the stems. A promising solution might be sustainable cultivation of rattans to avoid the exploitation of wild populations,” suggests Ariane Cosiaux (IRD), the lead author of the study currently based in Cameroon.

With their present paper, the authors make use of a specialised novel publication type feature, called Species Conservation Profile, created by Biodiversity Data Journal, to provide scholarly credit and citation for the IUCN Red List species page, as well as pinpoint the population trends and the reasons behind them.

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Original source:

Cosiaux A, Gardiner L, Ouattara D, Stauffer F, Sonké B, Couvreur T (2017) An endangered West African rattan palm: Eremospatha dransfieldii. Biodiversity Data Journal 5: e11176. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.5.e11176

We ask. We listen. We innovate!

During the last months of 2016, we asked our users about their experience with the ARPHA Platform and its inbuilt ARPHA Writing Tool (AWT) that backends journals like Research Ideas and Outcomes (RIO Journal), Biodiversity Data Journal, One Ecosystem, and others. We got some fantastic feedback and have since been busy implementing some of the suggested features, while also improving existing ones.

In the very beginning of the new 2017, we are now happy to introduce some major improvements and additions to our writing tool.

First of all, we’ve updated our article templates, allowing users to modify them or to create a manuscript structure that best fits your needs. Most article types now also include blank document templates to be used at authors convenience. In the existing pre-defined templates, one can edit/change the majority of the (sub-)section titles or simply erase these from the manuscript.

Meanwhile, some new templates have also been developed to broaden the article types that users can pick from, these including R Package, Monitoring Schema, Ecosystem Inventory, Ecosystem Service Models, Ecosystem Service Mapping, Species Conservation Profile, Alien Species Profile, and others.

To improve user experience, commenting has now become even more intuitive by simplifying the comments interface and introducing a commenting button that floats next to the selected-for-revision text. The comments can now be filtered by user, date, and status; anchoring comments to commented texts is improved to a much more intuitive and user-friendly interface than before.

Last but certainly not least, a dedicated and highly concise Step-By-Step Site Tour will now also guide users through the main features of the writing tool the first time a manuscript is opened, both as author or reviewer.

At Pensoft we strive to continuously innovate and improve our products and services, and the ARPHA Platform and Writing Tool are no exception. That’s why we’ll take the opportunity to also share our plans for future improvements within this blog post. Here is what we have in store for the months to come:

Improving import of references and creating reference lists.
Extending table import and editing tool with new functionalities.
Restoring in a new improved format of the Track/Change mode for reviewers and coauthors.
Simultaneous collaborative writing and editing.

While thanking everyone who has already provided feedback and helped in this mission, we also invite our users to test the new features let us know what they think. We welcome any further feedback and comments at: info@arphahub.com

Twenty-five frogs added to the amphibian fauna of Mount Oku, Cameroon

While amphibians all over the world are undergoing a continuous decline, their status in certain regions, such as Central Africa, remains unknown due to incomplete information. New paper, published by two scientists in the open access journal ZooKeys, addresses the knowledge gap by providing an updated list of already 50 amphibian species living on Mount Oku, Cameroon.

Scientists Dr Thomas M. Doherty-Bone, Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, and Dr Václav Gvoždík, affiliated with both the Czech Academy of Sciences and the National Museum in Prague, have spent more than 10 years studying the Cameroonian mountain. As a result of their thorough surveys, literature review, and re-examination of museum specimens, there are now 50 species known from the locality, which doubles previous numbers. In their newly published checklist the researchers have listed 49 species of frogs and toads, as well as one caecilian species – a limbless, snake-like amphibian.

However, the number of threatened species seems to increase quite proportionally. Many of the newly recorded frogs, for instance, appear to be extremely endangered, yet they have not been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Therefore, the authors have used the IUCN criteria to propose conservation assessments for them. If the suggested statuses are approved, together with the updated declines of previously abundant in the area species, the proportion of the threatened would rise to nearly half (48%) of the Mount Oku’s entire amphibian fauna. Meanwhile, it is 42% of amphibians at risk of extinction globally.

In their study, the scientists also review the research and conservation undertaken at the mountain so far, including the work they have initiated themselves. Although Mount Oku’s forest turned out to be the best managed among the rest in the region, threats such as forest loss, encroachment and degradation are still largely present and increasing. Additional threats, including use of agrochemicals, climate change and diseases, have also been identified. However, conservation actions for the amphibians of Mount Oku are on the rise, considering both the population and the ecosystem-level perspectives.

“Our paper provides a foundation for continuously improving amphibian conservation at Mount Oku, as well as other mountains in Cameroon,” conclude the authors.

Original source:

Doherty-Bone TM, Gvoždík V (2017) The Amphibians of Mount Oku, Cameroon: an updated species inventory and conservation review. ZooKeys 643: 19-139. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.643.9422

New species of ground beetle described from a 147-year-old specimen

While new species are most commonly described based on recent field collections, undertaken at poorly explored places, some are identified in museum collections, where they have spent decades before being recognised as new to science. Such is the case of an unusually large and likely extinct ground beetle found at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, whose story began in the distant 1860s with Dr. Eduard Graeffe’s trip to Samoa. Now, a century and a half later, the beetle is finally described by Dr. James K. Liebherr, Cornell University, USA, in the open access journal Zoosystematics and Evolution.

Much like the rest of the species within the genus, the beetle now going under the name Bryanites graeffi showed vestigial flight wings and other traits associated with flight-wing loss. However, at length of 16.2 mm it is the largest for the taxonomic group it is now assigned to. Although this may seem way too obvious for taxonomists to overlook, the beetle’s relatives are just as obscure. The Bryanites genus was previously known from two species represented by two specimens only, collected in 1924 from Savai?i Island by Edwin H. Bryan, Jr., Bernice P. Bishop Museum in Honolulu, during the Bishop Museum’s Whitney South Seas Expedition.

As a result, we now have three species representing an evolutionary radiation in Samoa, all known from single specimens collected long ago. The phylogenetics of these three species link them to other groups from Fiji and New Zealand.

What is the advantage of knowledge about species that existed some 90-150 years ago, but no longer? It might actually point us to the actual level of impact mankind has on natural ecosystems. The cause of the likely extermination of Bryanites graeffi might never be known with certainty, however, the colonization of many Pacific islands by the Polynesian rat has always been followed by the diminution or elimination of native insect species. Thus, we can add another likely victim to the list of species that have been adversely impacted by mankind’s commensal voyagers.

The species bears the name of its original collector to pay tribute to Dr. Graeffe and his hard work while collecting insects in the rain forest of Samoa well over a century ago .

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Original source:

Liebherr JK (2017) Bryanites graeffii sp. n. (Coleoptera, Carabidae): museum rediscovery of a relict species from Samoa. Zoosystematics and Evolution 93(1): 1-11. https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.93.10802

Hidden diversity: 3 new species of land flatworms from the Brazilian Araucaria forest

A huge invertebrate diversity is hidden on the forest floor in areas of the Araucaria moist forest, Brazil. Land flatworms constitute a numerous group among these invertebrates occurring in the Neotropical region. Flatworms are considered to be top predators within the soil ecosystem, preying on other invertebrates.

The Araucaria moist forest is part of the Brazilian Atlantic Rain Forest and is considered a hotspot of land flatworm diversity, harboring many yet undescribed species. Study recently published in the open access journal ZooKeys describes three new species from areas covered by Araucaria moist forest in South Brazil, which belong to the Neotropical genus Cratera.

Land flatworms lack a water retention mechanism and have a low tolerance to intense changes in temperature and humidity. Their low vagility leads to the existence of a high number of endemic species. Thus, they are considered good bioindicators of the degree of impact on their habitat.

The new species are named after characteristics of their color pattern and are probably endemic for the study areas. Besides differing from each other, as well as from other species of the genus, by their characteristic color pattern, they also show other distinguishing features in the reproductive system. The study provides an identification key to the species of the genus.

The work was conducted by the south Brazilian research group on triclads, led by Dr. Ana Leal-Zanchet, of the Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS), in southern Brazil. The study was supported by the Brazilian Research Council (CNPq).

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Original source:

Rossi, I, Leal-Zanchet, A. (2017) Three new species of Cratera Carbayo et al., 2013 from Araucaria forests with a key to species of the genus (Platyhelminthes, Continenticola). ZooKeys 643 (2017): 1-32. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.643.11093

New plant named to honor the peace-making efforts of the Colombian President

Named to honour the peace-making efforts of the Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, recently awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize, a new species of the sunflower family genus Espeletia is described from the Páramo de Presidente. The study was published in the open access journal PhytoKeys.

Located 28 km south from the closest city Chitagá, the Colombian Páramo de Presidente has been considered unsafe for decades due to the country’s turbulent history. Like in many dangerous areas around Colombia, the flora of this páramo has not been studied well yet.

Closed to researchers for decades, the peace agreement opened this and other places for fruitful botanical explorations during the post-conflict times in Colombia. The new species was collected during an expedition of the authors in 2009, in which they met with left-wing armed members.

“Thanks to the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos Calderón, and his persistent efforts to achieve peace with the guerillas FARC in Colombia, after 52 years of conflict, we are now able to explore previously unreachable areas,” comments the lead author, Mauricio Diazgranados, research leader at Kew Gardens, Ardingly, UK.

“Naming our species to honour his peace efforts, we hope that this publication will further inspire the President to continue with more actions for the preservation of Colombian biodiversity.”

The new species is endemic to Colombia and is only known from the Páramo de Presidente, at elevations of 3400-3600 m. Although a large population of several hundreds of individuals growing in the grasslands of the páramo was observed, this particular area is not under any sort of protection, and there are signs of grazing activity. In addition, the proximity of extensive potato plantations suggests that the species is probably Critically Endangered.

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Original Source:

Diazgranados M, Sánchez LR (2017) Espeletia praesidentis, a new species of Espeletiinae (Millerieae, Asteraceae) from northeastern Colombia. PhytoKeys 76: 1-12. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.76.11220