Cliona minuscula, sp nov (Hadromerida : Clionaidae) and other bioeroding sponges that only contain tylostyles

A new bioeroding sponge belonging to the genus Cliona is described from the Australian Great Barrier Reef, Cliona minuscula, sp. nov. As the sponge lacked microscleres, comparison with existing clionaid species was difficult. We considered 15 other species of Cliona with only tylostyles: C. alderi, C. arenosa. C. caesia nov. comb., C. californiana, C. celata, C. delitrix, C. dissimilis, C. ecaudis, C. insidiosa, C. janitrix, C. kempi, C. laticavicola, C. macgeachii, C. millepunctata and C. peponaca. Characters of all species are presented in table-form to facilitate comparison during future studies. We listed additional species of Cliona that were not directly compared to the new species, because they were either invalid, insufficiently described, or they may not be obligate bioeroders. The form and dimensions of the megascleres of C. minuscula, sp. nov. indicated that it is distinct from all considered species. Its mean tylostyle dimensions were 225.3 mu m length, 4.5 mu m shaft width and 6.8 mu m tyle width, which is comparatively small. Because other morphological features were small as well ( erosion chambers, papillar diameter), this species was named C. minuscula. The species record for sponges of the genus Cliona reported from Australia is now 11.

Species of Lecithocladium Luhe, 1901 (Digenea, Hemiuridae) from Australian marine fishes, with a description of a new species from various hosts off eastern Australia

Lecithocladium moretonense sp. nov. is described from Monodactylus argenteus (type-host), Abudefduf sordidus, A. whitleyi, Herklotsichthys castelnaui, Lutjanus russelli, Platycephalus indicus, Rhabdosargus sarba, Siganus nebulosus and Scorpis lineolata from Moreton Bay, southern Queensland, and Acanthopagrus australis from off northern New South Wales. It differs from most Lecithocladium species in having a subglobular oral sucker and pharynx. Other distinguishing features are the thin-walled recurved seminal vesicle and the pars prostatica coiling over the seminal vesicle to the level of the anterior testis. Lecithocladium megalaspis Yamaguti, 1953 from Alepes apercna, Moreton Bay and L. angustiovum Yamaguti, 1953 from Scomber australasicus, Fremantle, Western Australia, are also reported, illustrated and measured.

Revision of Affecauda Hall & Chambers, 1999 (Digenea: Gyliauchenidae Fukui, 1929), including the description of two new species from fishes of the Indo-West Pacific

We describe 2 new species of Affecauda from the intestine of acanthuroid fishes of the Indo-West Pacific. Affecauda rugosa n. sp. is described from 1 mature specimen in excellent condition and 1 immature fractured specimen from the intestine of the sailfin tang, Zebrasoma veliferum (Acanthuridae), from Noumea, New Caledonia. Affecauda salacia n. sp. is described from the intestine of the ocellated spinefoot, Siganus corallinus (Siganidae), from Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia. Each of these species is made distinct from the type-species, Affecauda annulata Hall & Chambers, 1999, by combinations of the extent of tegumental annulations, conformation of the oesophagus and position of the ovary. The description of 2 new species of Affecauda necessitates a revision of the generic diagnosis, which is here amended to incorporate the additional species. A key to species is provided. The description of further species of Affecauda from waters external to the Great Barrier Reef and from siganid fishes expands the biogeographical range for species of Affecauda, from species of Naso on the Great Barrier Reef, to acanthuroid fishes of the western Pacific.

First record from Australia of the Cretaceous fern genus Tempskya and the description of a new species, T judithae

Silicified fragments of false-trunks of the fern, Tempskya judithae sp. nov., are described from lower Cretaceous (latest Albian) sediments near Winton, central-western Queensland. The species is characterised by a three-layered sclerenchymatous cortex and a two-layered pith of sclerenchyma cells. In possessing these characters, T judithae is more similar to T readii than to other species of Tempskya. However, the Australian species differs from T readii in the abaxial shape of the petiole xylem trace (concave in T judithae, convex in T readii) and in symmetry attributes of the leaf-bases within the false-trunk (random in T judithae and radially symmetrical in T readii). T judithae is the first record of Tempskya from Australia and the second from Gondwana; the known distribution range of the genus embraces a broad area in mid-high latitudinal regions of Laurasia and the Gondwana record now comprises Australia and Argentina. Ecological signals of plant fossil assemblages recorded from the Australian sediments are in accord with flood plain habitats and a temperate climatic regime. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Revision of Telotrema Ozaki, 1933 (Digenea : Gyliauchenidae Fukui, 1929), including the description of a new species from an acanthurid fish from the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia

We describe one new species of Telotrema Ozaki, 1933 from the intestine of an acanthurid fish of the Great Barrier Reef. Telotrema brevicaudatum n. sp. is described from 2 mature specimens from the yellowfin surgeonfish, Acanthurus xanthopterus Valenciennes, 1835 ( Acanthuridae), from waters off Lizard Island, Queensland, Australia. This species is distinguished from the type-species, Telotrema caudatum Ozaki, 1933, by the smaller excretory papilla, the massive pars prostatica, the unipartite, globular seminal vesicle, and the intertesticular position of the ovary. The proposal of a new species of Telotrema necessitates re-examination of the generic diagnosis, and the genus is here redefined in light of the morphology of T. brevicaudatum. Telotrema is distinguished from Gyliauchen Nicoll, 1915 by the possession of a ventral sucker which is larger than the pharynx, a straight or sigmoid oesophagus, an extensive and dense vitellarium, and a distinct excretory papilla. We here recognise 3 species and distinguish them in a key. The biogeographical range for species of Telotrema now includes acanthurid and pomacentrid fishes of the western Pacific Ocean.

Hematozoa of teleosts from Lizard Island, Australia with some comments on their possible mode of transmission and the description of a new hemogregarine species

Little is known of the blood parasites of coral reef fishes and nothing of how they are transmitted. We examined 497 fishes from 22 families, 47 genera, and 78 species captured at Lizard Island, Australia, between May 1997 and April 2003 for hematozoa and ectoparasites. We also investigated whether gnathiid isopods might serve as potential vectors of fish hemogregarines. Fifty-eight of 124 fishes caught in March 2002 had larval gnathiid isopods, up to 80 per host fish, and these were identified experimentally to be of 2 types, Gnathia sp. A and Gnathia sp. B. Caligid copepods were also recorded but no leeches. Hematozoa, found in 68 teleosts, were broadly hemogregarines of 4 types and an infection resembling Haemohormidium. Mixed infections (hemogregarine with Haemohormidium) were also observed, but no trypanosomes were detected in blood films. The hemogregarines were identified as Haemogregarina balistapi n. sp., Haemogregarina tetraodontis, possibly Haemogregarina bigemina, and an intraleukocytic hemogregarine of uncertain status. Laboratory-reared Gnathia sp. A larvae, fed experimentally on bruslitail tangs, the latter heavily infected with the H. bigemina-like hemogregarine, contained hemogregarine gamonts and possibly young oocysts up to 3 days postfeeding, but no firm evidence that gnathiids transmit hemogregarines at Lizard Island was obtained.

A morphological study of the Anopheles punctulatus group (Diptera: Culicidae) in the Solomon Islands, with a description of Anopheles (Cellia) irenicus Schmidt, sp.n.

A description of Anopheles (Cellia) irenicus Schmidt, sp.n. (formerly A. farauti No. 7) is provided. This species is one of six recorded from the Solomon Islands within the A. punctulatus group, which contains the major vectors of the causative agents of malaria and lymphatic filariasis in the southwest Pacific. Morphological markers are described for adult females, fourth-instar larvae and pupae that identify most specimens of A. irenicus. Keys are presented to distinguish members of the A. punctulatus group in the Solomon Islands.

Identification and analysis of venom gland-specific genes from the coastal taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus) and related species

Australian terrestrial elapid snakes contain amongst the most potently toxic venoms known. However, despite the well-documented clinical effects of snake bite, little research has focussed on individual venom components at the molecular level. To further characterise the components of Australian elapid venoms, a complementary (cDNA) microarray was produced from the venom gland of the coastal taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus) and subsequently screened for venom gland-specific transcripts. A number of putative toxin genes were identified, including neurotoxins, phospholipases, a pseudechetoxin-like gene, a venom natriuretic peptide and a nerve growth factor together with other genes involved in cellular maintenance. Venom gland-specific components also included a calglandulin-like protein implicated in the secretion of toxins from the gland into the venom. These toxin transcripts were subsequently identified in seven other related snake species, producing a detailed comparative analysis at the cDNA and protein levels. This study represents the most detailed description to date of the cloning and characterisation of different genes associated with envenomation from Australian snakes.

The Thelastomatoidea (Nematoda : Oxyurida) of two sympatric Panesthiinae (Insecta : Blattodea) from southeastern Queensland, Australia: taxonomy, species richness and host specificity

The thelastomatoid fauna of two species of wood-burrowing cockroach (Blattodea, Blaberidae), Panesthia cribrata and Panesthia tryoni tryoni, from Lamington National Park, Australia, is described. The following eight new species and three new genera of thelastomatid are proposed: Bilobostoma exerovulva n. g., n. sp.; Cordonicola gibsoni n. sp.; Coronostoma australiae n. sp.; Desmicola ornata n. sp.; Hammerschmidtiella hochi n. sp.; Malaspinanema goateri n. g., n. sp.; Travassosinema jaidenae n. sp.; and Tsuganema cribratum n. g., n. sp. Additional data are given for Blattophila sphaerolaima and Leidynemella fusiformis. Of the 11 species reported, nine were found in P. cribrata and ten in P. tryoni tryoni. Such levels of thelastomatoid species richnessness in single host species are exceptional. Only the mole cricket, Gryllotalpa africana (23), and the domestic cockroach, Periplaneta americana (20), have higher reported richness. Three species, T jaidenae, C. australiae and D. ornata, were found either exclusively or significantly more prevalently in P tryoni tryoni than in R cribrata. Species of Travassosinema, Coronostoma and Desmicola have been found previously only in millipedes (Diplopoda), a fact that suggests that there is a greater degree of niche overlap between R tryoni tryoni and millipedes than for R cribrata.