Relative growth and morphological sexual maturity of Chasmagnathus granulatus (Crustacea, Varunidae) from a mangrove area in southeastern Brazilian coast

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Species composition and spatial distribution of a stream fish assemblage in the east coast of Brazil: comparison of two field study methodologies

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Can seasonal differences influence food web structure on preserved habitats? Responses from two Brazilian streams

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Subtropical Brazilian mangroves as a refuge of crab (Decapoda: Brachyura) diversity

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Reproductive output of the spider crab Epialtus bituberculatus (H. Milne Edwards, 1834) (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura) associated with beds of the alga Sargassum cymosum (C. Agardh, 1820) on the southeastern Brazilian coast

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Two new genera of Pteronemobiini crickets from the Brazilian Atlantic forest (Orthoptera, Grylloidea, Trigonidiidae, Nemobiinae)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Bathymetric distribution of the shrimp Rimapenaeus constrictus (Stimpson, 1874) (Decapoda, Penaeidae) in two locations off the southeastern Brazilian coast

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

FIRST ZOEAL STAGE and MEGALOPA of UCA (UCA) MARACOANI (DECAPODA: BRACHYURA), WITH COMMENTS on THE LARVAL MORPHOLOGY of SOUTH-AMERICAN SPECIES of OCYPODIDAE

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Relative growth and morphological sexual maturity of Uca Cumulanta (Crustacea : Decapoda : Ocypodidae) from a tropical Brazilian mangrove population

The relative growth of the fiddler crab Uca cumulanta was studied, primarily to determine the size at the onset of sexual maturity for a mangrove population in the estuary of the Patitiba River, Paraty, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. The evaluation of the morphological sexual maturity of U. cumulanta was performed using the allometric technique. The relationships that most precisely indicated the size at onset of sexual maturity were carapace length (CL) vs propodus length for males and CL vs abdomen width for females. Males and females are mature at 5.25 and 4.75 mm CL, respectively. The remarkable ontogenetic changes observed in the allometric growth of the male major cheliped and the female abdomen, indicate that growth of these structures is closely connected to the timing of sexual maturity. The relative size at onset maturity obtained for this species was 0.68 and this index was compared to that seen in other species in the genus.

Occurrence of sibling species of Lutzomyia longipalpis (Diptera : Psychodidae) in Venezuela: First evidence from reproductively isolated sympatric populations

The delimitation of cryptic species within the main vector of the American visceral leishmaniasis, Lutzomyia longipalpis, remains a topic of controversy. An analysis of generic variability based on 8 enzymatic loci revealed fixed differences in 2 diagnostic loci, adenylate kinase (Ak) and hexokinase (Hk), between sympatric and allopatric populations at 4 localities in Venezuela. The absence of heterozygotes for these 2 loci within 1 locality indicates, for the first time, the presence of 2 sympatric reproductively isolated populations or cryptic species within L. longipalpis. Significant differences were also detected between these cryptic species in the allele frequencies of glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (Gpi) and malate dehydrogenase, decarboxylating (Me). One species showed mean heterozygosities that ranged between 6.6% and 6.7%, with 1.6-1.9 alleles detected per locus, while the other had mean heterozygosities that ranged from 4.3% to 6.3%, with 1.3-1.6 alleles per locus. Comparisons of isozyme profiles with published data suggests that 1 species is similar to the L. longipalpis described in Colombian and Brazilian populations, whereas the other has not been previously reported.

Morphohistological study of testicles of the Brazilian diplopod Pseudonannolene tricolor Brolemann, 1901 (Pseudonannolenidae, Pseudonannolenida)

:The morphology and histology of testicles of the Brazilian species of diplopod Pseudonannolene tricolor Brolemann, 1901 are presented. The study is based in testicular vesicles that show differentiated spermatozoa in their interior.

Myxobolus cordeiroi n. sp., a parasite of Zungaro jahu (Siluriformes: Pimelodiade) from Brazilian Pantanal: Morphology, phylogeny and histopathology

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Occurrence of Three Haplotypes of Linepithema micans (Forel) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Southern Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Cytogenetics of four species of Spirostreptidae (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida)

Considering an estimated number of millipedes of approximately 80,000, cytogenetic studies on these animals are rare, as only a total of 70 species have their karyotypes described. The present study reports on the chromosomal number of four Brazilian diplopods of the family Spirostreptidae: Urostreptus atrobrunneus with 2n = 24, XY; Gymnostreptus olivaceus 2n = 12, XY and Alloporus araraquarensis and A. principes, 2n = 18, XY. The C-banding pattern and NOR staining of U. atrobrunneus, G. olivaceus and A. araraquarensis are described. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

EVIDENCE of A FAILED PREDATION ATTEMPT on A GUIANA DOLPHIN, Sotalia guianensis, BY A BULL SHARK, Carcharhinus leucas, IN BRAZILIAN WATERS.

Even though shark-cetacean interactions have been the subject of numerous studies worldwide, several ecological aspects such as competition, predation risk and co-evolution remain unclear. on February 16th, 2008, during a photo-identification survey to investigate population parameters of Guiana dolphins, Sotalia guianensis, in estuarine waters of Parana State (25[degree]S; 48[degree]W), Brazil, an adult dolphin was photographed without its dorsal fin. A detailed analysis of the healed area on the injured dolphin showed that the circular, crescent-shaped outlined wound was provoked by the bite of a bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas. Wound shape, prey-predator distributional patterns (sympatry) and feeding habits of the shark species here considered were indicative of the species' identity. The wound is likely to be the result of a failed predation attempt. Interactions between C. leucas and S. guianensis should be expected, since they are sympatric along almost all of their distribution range in the tropical and subtropical western South Atlantic. The presented observation adds S. guianensis to the list of cetacean species involved in interactions with large coastal predatory sharks.