New reports on parasitism by Haplometroides buccicola (Digenea, Plagiorchiidae) in Brazilian snakes

The occurrence of Haplometroides buccicola (Digenea, Plagiorchiidae) in the esophagus of two Brazilian snakes is reported in the present study. The trematodes were collected from one Micrurus corallinus (Elapidae) and one Phalotris lativittatus (Colubridae); both snakes were found in Botucatu city, São Paulo State, Brazil. Morphological and morphometric analyses of the trematodes are presented. For the first time Micrurus corallinus has been recorded as a host for H. buccicola and this is the second time that P. lativittatus has been reported as a host for this trematode species.

Snakes from coastal islands of State of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil

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

O mimetismo entre serpentes de padrão coral na Serra do Mar

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

New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (June 2012)

The present work reports on the extended distribution of nineteen species in the Mediterranean. These are: Upeneus pori (Fish:Turkey), Bursatella leachii (Mollusca, Opisthobranchia: eastern coast of Spain), Sparisoma cretense (Fish: Ionian coast of Greece), Pseudobryopsis myura (Chlorophyta:Turkey), Aplysia dactylomela (Mollusca, Opisthobranchia: Karpathos island, and Kyklades Archipelago, Greece), Asparagopsis armata and Botryocladia madagascariensis (Rhodophyta: South Peloponnesos, Greece), Oxynotus centrina (Fish: Greece), Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea (Chlorophyta ), Stypopodium schimperi (Phaeophyta ) Siganus luridus and Stephanolepis diaspros (Fish) Percnon gibbesi (Decapoda, Brachyura) (Kyklades Archipelago, Greece), Cerithium scabridum (Mollusca, Prosobranchia: Anavissos: Greece) and Cerithium renovatum (Mollusca, Prosobranchia: N. Κriti), Cassiopea andromeda (Scyphomedusa: Rhodos Island, Greece), Abra tenuis (Mollusca Bivalvia: Vouliagmeni Lake, Greece) Lagocephalus lagocephalus (Fish: Calabrian coast, Italy) and Plocamopherus ocellatus (Mollusca, Opisthobranchia: İskenderun Bay, Turkey).

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.

Two new hemiurine species (Digenea : Hemiuridae) from Spratelloides robustus Ogilby (Clupeiformes : Clupeidae) off south-western Australia and records of Parahemiurus merus (Linton, 1910) from Australian and New Caledonian waters

Two new species of hemiurine hemiurid are described from Spratelloides robustus off Woodman Point in southern Western Australia. Hemiurus lignator n. sp. differs from its congeners by a combination of similar-sized suckers, long sinus-sac, tandem testes, relatively elongate shape and unthickened seminal vesicle wall. Parahemiurus xylokopos n. sp. differs from its congeners in a combination of its squat form, its distinctly lobed vitellarium and the proximity of the gonads to the ventral sucker. P. merus (Linton, 1910) is reported from Acanthopagrus australis, Pomatomus saltatrix and Trachinotus coppingeri off northern New South Wales, Caranx sexfasciatus, Scorpis lineolata, Siganus nebulosus, Thunnus tonggol and T. coppingeri off southern Queensland, Cephalopholis boenak and Euthynnus affinis off Heron Island, southern Great Barrier Reef, P. saltatrix off southern Western Australia and Priacanthus hamrur off New Caledonia.

Chemical deterrence of a marine cyanobacterium against sympatric and non-sympatric consumers

This study investigates the influence of mesograzer prior exposure to toxic metabolites on palatability of the marine cyanobacterium, Lyngbya majuscula. We examined the palatability of L. majuscula crude extract obtained from a bloom in Moreton Bay, South East Queensland, Australia, containing lyngbyatoxin-a (LTA) and debromoaplysiatoxin (DAT), to two groups: (1) mesograzers of L. majuscula from Guam where LTA and DAT production is rare; and (2) macro- and mesograzers found feeding on L. majuscula blooms in Moreton Bay where LTA and DAT are often prevalent secondary metabolites. Pair-wise feeding assays using artificial diets consisting of Ulva clathrata suspended in agar (control) or coated with Moreton Bay L. majuscula crude extracts (treatment) were used to determine palatability to a variety of consumers. In Guam, the amphipods, Parhyale hawaiensis and Cymadusa imbroglio; the majid crab Menaethius monoceros; and the urchin Echinometra mathaei were significantly deterred by the Moreton Bay crude extract. The sea hares, Stylocheilus striatus, from Guam were stimulated to feed by treatment food whereas S. striatus collected from Moreton Bay showed no discrimination between food types. In Moreton Bay, the cephalaspidean Diniatys dentifer and wild caught rabbitfish Siganus fuscescens were significantly deterred by the crude extract. However, captive-bred S. fuscescens with no known experience with L. majuscula did not clearly discriminate between food choices. Lyngbya majuscula crude extract deters feeding by most mesograzers regardless of prior contact or association with blooms.

Data compilation on the biological response to ocean acidification: environmental and experimental context of data sets and related literature

The exponential growth of studies on the biological response to ocean acidification over the last few decades has generated a large amount of data. To facilitate data comparison, a data compilation hosted at the data publisher PANGAEA was initiated in 2008 and is updated on a regular basis (doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.149999). By January 2015, a total of 581 data sets (over 4 000 000 data points) from 539 papers had been archived. Here we present the developments of this data compilation five years since its first description by Nisumaa et al. (2010). Most of study sites from which data archived are still in the Northern Hemisphere and the number of archived data from studies from the Southern Hemisphere and polar oceans are still relatively low. Data from 60 studies that investigated the response of a mix of organisms or natural communities were all added after 2010, indicating a welcomed shift from the study of individual organisms to communities and ecosystems. The initial imbalance of considerably more data archived on calcification and primary production than on other processes has improved. There is also a clear tendency towards more data archived from multifactorial studies after 2010. For easier and more effective access to ocean acidification data, the ocean acidification community is strongly encouraged to contribute to the data archiving effort, and help develop standard vocabularies describing the variables and define best practices for archiving ocean acidification data.