Five new species of Ocotea (lauraceae) from Bahia, Brazil

Five South-American species of the genus Ocotea from Bahia, Brazil, are described and illustrated. The new species are Ocotea adamantina, O. rohweri, O. sperata, O. thinicola, and O. vegrandis. Their relationships within the genus are discussed. © President and Fellows of Harvard College, 2011.

A new species of miniaturized toadlet, genus Brachycephalus (Anura: Brachycephalidae), from the atlantic forest of southeastern Brazil

A new species of miniaturized froglet (genus Brachycephalus) is described from Morro Prumirim in the municipality of Ubatuba, São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. Specimens were collected from the leaf litter at approximately 800 m above sea level. The new species is distinguished from all its congeners by the combination of the following characters: snout-vent length 8.7-13.4 mm; skin on head and dorsum with dermal ossification; general color orange, with a narrow brownish vertebral stripe and belly without spots; and skull, spinal processes of sacral and pre-sacral vertebrae, and process of the fourth vertebra hyperossified. Canonical variates analysis of linear body measurement demonstrates that the new species is easily discriminated from other Brachycephalus species with which it shares an intermediate condition of hyperossification. © 2012 by The Herpetologists League, Inc.

Feeding habits of Guiana dolphins, Sotalia guianensis, from south-eastern Brazil: New items and a knowledge review

This study presents new information on feeding habits of Guiana dolphins, Sotalia guianensis, in south-eastern Brazil, together with new regression equations to evaluate the weight and length of fish from otoliths, showing an overview on the knowledge about this species-diet in this area. Eighteen stomach contents had been analysed and compared to 180 samples collected in another eight feeding studies. The analysed specimens were either incidentally caught in gillnets used in coastal waters by the fleet based in the Cananéia main harbour (25°00âS 47°55âW), south of São Paulo State, or found dead in inner waters of the Cananéia estuary between 2003 and 2009. Based on the index of relative importance analysis, the most important fish species were the banded croaker, Paralonchurus brasiliensis. Doryteuthis plei was the most representative cephalopod species. Stellifer rastrifer was the most important fish species observed in dolphins in inner estuarine waters and P. brasiliensis in recovered dolphins from coastal waters. Loliguncula brevis is the only cephalopod species reported from dolphins found in inner estuarine waters up to date. Doryteuthis plei was the most important cephalopod species observed in coastal dolphins. When considering other feeding studies, the most representative fish family in the diet of S. guianensis was Sciaenidae, which is mainly represented by demersal fishes. The main preys of S. guianensis are abundant in the studied areas, which may indicate an opportunistic feeding habit. The majority of them are not the most important target species by the commercial fishery in south-eastern Brazil. © 2012 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.

The feather mites (Acari, Astigmata) of the Violet-capped Woodnymph, Thalurania glaucopis (Gmelin) (Aves, Trochilidae), with descriptions of three new species

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

Two new species of Diaptomidae (Crustacea: Copepoda: Calanoida) from the Neotropical Region (Paraná River)

Two new species of Diaptomidae were found in the Middle Paraná River. The new species are referred to as Diaptomus curvatus sp. nov. and Diaptomus frutosae sp. nov. Important character states in Diaptomus curvatus include: right fifth leg with a well-developed endopod and with the lateral spine of the second exopod segment curved and longer than the segment on which it is inserted, plus the presence of a large dorsal process on urosomite 4 of the male. For Diaptomus frutosae they include: a differentiated hook-like process on segment 20 with chitinous protuberances at base of male right antennule; the last segment of the right leg 5 of male is triangular, and the lateral spine inserted distal to mid-level of this segment. Both species are placed in Diaptomus sensu lato as a temporary placement. http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:FECDD6C4-C0AC-4043-ADDD-F29539B451F0. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Hisonotus bocaiuva, a new species from the rio São Francisco basin, Brazil (Teleostei: Loricariidae)

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

Hemiodus iratapuru, a new species of Hemiodontidae from the Rio Jari, Amazon Basin, Brazil (Teleostei, Characiformes)

Hemiodus iratapuru, a new species of the Hemiodontidae from the Rio Iratapuru, a left bank tributary of the Rio Jari, Amazon Basin, Brazil, is described. The new species is diagnosed from other species of Hemiodus by modifications in the ectopterygoid, tooth form, scale counts, dorsal-fin form and colour pattern. The new species is proposed to be related to the Hemiodus quadrimaculatus species group. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Fish Biology © 2013 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

New species of pyrrhulina (Ostariophysi: Characiformes: Lebiasinidae) from the brazilian shield, with comments on a putative monophyletic group of species in the genus

Pyrrhulina marilynae, new species, is described. The new species can be distinguished among congeners mainly by pre-senting a conspicuous, dark, zigzag shaped primary stripe, extending to distal end of median caudal-fin rays, reduction of the number of precaudal vertebrae, absence of postcleithrum 2, and nine principal rays on caudal-fin dorsal lobe. The pu-tative relationship of the new species with Pyrrhulina australis, P. vittata and P. zigzag, three small-sized species of the genus, is discussed. Copyright © 2013 Magnolia Press.

Microlepidogaster arachas, a new species of hypoptopomatine catfish (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from the upper rio Paraná basin, Brazil

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

Pareiorhina hyptiorhachis, a new catfish species from Rio Paraíba do Sul basin, Southeastern Brazil (Siluriformes, Loricariidae)

Pareiorhina hyptiorhachis is described from Ribeirão Fernandes and Rio Pomba, Rio Paraíba do Sul basin, Brazil. The new species is distinguished from its congeners (P. brachyrhyncha, P. carrancas, P. cepta, and P. rudolphi) by the presence of a conspicuous ridge on the trunk posterior to the dorsal fin (postdorsal ridge), simple teeth, a completely naked abdomen, a round dorsal profile of the head, greater suborbital depth and greater head width. We discuss the distributional pattern of the new species and its congeners and hypothesize that headwater capture is responsible for the distribution of Pareiorhina species across different watersheds in southeastern of Brazil.

A new species of Mesocoelium (Digenea: Mesocoeliidae) found in Rhinella marina (Amphibia: Bufonidae) from Brazilian Amazonia

ABSTRACT: Mesocoelium lanfrediae sp. nov. (Digenea: Mesocoeliidae) inhabits the small intestine of Rhinella marina (Amphibia: Bufonidae) and is described here, with illustrations provided by light, scanning electron microscopy and molecular approachs. M. lanfrediae sp. nov. presents the typical characteristics of the genus, but is morphometrically and morphologically different from the species described previously. The main diagnostic characteristics of M. lanfrediae sp. nov. are (i) seven pairs of regularly-distributed spherical papillae on the oral sucker, (ii) ventral sucker outlined by four pairs of papillae distributed in a uniform pattern and interspersed with numerous spines, which are larger at the posterior margin and (iii) small, rounded tegumentary papillae around the opening of the oral sucker, which are morphologically different from those of the oral sucker itself, some of which are randomly disposed in the ventrolateral tegumentary region of the anterior third of the body. Addionally, based on SSU rDNA, a phylogenetic analysis including Brachycoeliidae and Mesocoeliidae taxa available on GenBank established the close relationship between M. lanfrediae sp. nov. and Mesocoelium sp.

Plant-derived antimalarial agents: new leads and efficient phythomedicines. Part I. Alkaloids

A malária ainda é um dos mais sérios problemas de saúde pública e a principal causa de mortalidade e morbidade nas regiões endêmicas. O Brasil está entre os 30 países com maior incidência de malária e a maior parte dos casos ocorre na Amazônia Legal. Novos agentes terapêuticos são necessários para o tratamento da malária. Muitas espécies vegetais são utilizadas na medicina tradicional de vários países endêmicos mas é relativamente reduzido o número daquelas que já foram investigadas quanto à sua atividade antimalárica. Menor ainda é o número de espécies das quais foram isoladas substâncias ativas e tiveram sua toxidade determinada. Esta área de pesquisa é, portanto, de alta relevância. Um projeto de descoberta de produtos naturais antimaláricos a partir de plantas de uso tradicional deve incluir ensaios in vitro e in vivo bem como o isolamento biomonitorado de substâncias ativas. Os produtos finais serão substâncias naturais antimaláricas, potenciais fármacos ou protótipos para o desenvolvimento de novos fármacos, e/ou extratos padronizados, com atividade antimalárica, os quais são necessários para estudos pré-clínicos e clínicos quando o objetivo é o desenvolvimento de fitoterápicos (fitomedicamentos) eficazes e seguros. A presente revisão discute estas duas abordagens, apresenta resumidamente as metodologias de bioensaios para avaliação de atividade antimalárica e focaliza a atividade de alcalóides pertencentes a diferentes classes estruturais bem como sua importância como fármacos ou protótipos e como marcadores químicos de fitoterápicos.

Description of a new species of Ituglanis (Siluriformes: Trichomycteridae) from Serra dos Carajás, rio Tocantins basin

Uma espécie nova de Ituglanis é descrita da bacia do rio Tocantins, Pará, Brasil. Ituglanis ina, espécie nova, é facilmente diferenciada das congêneres por apresentar uma barra vertical escura sobre a base dos raios da nadadeira caudal (vs. sem barras na base da nadadeira caudal); e por apresentar linha lateral seguida por uma linha de diminutos neuromastos até a região do flanco, abaixo da nadadeira dorsal, ou até o pedúnculo caudal (vs. sem neuromastos após a linha lateral). Ituglanis ina distingue-se, também, por uma combinação de caracteres relacionados ao padrão de coloração e morfologia. Comentários sobre o relacionamento das espécies e grupos de espécies de Ituglanis são apresentados.

A new species of Scinax Wagler, 1830 (Anura: Hylidae) from the middle Amazon river basin, Brazil

Uma nova espécie de hilídeo do gênero Scinax é descrita e ilustrada. O novo táxon foi encontrado na Amazonia, região norte do Brasil, municípios de Maués e Careiro da Várzea, Estado do Amazonas. A nova espécie é caracterizada pelo tamanho moderado (machas com media de comprimento rostro-cloacal de 36.3mm); corpo robusto; mancha axiliar e inguinal grande, laranja bordeada de preto; e saco vocal bilobado. Essa nova espécie foi encontrada em floresta primária e secondária sobre ramos de arbustos e árvores sobre ou próximo a poças permanentes ou áreas alagadas.

Diversity of Staphylococcus species and prevalence of enterotoxin genes isolated from milk of healthy cows and cows with subclinical mastitis

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