A new species of the genus Kelawakaju (Araneae: Salticidae) from Iriomotejima Island, Japan

A new species, Zelotes iriomotensis (Araneae: Gnaphosidae), is described from Iriomotejima Island, Okinawa Pref., Southwest Japan. In this paper I will describe a new species belonging to the genus Zelotes from Iriomotejima Island, Okinawa Pref., Japan.

We developed 10 microsatellite markers for Plagiogyria koidzumii, a critically endangered fern species found on Iriomotejima Island in the Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan and in Taiwan. These markers showed polymorphism among 65 wild individuals from Iriomotejima Island; the number of alleles per locus was 2-14, and mean observed and expected heterozygosity in the largest population were 0.276 and 0.277, respectively. A genetic structure analysis using these markers indicated clear genetic differentiation even within the narrow geographic range (ca. 10 × 8 km) on Iriomotejima Island. These microsatellite markers should be valuable for measuring genetic diversity and comparing genetic structure within and between populations.

The Iriomote cat is an endangered subspecies (CR on the Japanese Red List) found only on Iriomote-jima Island in the Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan. One of the main factors threatening the Iriomote cat is the main paved road that contributes to traffic mortality of this wildcat and also alters its preferred lowland habitats with abundant prey. One of the reasons why the Iriomote cat appears on the road may be due to the presence of prey; therefore, we investigated road use by this wildcat in relation to its prey. In 2009, scat surveys were conducted to assess road use by the Iriomote cat, and prey surveys were undertaken in the morning and at night, mainly targeting terrestrial frogs and reptiles. To analyse the importance of factors related to road use by the Iriomote cat, the influences of prey density along road types, habitat types, presence or absence of road construction activities, and survey regions on number of scats were examined using nested generalised linear models (GLM), assuming Poisson error and a log-link function. Diurnal lizard density was strongly correlated with scat along roads, and the density of road-killed Fejervarya sakishimensis was positively correlated with scat presence along roads.

The masson pine moth, Dendrolimus punctatus（Walker）（Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae）, is a notorious pest of pine trees in Asian countries and was recorded in Japan for the first time from Ishigakijima Island and Iriomotejima Island. We performed taxonomic studies involving the male and female genitalia and clarified the distinguishable features among the following four Japanese species of the genus Dendrolimus: D. superans（Butler）, D. spectabilis（Butler）, D. okinawanus Sonan, and D. punctatus based on many specimens including the lectotype of D. punctatus. As for DNA barcoding, five of the analyzed Japanese haplotypes from Ishigakijima Island and Iriomotejima Island and three of the Chinese haplotypes registered in GenBank as D. punctatus belonged to the same clade in the NJ tree. The intraspecific divergence value within D. punctatus was higher than the interspecific divergence value between D. okinawanus and D. spectabilis. In addition, we revealed that D. punctatus induced severe damage in Pinus luchuensis Mayr on Ishigakijima Island in 2016.

A new spider species, Gongylidioides onoi (Linyphiidae), is described on the basis of the materials obtained from Iriomotejima Island, Okinawa Pref., Southwest Japan.

The association between two hydrozoans, Stylaster sp. and Millepora spp., has been described as a case of pseudo-auto-epizoism, and has only been reported from the Caribbean region of the Atlantic Ocean. Here, we report on the occurrence of this association in the Pacific Ocean on coral reefs around Iriomote-jima Island, Japan, suggesting the association to be more widespread than had previously been thought. Moreover, Stylaster sp. colonies were observed living healthily on bleached and dead branches of Millepora spp., indicating that this interaction is facultative. The interaction reported here differs from the relationship between the Caribbean Stylaster roseus and Millepora alcicornis by the connection points between the two partners, which is made evident by the whitening of the Millepora counterpart in Iriomote-jima Island, while being seamless in the Caribbean association. Further research is necessary to fully understand the nature of these relationships, comprehending under what conditions it occurs, and establishing which species are involved in the interactions.

Cardimyxobolus iriomotensis n. sp. (Cnidaria: Myxosporea: Ortholineidae) is described from the gill filaments of Rhinogobius brunneus (type-host) and R. aonumai aonumai (Gobiiformes: Gobiidae) collected from two rivers on Iriomote-jima Island, located in southern Ryukyus, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. This new species represents the second record of the genus Cardimyxobolus in Japan and the fourth species of the genus globally. The plasmodium of the new species is spherical, and its spores are ovate, appearing wider than long in valvular view. The shell valves are smooth, and the pair of pyriform polar capsules are subequal in length, occupying the anterior half of the spore body and containing 3-5 coils of the polar tubule. The foramina of each polar capsule are positioned laterally at approximately one-third of the distance from the anterior end of the spore. Cardimyxobolus iriomotensis n. sp. can be distinguished from its congeners by the following key features: 1) a smooth shell valve, in contrast to the 1-6 V-shaped folds found in C. leshanensis; 2) significantly thinner spores (4.4-6.1 μm) compared to C. rhodeus (9.0-10.0 μm); 3) pyriform polar capsules, differing from the spherical capsules in C. leshanensis and C. rhodeus; and 4) narrower spore width (7.5-10.0 μm) and smaller polar capsules (2.6-4.0 μm × 1.4-2.7 μm) than those of C. japonensis (11.3-12.5 μm and 4.2-5.0 μm × 2.9-3.8 μm, respectively). Molecular analysis of 18S rDNA revealed the affinity of the new species for C. japonensis and Triangula percae (Ortholineidae). Cardimyxobolus iriomotensis n. sp. appears to be endemic to the southern Ryukyu region, particularly Iriomote-jima Island, with a geographically restricted distribution, at least in Japan. In addition, this study includes taxonomic notes on the genus Triangula.

Two new spider species of the genus Phrurolithus (Clubionidae) are described from Iriomotejima Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Southwest Japan, under the names P. luna sp. nov. and P. lynx sp. nov.

To clarify the taxonomic status of the Burmoniscus ocellatus complex in Japan, we carried out morphological observations and phylogenetic analyses of specimens collected from Yonagunijima, Iriomotejima, Ishigakijima, and Miyakojima Islands of the southern Ryukyus and from Okinawajima Island of the central Ryukyus in southwestern Japan. Observations of the holotypes of Aphiloscia iriomotensis ( Nunomura, 1986 ), Ap. ishigakiensis ( Nunomura, 1986 ), and Ap. yonakuniensis ( Nunomura, 1986 ), in addition to the specimens newly collected from the five islands, indicated that these specimens belong to the genus Burmoniscus. Analyses of five morphological characters of 268 specimens collected from the five islands showed that the body size of Okinawajima specimens is distinctly smaller than those of the specimens from the southern Ryukyus. The ranges of the five morphological characters tended to overlap among the specimens from Yonagunijima, Iriomotejima, Ishigakijima and Miyakojima Islands; these morphological characters were congruent with those of 6. ocellatus (Verhoeff, 1928). The phylogenetic analyses were based on three regions of mitochondrial DNA-COI, 12S rRNA, and 16S rRNA-and indicated that the specimens collected from the southern Ryukyus constitute a monophyletic group, which is clearly distinct from the clade composed of the Okinawajima specimens. These results strongly suggest that Ap. iriomotensis, Ap. ishigakiensis, and Ap. yonakuniensis are synonymous with B. ocellatus, a species widely distributed in the southern Ryukyus. On the other hand, the species from Okinawajima Island in the central Ryukyus is considered to be an undescribed Burmoniscus species, which is closely related to but clearly distinct from S. ocellatus.

沖縄県西表島に分布する中新統八重山層群西表層最上部の地質年代と堆積環境を検討した.西表層最上部は内側陸棚までの海進と干潟までの海退がセットとなる4つの堆積サイクルで構成される.石灰質ナンノ化石が生痕化石Thalassinoides suevicusの充填物からのみ検出され,西表層最上部は中期中新世初期(CN4帯:14.91 Ma~13.53 Ma)であることが判明した.充填物に石灰質ナンノ化石を含むT. suevicusは,サイクル境界から下位側の堆積サイクルに伸長するものに限られた.この理由は,1)充填物中心部はコンクリ-ション化や風化の影響を受けなかった,2)石灰質ナンノ化石を含む高海面期の海底表層堆積物が生痕内部に流下した,そして3)生痕が堆積物深部に形成されたため,生物攪拌作用や物理的海底浸食による破壊を被らなかった,といった好条件が重なったためと考えられる.生痕化石充填物中の微化石群は,地層年代を考察する際に重要である.

Field work was carried out on the thermal ecology of the lizard Japalura polygonata ishigakiensis in the subtropical forest on Iriomote-jima Island, the Ryukyu Archipelago, southern Japan. A positive correlation between body temperatures and air temperatures was recognized and the slope of the regression of the former on the latter was almost unity irrespective of season. These data and absence of any thermoregulatory behavior emphasize the extent of thermal passivity for this species. These eurythermic lizards were active throughout the day as long as light conditions permitted, even on days with cloud cover and fine rain. Lizards exhibit several thermal strat- egies, ranging from obligate thermo- regulation to thermal passivity. For thermal passivity, most of the available data are limited to the Neotropical ge- nus Anolis (see Heatwole, 1983, for re- view), and we have only a few compa- rable studies on the thermal passivity of other taxa, particularly for Asiatic species (Inger, 1959; Alcala and Brown, 1966; Alcala, 1967). Japalura polygonata belongs to the family Agamidae, which evolved parallely with the family Igua- nidae. It has several habits sharing with most of Anolis, e.g., arboreality, adopt- ing a sit-and-wait foraging strategy, ter- ritoriality and sleeping on leaves and twigs of trees (Tanaka and Nishihira, 1981; Tanaka, pers. obs.), it is of interest to clarify whether Japalura's thermal ecology is also similar to that of Anolis or not.

The nocturnal distribution and resource use by Ryukyu flying foxes was studied along 28 transects, covering five types of habitats, on Iriomote Island, Japan, from early June to late September, 2005. Bats were mostly encountered solitarily (66.8%) or in pairs (16.8%), with a mean linear density of 2.5 ± 0.6 bats/km of transect/night. Across the island, however, bat densities were distributed non-randomly among transect-nights, not correlated with transect length, and showed a slightly clumped distribution (variance/mean = 3.3). Outskirt trails contributed higher values to the relative importance of bat abundance, but the highest mean abundances occurred mostly at village sites on the west coast, which on average devoted only a quarter of their land area to agriculture/husbandry compared to those on the east coast. This supports our prediction that higher bat abundances are found in areas with less anthropogenic interference and more forest. Among habitats, the mean total abundance and density were lower in cultivated areas than in villages and inland forests. Bat perches in cultivated areas were also lower, and were in correspondence with lower shrub and canopy heights, and less canopy coverage. Flying fox abundance was correlated moderately with the heterogeneity of the tree composition, and strongly with the density of major fruiting trees. Thirty-nine species of plants and some animal items were used by Ryukyu flying foxes, including at least 31 species of fruits, 13 species of flowers, and leaves of seven species, with 14 species new to the record. Ficus septica and F. variegata were the most frequently encountered and dominant items in both fecal and rejecta/dropped samples, followed mostly by other figs and mulberries in the former, but by larger-seed non- Moraceae plants in dropped samples. Our results suggest that for conservation of flying foxes undisturbed forests providing an adequate resource basis are of major importance.

Two new species of the spider families Liphistiidae and Thomisidae are described from the Ryukyu Islands (Nansei-shoto), Southwest Japan, under the names Heptathela kanenoi sp. nov. (from Tokunoshima Island, the Amami Islands) and Tmarus komi sp. nov. (from Iriomotejima Island, the Yaeyama Islands). A close relationship is recognized between the new Heptathela spider and H. amamiensis HAUPT, 1983, known from Amami-oshima Island. The new species of Tmarus is peculiar in having legs without developed spines and independently stands in the Japanese species of the genus.

<i>Iracundus signifer</i> Jordan and Evermann, 1903 (Scorpaenidae) from northern Izu-oshima island, Izu Islands, Japan: first record from outside Iriomote-jima island in Japanese waters and the northernmost record for the species

The genus Tepperia Lea, 1903 (Cryptorhynchinae: Cryptorhynchini) is recorded from the Oriental Region for the first time. A supplementary description of Tepperia sterculiae Lea, 1903 is given for the male terminalia and stridulatory organ. A new combination, Tepperia palawanica (Heller, 1913), comb. nov., is proposed and a male lectotype is designated for Cyamobolus palawanicus Heller, 1913, which was previously known from Cebu and Palawan Islands. Additionally, a new species, Tepperia vagabunda Tsuji & Yoshitake sp. nov., is described from Japan (the Ryukyus: Ishigakijima and Iriomotejima Islands) and Taiwan. These two species are associated with the looking-glass mangrove, Heritiera littoralis Dryand. ex Aiton (Malvaceae). Larvae of T. vagabunda feed inside the seeds where they also pupate.