Nominal Taxa Research Articles

Jeju-do earthworms (Oligochaeta: Megadrilacea)-Quelpart Island revisited

Surveys on Jeju-do (Quelpart Isl.) unearthed about 40 earthworm species or sub-species. Several considered new to science are described. Only a dozen were previously known and these are taxonomically reviewed. The two most commonly recorded in surveys by S. Kobayashi in the 1930s were Drawida anchingiana Chen, 1933 and Metaphire quelparta (Kobayashi, 1937), neither recently relocated. Morphologically similar taxa, supported with DNA barcodes, for Moniligastridae, are Drawida anchingiana seogwipo, D. anchingiana halla and D. iucn spp. or sub-spp. nov. For Megascolecidae, new taxa and synonyms are: Amynthas arx and A. aucklandis spp. nov. that have seminal grooves rather than the eversible male pores of Metaphire plus Amynthas simplex is another new species. Amynthas sangumburi Hong & Kim, 2002 is recognized as a probable new synonym within the A. corticis (Kinberg, 1867) species-group while Amynthas corticis saeseum sub-sp nov. is described. Amynthas gracilis (Kinberg, 1867) is a new record from Jeju and Korea (with A. bouchei, A. omodeoi and A. edwardsi all by Zhao & Qiu, 2009 possible synonyms of this species group from China) with a Jejuan sub-species, A. gracilis insularum, sub-sp. nov. Presence on Jeju of Amynthas carnosus (Goto & Hatai, 1899) is confirmed (its further new synonyms are Chinese A. fuscus Qiu & Sun, 2012 and A. taiwumontis Shen et al., 2013), as is A. micronarius (Goto & Hatai, 1898) (with new synonym A. montanus Qiu & Sun, 2012 also an invalid secondary homonym). Amynthas phaselus maculosus (Hatai, 1930) is in new combination with A. kamitai (Kobayashi, 1934) and A. minjae Hong, 2001 syns. nov. Two newly described Metaphire quelparta sub-spp are M. q. seogwipo and M. q. valhalla these being supported with DNA barcodes despite the nominal taxon not yet being confirmed.

Discrimination of the bumble bee species Bombus occidentalis Greene and B. terricola Kirby by morphometric, colour and RAPD variation

The taxonomic status of B. terricola Kirby and B. occidentalis Greene has long been questioned. However recent COI gene sequence data suggests that B. occidentalis and B. terricola do represent good biological species. In this paper we test the hypothesis that B. terricola and B. occidentalis are conspecific by using independent morphometric and genetic (RAPD) data. For comparison we also analyzed one consubgeneric species, B. moderatus (now B. crytptarum), and one non-consubgeneric species B. (Pyrobombus) perplexus. Discriminant function analysis of wing morphometric data correctly classified over 85% of the specimens of B. occidentalis and B. terricola. Analysis of molecular variance of the RAPD data showed a significant difference (P < 0.0001) between B. occidentalis and B. terricola. Colour variation from laboratory reared colonies of B. occidentalis suggests that probably two gene locus inheritance is likely but that hybridization as the sole basis for the colour variation seen in the nominate taxon B. occidentalis can be excluded. We conclude that B. terricola and B. occidentalis should be regarded as distinct species which have recently diverged, and that they can be distinguished by wing morphometrics and RAPD genotypes. Where they are sympatric (e.g. in Alberta) colour pattern variation is confined to B. occidentalis.

Clinal pattern of morphological variation in Sakesphorus luctuosus (Lichtenstein, 1823), with comments on the enigmatic Sakesphorus hagmanni Miranda-Ribeiro, 1927 (Passeriformes: Thamnophilidae)

Sakesphorus luctuosus (Glossy Antshrike) is endemic to Brazil, harboring two subspecies. The nominal subspecies is widespread in the Amazon region, and S. l. araguayae is endemic to the Rio Araguaia valley. In this paper we investigated the hypothesis that S. l. araguayae represents the end of a cline. We examined 588 specimens housed in Brazilian, North American and European museums and based our conclusions on plumage coloration and morphometric characters. We found no significant differences in morphometric characters between subspecies, except for culmen length, which was slightly shorter in S. l. araguayae, but with wide overlap in measurements. The main proposed diagnostic character between subspecies (length of the white tips to tail feathers) showed clinal variation, with northern birds showing more white on the tail, and southern birds showing less white on the tail, irrespective of hydrographic basin. The other diagnostic character proposed (width of the white edges to the outer webs of the scapular feathers) showed high individual variation and no taxonomic consistency. We conclude that S. l. araguayae is a junior synonym of the nominal taxon. On the other hand, S. hagmanni, known only from the holotype and long thought to be a junior synonym of the nominal taxon, proved to be a unique specimen that should be considered as species inquirenda until further investigations determine its status.

Cryptic diversity among the achaetous Marionina (Annelida, Clitellata, Enchytraeidae)

This study investigates the diversity and taxonomy of a mainly marine group of species lacking chaetae currently assigned to the genus Marionina. This achaetous group includes four nominal species: M. achaeta (Hagen, 1954), M. achaeta sensu Lasserre, 1964, M. nevisensis Righi & Kanner, 1979 and M. arenaria Healy, 1979. As Lasserre's (1964) M. achaeta appears to be morphologically different from its (then) senior homonym M. achaeta (Hagen, 1954), the replacement name M. nothachaeta nom. nov. is proposed for it. We studied the genetic and morphological diversity of achaetous specimens of Marionina collected in Florida, the Great Barrier Reef, New Caledonia, Sweden, England and the Bahamas. The collection localities are almost all supralittoral and often brackish-water habitats. Parts of the mitochondrial genes 12S, 16S, COI and the nuclear genes 18S, 28S and ITS were analysed to assess the genetic variation and phylogeny of the achaetous Marionina species. The molecular data reveal one monophyletic group of 11 separately evolving lineages, and between these lineages, K2P distances in the barcoding gene COI vary between 5.4 and 25.0%. On a morphological basis, the lineages could be assigned to seven different groups (morphotypes), of which only two could be identified as described nominal taxa: M. nevisensis s. lat. (several lineages) and M. nothachaeta. Since the former taxon appears to be a complex of cryptic species around the world and the original type material no longer exists, a neotype from the Caribbean was designated for M. nevisensis s. str. The remaining achaetous lineages represent five morphologically distinct species that are left unnamed, awaiting finer morphological scrutiny and detailed comparisons with new collections of M. achaeta and M. arenaria. Summing up, the group of achaetous Marionina now seems to contain up to 13 different species, seven of which are yet to be formally described and named.

Nomenclatural problems associated with the generic names Obisium Leach, 1814, Blothrus Schiödte, 1847 and Neobisium Chamberlin, 1930 (Arachnida: Chelonethi)

Obisium Illiger, 1798 (type species Acarus cancroides Linnaeus, 1758) and Obisium Leach, 1814 (type species Chelifer trombidioides Latreille, 1804) are shown to be different nominal taxa and hence homonyms, rather than synonyms. The synonymy between Cheliferidae Westwood, 1838 (type genus Chelifer Geoffroy, 1762) and Obisiidae Sundevall, 1833 (type genus Obisium Leach, 1814) is therefore rejected. Chthonius C.L. Koch, 1843 (type species Obisium orthodactylum Leach, 1817, a junior objective synonym of Chelifer trombidioides Latreille, 1804) is a junior objective synonym of Obisium Leach, 1815. Chthoniidae Daday, 1888 (and coordinate family-group names) would therefore become a junior objective synonym of Obisiidae Sundevall, 1833 (and coordinate taxa), unless action to avoid this is taken by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. Because Neobisium Chamberlin, 1930 was proposed as a replacement name for Obisium Leach, 1814, its type species must also be Chelifer trombidioides, notwithstanding Chamberlin’s (1930) statement that its type was Obisium muscorum Leach, 1817, which means that Neobisiidae Chamberlin, 1930 (and coordinate names) would be a junior objective synonym of Chthoniidae (and coordinate names). In order to avoid these highly disruptive synonymies, it is recommended that the Commission use its plenary powers to designate Obisium muscorum Leach, 1817 as the type species of Obisium Leach, 1815 and hence of Neobisium. The publication date of Blothrus Schiödte, 1847 and Blothrus spelaeum Schiödte, 1847 is clarified.

DNA barcoding a regional fauna: Irish solitary bees

As the globally dominant group of pollinators, bees provide a key ecosystem service for natural and agricultural landscapes. Their corresponding global decline thus poses an important threat to plant populations and the ecosystems they support. Bee conservation requires rapid and effective tools to identify and delineate species. Here, we apply DNA barcoding to Irish solitary bees as the first step towards a DNA barcode library for European solitary bees. Using the standard barcoding sequence, we were able to identify 51 of 55 species. Potential problems included a suite of species in the genus Andrena, which were recalcitrant to sequencing, mitochondrial heteroplasmy and parasitic flies, which led to the production of erroneous sequences from DNA extracts. DNA barcoding enabled the assignment of morphologically unidentifiable females of the parasitic genus Sphecodes to their nominal taxa. It also enabled correction of the Irish bee list for morphologically inaccurately identified specimens. However, the standard COI barcode was unable to differentiate the recently diverged taxa Sphecodes ferruginatus and S. hyalinatus. Overall, our results show that DNA barcoding provides an excellent identification tool for Irish solitary bees and should be rolled out to provide a database for solitary bees globally.

Rampant host‐ and defensive phenotype‐associated diversification in a goldenrod gall midge

Natural selection can play an important role in the genetic divergence of populations and their subsequent speciation. Such adaptive diversification, or ecological speciation, might underlie the enormous diversity of plant-feeding insects that frequently experience strong selection pressures associated with host plant use as well as from natural enemies. This view is supported by increasing documentation of host-associated (genetic) differentiation in populations of plant-feeding insects using alternate hosts. Here, we examine evolutionary diversification in a single nominal taxon, the gall midge Asteromyia carbonifera (O.S.), with respect to host plant use and gall phenotype. Because galls can be viewed as extended defensive phenotypes of the midges, gall morphology is likely to be a reflection of selective pressures by enemies. Using phylogenetic and comparative analyses of mtDNA and nuclear sequence data, we find evidence that A. carbonifera populations are rapidly diversifying along host plant and gall morphological lines. At a broad scale, geography explains surprisingly little genetic variation, and there is little evidence of strict co-cladogenesis with their Solidago hosts. Gall morphology is relatively labile, distinct gall morphs have evolved repeatedly and colonized multiple hosts, and multiple genetically and morphologically distinct morphs frequently coexist on a single host plant species. These results suggest that Asteromyia carbonifera is in the midst of an adaptive radiation driven by multitrophic selective pressures. Similar complex community pressures are likely to play a role in the diversification of other herbivorous insect groups.

On the nomenclature of Colias nastes mongola Alphéraky, 1897 and Colias tamerlana Staudinger, 1897 (Lepidoptera, Pieridae)

The nomenclatural history of the nominal taxa Colias nastes mongola Alpheraky, 1897 and Colias tamerlana Staudinger, 1897 is considered. The nominal taxon Colias nastes mongola Alpheraky, 1897 was published before the end of June 1897, whereas the nominal taxon Colias tamerlana Staudinger, 1897 was published on July 27, 1897. Consequently, the combination Colias tamerlana mongola Alpheraky, 1897 contradicts Art. 23 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature and should not be used. Analysis of collection material and publications of different authors, including the travel notes of H. Leder, allowed us to determine the exact type locality of the nominal taxon Colias nastes mongola Alpheraky, 1897, which is the vicinity of the village of Turan (Tunkin District, Buryatia, the Russian Federation), with the approximate geographic coordinates 51°38′N and 101°39′E.

CATALOGUE OF THE NOMINAL TAXA OF MESOAMERICAN PACHYCHILIDAE (MOLLUSCA: CAENOGASTROPODA)

The caenogastropod family Pachychilidae Troschel, 1858 is a monophyletic group of freshwater snails that is distributedin the tropical regions of the world, where they exhibit high levels of endemism at the species and generic levels. Thereare many uncertainties regarding generic affiliation and species names in the Mesoamerican Pachychilidae owing to theirrelatively variable shells, the lack of distinctive anatomical features and the intricate taxonomic histories. In an attempt toconsolidate the knowledge of this taxon in the Neotropics, we provide here a catalogue of all available names of theMesoamerican pachychilid fauna, laying the foundation for future taxonomic revisions. Primary types were located for 56species-group taxa, and lectotypes for 22 nomina were designated. 102 nominal taxa of Mesoamerican pachychilids wereoriginally described. We consider that six of these taxa belong to other cerithioidean families. Two nomina are consideredto be unnecessary replacement names (Melania renovata Brot, 1862; Pachychilus tristrami Crosse & Fischer, 1892). Twotaxa are South American species that were incorrectly associated with Mesoamerican taxa (Pachychilus laevissimus sensuReeve, 1860; Melania laevissima var. decollata Brot, 1875). The exact type locality of Pachycheilus dalli Pilsbry, 1896and Melania mexicana were identified, and we accept Pachychilus hinkleyi (Marshall, 1920) as replacement name of the invalid Sphaeromelania hinkleyi Marshall, 1920.

Redescription of Leptolalax gracilis (Günther, 1872) from Borneo and taxonomic status of two populations of Leptolalax (Anura: Megophryidae) from Peninsular Malaysia

A number of populations of Leptolalax from Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia have been assigned to Leptolalax gracilis in thepast, rendering it a supposedly morphologically variable and widespread species. Whereas some of the Bornean populationshave since been described as distinct species, many lowland populations from Borneo and montane populations from Peninsu-lar Malaysia remain assigned to L. gracilis. Several distinct species appear to be hidden under this nominal taxon. In order toresolve the identity of L. gracilis and clarify the character states and their variation within the topotypic population, the speciesis redescribed based on examination of the holotype and recently collected topotypic material. Furthermore, the taxonomic sta-tus of two populations from Peninsular Malaysia (Gunung Benom, Gunung Tahan) that have been assigned to L. gracilis isreassessed. Reexamination of the corresponding vouchers revealed strong morphological differences between the two popula-tions and between each population and L. gracilis from Borneo. The population from Gunung Benom differs from all species ofthe genus and is apparently undescribed. The population from Gunung Tahan is represented only by two not fully metamor-phosed juveniles and cannot be assigned unambiguously to any of the described species of the genus. It is possibly another undescribed species but more specimens, especially adults, need to be collected.

Barrels and pagodas: clarifying the identity and variability of two nominal taxa of carinated land snails in the genus Plagiodontes (Gastropoda: Orthalicidae: Odontostominae)

Plagiodontes weyenberghii (Doering, 1877) has a shell with a strong suprasutural keel; the species inhabits a restricted area in Central Argentina. Plagiodontes weyenberghii minor (Parodiz, 1939) was described as a subspecies with obese shells and broader geographic distribution; some populations were sympatric with Plagiodontes daedaleus (Deshayes, 1851). A discriminant analysis on 244 adult shells combined with original information on the internal anatomy confirmed the distinctiveness of P. weyenberghii weyenberghii, whereas P. weyenberghii minor showed a broad overlap with P. daedaleus and no evidence of anatomical differences. As a consequence, P. weyenberghii minor is considered a junior subjective synonym of P. daedaleus daedaleus (Deshayes, 1851). Plagiodontes weyenberghii (Doering, 1877) has unique characteristics such as the weak vascularization of the pallial system, the relative size of the penial papilla and its accessory lobe, the markedly swollen distal portion of the bursa copulatrix duct, the spermoviduct with two whorls, and the vagina with a medial depression.

Monophyly of Heterandriini (Teleostei: Poeciliidae) revisited: a critical review of the data

The systematics and taxonomy of poeciliid fishes (guppies and allies) remain poorly understood despite the relative importance of these species as model systems in the biological sciences. This study focuses on testing the monophyly of the nominal poeciliine tribe Heterandriini and the genus Heterandria, through examination of the morphological characters on which the current classification is based. These characters include aspects of body shape (morphometrics), scale and fin-ray counts (meristics), pigmentation, the cephalic laterosensory system, and osteological features of the neurocranium, oral jaws and suspensorium, branchial basket, pectoral girdle, and the gonopodium and its supports. A Maximum Parsimony analysis was conducted of 150 characters coded for 56 poeciliid and outgroup species, including 22 of 45 heterandriin species (from the accounted in Parenti & Rauchenberger, 1989), or seven of nine heterandriin species (from the accounted in Lucinda & Reis, 2005). Multistate characters were analyzed as both unordered and ordered, and iterative a posteriori weighting was used to improve tree resolution. Tree topologies obtained from these analyses support the monophyly of the Middle American species of "Heterandria," which based on available phylogenetic information, are herein reassigned to the genus Pseudoxiphophorus. None of the characters used in previous studies to characterize the nominal taxon Heterandriini are found to be unambiguously diagnostic. Some of these characters are shared with species in other poeciliid tribes, and others are reversed within the Heterandriini. These results support the hypothesis that Pseudoxiphophorus is monophyletic, and that this clade is not the closest relative of H. formosa (the type species) from southeastern North America. Available morphological data are not sufficient to assess the phylogenetic relationships of H. formosa with respect to other members of the Heterandriini. The results further suggest that most tribe-level taxa of the Poeciliinae are not monophyletic, and that further work remains to resolve the evolutionary relationships of this group.

The Upper Ordovician trinucleid trilobiteBancroftolithusfrom the Precordillera of Argentina

The trinucleid trilobiteBancroftolithusBaldis and Pöthe, 1995 includes a group of species from Sandbian strata of the Argentine Precordillera. The monotypicHunickenolithusBaldis and Pöthe, 1995 from the Las Aguaditas Formation at its type locality in San Juan Province is placed in the synonymy ofBancroftolithus.Of four nominal taxa from the Las Aguaditas Formation,B. pozensisBaldis and Pöthe, 1995, andB. hughesiBaldis and Pöthe, 1995 are retained, and both are revised based on new collections from the type locality that include ontogenetic series from the protaspid period. Two protaspid stages are recognized in both species. Three additional species (Bancroftolithus alkin. sp.,B.cf.B. pozoensis, Bancroftolithussp.) from broadly coeval strata in the Las Plantas Member of the Las Vacas Formation in La Rioja Province are identified as the closest relatives of the Las Aguaditas species.Bancroftolithus alkialso occurs in the Los Azules Formation in San Juan Province. The five species included in this regional clade exhibit significant morphological differences in the lower lamellae, an unusual feature among the Trinucleidae.Bancroftolithusis evidently most closely related to the Australian Katian genusParkesolithus.The two are not convincingly assigned to any of the existing trinucleid subfamilies.

The Amphibulimidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Orthalicoidea) from Colombia and adjacent areas

The land snails of the family Amphibulimidae occurring within northwestern South America are critically examined and notes on their distribution are given. The total number of taxa discussed is 61 (7 Dryptus, 54 Plekocheilus); of these, four Colombian Dryptus and 32 Plekocheilus species are included. The following new species are described: Plekocheilus (P.) bigener, P. (P.) incognitus, Plekocheilus (Eurytus) camaritagua, P. (E.) labiosus, and P. (E.) paraguas. The following nominal taxa are now synonymized: Plekocheilus (P.) speciosus (Pfeiffer, 1854) = P. (P.) plectostylus (Pfeiffer, 1848); Plekocheilus (Eurytus) couturesi Ancey, 1900 = P. (P.) glandiformis (Lea, 1838); Plekocheilus (Aeropictus) latilabris (Pfeiffer, 1855) = P. (A.) succineoides (Petit de la Saussaye, 1840); Plekocheilus (Eurytus) virgatus (Pilsbry, 1935) = P. (E.) mabillei (Crosse, 1867) = P. (E.) pulicarius (Reeve, 1848). Also, Simpulopsis fulguratus Miller, 1878 is now considered a junior subjective synonym of Simpulopsis (Eudioptus) citrinovitrea (Moricand, 1836). For the following species, precise localities are given for the first time: Dryptus stuebeli (Martens, 1885), Plekocheilus (Aeropictus) cathcartiae (Reeve, 1848), P. (E.) cardinalis (Pfeiffer, 1853), P. (Eurytus) episcopalis auriformis (Da Costa, 1904), P. (E.) episcopalis corticosus (Sowerby, 1895), and P. (E.) lynciculus (Deville & Huppé, 1850). Newly recorded for the Colombian malacofauna are the following taxa: Plekocheilus (P.) couturesi (Ancey, 1900), P. (Eurytus) piperitus (Sowerby I, 1837). The following taxa are excluded from the Colombian fauna: Dryptus funckii (Nyst, 1843), Plekocheilus (Aeropictus) veranyi (Pfeiffer, 1848), Plekocheilus (Eurytus) jimenezi (Hidalgo, 1872).

The Conceptual History ofMelitaea nycteisDoubleday, [1847] (Nymphalidae), with the Designation of a Lectotype and a Portrait of Its Collector, David Dyson (1823–1856)

Long thought to be based on a holotype, evidence indicates that the concept of the nominal taxon Melitaea nycteis Doubleday was actually based on four female syntypes, which were collected in Ohio in 1843 by the English naturalist David Dyson. A lectotype is designated to stabilize usage and establish a sole name-bearing type of this nominal taxon. The type locality is suggested to be the vicinity of Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio. A previously unknown portrait of David Dyson, depicting him collecting Lepidoptera, was discovered in the possession of his great-grandnephew and is reproduced for the first time.

Eresia carlotaReakirt (Nymphalidae): The Designation of a Lectotype and the Return of the Type Locality to Colorado

The description of Eresia carlota Reakirt, 1866 (currently recognized as Chlosyne gorgone carlota) was based on specimens collected in 1864 in the foothills of the Front Range, west of Denver, Colorado. A subsequent neotype designation established the type locality as Cedar Hill, Missouri. The neotype, however, is inconsistent with the phenotype of this taxon as understood by Reakirt. More important, the neotype designation was based on an erroneous interpretation of the Code and is nomenclaturally invalid. A lectotype of Eresia carlota is designated, which restores this nominal taxon to its original concept and returns the type locality to Colorado.

On the identity of Isoperla curtata (Plecoptera: Perlodidae): behavioural and molecular approaches show the existence of two separate species

The identity of Isoperla curtata Navás, 1924, an Iberian endemic, has been questioned since its description. Marked variability in pigmentation, wing length, penial armature and ecology of populations have been noted. To clarify the taxonomic status of I. curtata we examined variation in mating calls and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I sequences for two populations from north-central and southern Spain. Results of both approaches support the presence of two species. The north-central population corresponds to the nominal taxon, I. curtata, while southern populations represent a new species, Isoperla morenica, described herein.

A new Clymenura (Polychaeta: Maldanidae) from the intertidal of Banks Peninsula, New Zealand, with a reassessment of Leiochone Grube, 1868 and Clymenura Verrill, 1900

A maldanid discovered on sand beaches of Banks Peninsula, South Island, New Zealand is newly described. Clymenura snaiko sp. nov. is of large size at over 250 mm length, with 18 chaetigers, two achaetous preanal segments with tori, unmodified dentate uncini in anterior chaetigers, a ventral glandular shield on chaetiger eight, a high cephalic rim notched laterally, and a deep anal funnel rimmed with 16 short subequal cirri and one longer ventral cirrus. The confused taxonomy of ventral-shield-bearing maldanids is reassessed and clarified. Leiochone Grube 1868 and Clymenura Verrill, 1900 are here treated as the valid members of Arwidsson’s (1906) tribe Leiochonini in Euclymeninae, and given emended diagnoses, while Imajima and Shiraki’s (1982) subfamily Clymenurinae and Clymenura subgenus Cly. (Cephalata) are considered invalid. Differentiating character states of the valid Leiochonini species are tabulated. Leiochone is restricted to six species, including the new combinations L. annulata (Mohammad, 1980) and L. japonica (Imajima & Shiraki, 1982). Clymenura is restricted to nine valid taxa, including Cly. snaiko sp. nov. and the new combination Cly. polaris lena (Averincev, 1990). These updated groupings exclude a further eight nominal taxa which mostly may be indeterminable. Leiochone species occur in inshore temperate to tropical Eastern Hemisphere waters, while Clymenura mostly occur in high North European latitudes and the northern Pacific region, usually offshore in deep water. The new species is the first record of a Clymenura from Southern Hemisphere waters, and the second member of the genus to be found in the intertidal.

Catalogue of the Lumbricidae (Annelida, Clitellata, Lumbricoidea) from South America, with remarks on the systematics of the Lumbricina

A catalogue of terrestrial Lumbricidae produced 28 nominal taxa (species and subspecies) reported to date from South America. Full synonyms and detailed South American occurrences are provided for each entity. Th is is the fi rst detailed assessment of the distribution of South American Lumbricidae. Bimastos sophiae, known only from Argentina, and Eiseniella tetraedra cerni, known only from Chile, are presently the only taxa restricted to South America. Th e remaining species are widely distributed in temperate regions of the globe. Lumbricinae are of Holarctic origin and are mainly restricted to subtropical latitudes in South America, except for the mountain ranges of the Andes, extending northward into the tropical region up to Colombia and then the mountain ranges extending eastward along the Guayana shield along Venezuela and the Guyanas; in Brazil, lumbricids are restricted to the southern and southeastern states, primarily in the colder subtropical climate region and mountain ranges. Th e Lumbricina are megadrile earthworms characterized by a multilayered clitellum, eggs small relative to microdriles, gastrulation by emboly, intestinal specializations such as the typhlosole, a complex circulatory apparatus, two pairs of testicles and sperm sacs, and the male pores located at least two segments behind the posterior testes. Th e Lumbricoidea, which retain relatively small eggs, form the sister group of the Gondwanan Glossoscolecoidea plus Megascolecoidea, a clade characterized by having large ovaries with several egg-strings.

PLANKTIC FORAMINIFERAL SPECIES TURNOVER ACROSS DEEP-SEA APTIAN/ ALBIAN BOUNDARY SECTIONS

A major planktic foraminiferal species turnover accompanied by a dramatic reduction in shell size, a fundamental change in shell architecture, and a precipitous drop in the abundance of planktic relative to benthic species occurs across the Aptian/Albian boundary interval (AABI) at globally distributed deep-sea sections. Extinction of the large and distinctive planktic foraminifer Paraticinella eube-jaouaensis , used to denote a level at or near the Aptian/ Albian boundary, coincides with the extinctions of relatively long-ranging Aptian species of Hedbergella and Globiger-inelloides . At Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Site 511 (southern South Atlantic), which is the most complete and best preserved of the studied AABI sections, the Aptian assemblage is of low diversity and species are replaced by initially one and then two very small, smooth-surfaced, thin-walled species of Microhedbergella n. gen. The oldest species of this genus, Mi. miniglobularis n. sp., probably descended from Hedbergella praelippa n. sp. and is the nominate taxon for a new lowermost Albian interval zone and is considered ancestral to several small, gradually evolving microperforate species, including Mi. praeplanispira n. sp., Mi. pseudopla-nispira n.sp., and Mi. pseudodelrioensis n. sp., which range into the middle and upper Albian. The small hedbergellids that characterize the Mi. miniglobularis Interval Zone at Site 511 have also been identified from samples taken just above the Kilian black shale level in the Vocontian Basin of southeast France. The Albian record at Site 511 reveals a gradual increase in planktic foraminifera shell size and assemblage dominance, as well as the gradual evolution during the middle Albian of species characterized by a finely perforate, pustulose test. Taxa with this shell infrastructure are included in Muricohedbergella n. gen. A new “ Ticinella yezoana ” Partial Range Zone is erected at Site 511 for correlation of the middle-upper Albian at high latitudes. At Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1049 (western North Atlantic), which also yields well-preserved foraminifera across the AABI, Aptian species of Hedbergella , Globiger-inelloides , and Pseudoguembelitria blakenosensis n. gen., n. sp. are replaced by lower Albian assemblages composed only of two minute species of Microhedbergella . However, this boundary section is considered incomplete because of the absence of the Mi. miniglobularis Zone. A new upper lower Albian Ti. madecassiana Zone is defined at Site 1049 for the interval between the lowest occurrence (LO) of the nominate taxon and the LO of Ti. primula , the nominate species of the middle Albian Ti. primula Zone. The AABI at DSDP Site 545 (eastern North Atlantic) has a major unconformity spanning the uppermost Aptian through the upper Albian. A black shale sequence previously placed in the lower Albian and designated as Oceanic Anoxic Event 1b is now determined to be latest Aptian in age. The AABI at ODP Site 763 (southeast Indian Ocean) is also marked by an unconformity between the upper Aptian Pa. eubejouaensis Zone and the lower Albian Mi. rischi Zone. This site needs further study to resolve whether overlap of species from both zones is the result of downslope reworking or an exception to the pattern of abrupt species turnover observed at the other deep-sea sites. The dramatic changes in planktic foraminiferal assemblages across the AABI suggest major changes in carbonate chemistry, vertical stratification, or productivity in the surface mixed layer occurred during the last 1 myr of the Aptian. Understanding the cause or causes for these changes will require much further investigation.