Number Of New Taxa Research Articles

Response of microbial communities in North Saskatchewan River to diluted bitumen and conventional crude under freeze-thaw-refreeze cycle

Microorganisms are the first responder to oil spills and their response provides insight into the ecological effects of oils on aquatic ecosystems. Limited information is available about the impact of oil spills on freshwater ecosystems under seasonal river-ice regimes. This study aimed to investigate the microbial response of North Saskatchewan River water to diluted bitumen (DB) and conventional crude (CC) during the freeze-thaw-refreeze cycle. In two separate experiments, equivalent to 2 L of fresh DB and CC were spilled on the ice-covered river water within a mesoscale spill tank. The microbial response (changes in abundance and diversity) to oils under the freeze, thaw, and refreeze cycles were assessed for 10 days using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The results showed that microbial communities exhibited different responses to the DB and CC oils. The effect of oils was more pronounced than that of the freeze or thaw cycles. The river microbial community rapidly responded to both spills, which coincided with a steady increase in the organic content of water throughout the freeze-thaw-refreeze cycle. Microbial diversity increased after the DB spill, but remain unchanged after the CC spill, regardless of the cycles. A higher number of new taxa emerged during the ice-covered period, while more microbial enrichment (increase in abundance) was observed during the thaw cycle. Flavobacterium (37 ± 5%) and Pseudomonas (36 ± 4%) remained the most predominant genera post-DB and CC spill, respectively. The results of this study suggest that ice coverage of 5 cm did not prevent the microbial communities from the effects of oils. Thus, a quick clean-up response to an oil spill on ice-covered water is equally critical to avoid the effects of oils on the underlying freshwater ecosystems.

Redescriptions of four nereidid species (Annelida: Phyllodocida: Nereididae) from the Atlantic Ocean described by Aaron Louis Treadwell

Aaron Louis Treadwell proposed a large number of new taxa, and several of them are regarded as synonyms. Treadwell proposed 32 new species in the family Nereididae, and a few of them have been re-evaluated. Here, the validity of 4 species is reassessed based on the examination of type material of 3 Nereis species and 1 Perinereis: N. arroyensis, N. largoensis, and P. diversidentata are regarded as valid species, and the synonymy of Nereis disparsetosa Treadwell, 1932 with Pseudonereis palpata (Treadwell, 1923) is confirmed. A commented table of the nereidid species proposed by Treadwell is also included.

The Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary event in Tibet

The Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary in the Gamba and Tingri regions of Tibet occurs between the Zongshan and Jidula Formations. Arenaceous facies similar to those of the Jidula Formation are widespread in Tibet and Pakistan; collectively, these represent the diachronous deposits of the Latest Cretaceous-Early Tertiary regression. Major faunal changes took place in Tibet during the Late Cretaceous. Ali of the Cretaceous ammonoids, planktonic and benthonic foraminifera, rudistid and inoceramid bivalves became extinct over the Campanian Maastrichtian interval in a stepwise pattern, with abrupt Late Campanian and Late Maastrichtian extinction events (Tabs. 3, 4). A large number of new taxa appeared during the Danian (Tabs. 3, 4). These faunal changes in the shallow-water marine facies of Tibet demonstrate that this region was not isolated from major global faunal changes taking place in the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary mass extinction interval.

Karyomorphology of some Crocus L. taxa from Uşak province in Turkey

The increasing number of new taxa for each day and the presence of the samples exhibiting variable characters depend on this situation make very problematic the genus Crocus as taxonomic and phylogenetic. For this reason, the many studies based on PCR, DNA barcoding and cytogenetics are applied to provide contribution for taxonomic problems and phylogenetic relationships of the genus Crocus. In this study, detailed karyotypic investigation of four taxa (C. pallasii Goldb. subsp. pallasii, C. olivieri J.Gay subsp. olivieri, C. fleischeri J.Gay and C. uschakensis Rukśans) belonging to Uşak province in Turkey was carried out and compared with the studies made previously. The somatic chromosome numbers of studied taxa were found to be 2n=14 for C. pallasii subsp. pallasii, 2n=8 for C. olivieri subsp. olivieri, 2n=20 for C. fleischeri and 2n=20 for C. uschakensis. C. uschakensis has only satellite on the short arm of chromosome 7. Some differences with previous studies in aspect of chromosome number and morphology were determined in this study. Furthermore, there is no enough literature information on Crocus uschakensis and it was provided with this study based on detailed chromosomal investigation.

New Records for The Turkish Freshwater Algal Flora in Twenty-five River Basins of Turkey, Part II: Chlorophyta, Cyanobacteria, Euglenozoa

Turkish lakes which have different morphometry and hydrology, have a great potential that supports distinct algal diversity as a result of different climate types and geographical variation (latitudinal, longitudinal, and altitudinal gradients). However, the algal flora of Turkey has not been completed, and the number of new taxa has increased due to new studies in Turkey. This study aims to describe new planktonic algal taxa for the Turkish freshwater algal flora. A total of 330 Chlorophyta, 164 Cyanobacteria and 187 Euglenozoa taxa were determined in a study conducted from 2017 to 2019 in 275 lakes of 25 river basins of Turkey. During this study, 116 Chlorophyta, 41 Cyanobacteria, and 81 Euglenozoa were found new records for the freshwater algal flora of Turkey.

Chlamydiae - What's New?

This paper provides an overview of the current knowledge of chlamydiae. These intracellular microorganisms belonging to the Chlamydiaceae family are widely distributed throughout the world. Constant development of culture-independent approaches for characterisation of microbial genomes enables new discoveries in the field of Chlamydia. The number of new taxa is continuously increasing as well as the range of hosts. New species and genotypes are constantly being discovered, particularly new avian and reptilian agents, which are discussed in this article. Interestingly, wild animals are the main hosts for new Chlamydia species including different species of bird, turtle and snake. The availability of next-generation sequencing opens up a new prospect for research and leads to deeper knowledge of these interesting microorganisms about which much is still to discover.

About the origin of the "Cambrian Explosion" phenomenon and on the origin of animal types

The term “Cambrian explosion” refers to the sudden appearance of a large number of new taxa of animals of higher rank (classes, types) on the geological scale, documented by the excavation of sedimentary strata belonging to the Cambrian period of geological time. For 150 years, this evolutionary phenomenon has remained unsolved from the standpoint of traditional Darwinism, nor from the standpoint of its later modifications – the Synthetic theory of evolution and the theory of discontinuous equilibrium. Up to now, creationism was regarded as the only alternative to solving this problem. The author of this work, analyzing the vast factual material presented by embryologists, zoologists, paleontologists, molecular biologists, including those obtained at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries, offers a new natural-scientific concept to explain the causes for the explosion of macroevolutionary variability at the beginning of the Cambrian period.

About the origin of the "Cambrian Explosion" phenomenon and on the origin of animal types

The term “Cambrian explosion” refers to the sudden appearance of a large number of new taxa of animals of higher rank (classes, types) on the geological scale, documented by the excavation of sedimentary strata belonging to the Cambrian period of geological time. For 150 years, this evolutionary phenomenon has remained unsolved from the standpoint of traditional Darwinism, nor from the standpoint of its later modifications – the Synthetic theory of evolution and the theory of discontinuous equilibrium. Up to now, creationism was regarded as the only alternative to solving this problem. The author of this work, analyzing the vast factual material presented by embryologists, zoologists, paleontologists, molecular biologists, including those obtained at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries, offers a new natural-scientific concept to explain the causes for the explosion of macroevolutionary variability at the beginning of the Cambrian period.

Revision of Undorosaurus, a mysterious Late Jurassic ichthyosaur of the Boreal Realm

Recent study of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs has brought us a number of new taxa; however, the validity of several ophthalmosaurid taxa from the Volgian (Tithonian) of European Russia still remains unclear, complicating comparisons and in some cases affecting taxonomic decisions about new contributions. A revision of the type series of all three species of Undorosaurus, erected by Efimov in 1999, reveals the potential validity of two of them. This contradicts previous research, which concluded that only the type species, U. gorodischensis, is valid. Furthermore, examination of the holotype of Cryopterygius kristiansenae from coeval strata of Svalbard shows that it is synonymous with Undorosaurus gorodischensis, sharing all diagnostic features of the species, especially those related to forelimb morphology: humerus with extensive anteroposteriorly elongate proximal end, poorly pronounced trochanter dorsalis and reduced deltopectoral crest; and ulna proximodistally elongate and not involved in perichondral ossification on its whole posterior edge. This supports the idea of intensive exchange of ichthyosaurs between the Middle Russian Sea and other Boreal seas in the Late Jurassic. In order to resolve the phylogenetic position of Undorosaurus within Ophthalmosauridae as well as relationships of other ophthalmosaurids, a new data set including 33 taxa and 106 characters, 23 of which are new, was compiled. The results of this analysis challenge all previous phylogenetic hypotheses for Ophthalmosauridae in a number of aspects, including the fact that Undorosaurus spp. was recovered deeply nested within Platypterygiinae as a sister group to derived platypterygiines.

A botanical survey of Joseph Quer's Flora española

We examine various aspects of Joseph Quer's Flora espanola (1762–1764, 1784), taking into consideration the contributions made by Casimiro Gomez Ortega and proposing that he be credited as a co-author on the last two volumes of the work. Flora espanola comprises 2602 species, 2493 of which are vascular plants, including both wild and cultivated species. When assigned to the currently accepted species of Flora iberica, we obtain 1690 native or naturalized plant species (28 % of the total Spanish species). Most of the reported species correspond to common plants, only 3 % are considered narrowly distributed species and no more than 5 % are endemic species. In Flora espanola only two species are proposed as new. The limited number of new taxa may be due to Quer's self-taught background, strongly influenced by Tournefort's work, and the unfavourable scientific environment, characterized by the lack of resources and supporting institutions. By far the weakest points of Flora espanola are the names listed in alphabetical order and the use of old polynomials instead of Linnaean binomials. In contrast, the study of dried plants then kept at herbaria constituted a suitable working methodology, which made this Flora a solid base for subsequent works in the Iberian Peninsula. We also address the extensive field work carried out by Quer: he visited 632 different localities spread over most of the Iberian Peninsula. The information provided in Flora espanola, together with a thorough review of Quer's herbarium vouchers, the labels of which do not include information on localities, allows us to gain valuable insights into some rare and potentially extinct species.

Three new species of Entosthodon Schwägr. (Bryopsida, Funariaceae) from sub-Saharan Africa

Three new species of Entosthodon from sub-Saharan Africa are here described and illustrated. Notes on ranges and habitat are included. The significant number of new taxa still being described from Africa is indicative of our poor knowledge of the African bryophyte flora and of an amazing diversity that remains to be discovered.

Discovery of a new micro-pagurid fauna (Crustacea: Decapoda: Paguridae) in the Lesser Antilles, Caribbean Sea

ABSTRACT Six new monotypic genera and eight new species of hermit crabs of the family Paguridae Latreille, 1802 are fully described based on specimens obtained during two separate, intensive biodiversity studies on the islands of Guadeloupe, Curacao, and Dominica in the Lesser Antilles, Caribbean Sea. The study in Guadeloupe utilized a broad variety of sampling techniques, including dredging, baited traps, and a SCUBA-operated vacuum device; in Curacao and Dominica, a manned submersible was used. The high number of new taxa discovered is surprising given they were obtained in a relatively small area of the Antilles in habitats ranging in depth from shallow water (c. 1 m) to deep reefs (250 m). Tissue samples were extracted from most specimens for CO1 barcoding and other genetic analyses for future phylogenetic investigations. Gene sequences are reported to complement the morphological descriptions. The new species are unusual in their minute sizes, ranging 0.4–1.5 mm in shield length; and aspects of their...

Successional colonization of temporary streams: An experimental approach using aquatic insects

The metacommunity concept studies the processes that structure communities on local and regional scales. This concept is useful to assess spatial variability. However, temporal patterns (e.g., ecological succession and colonization) are neglected in metacommunity studies, since such patterns require temporally extensive, and hard to execute studies. We used experimental habitats in temporary streams located within the Brazilian Cerrado to evaluate the importance of succession for the aquatic insect metacommunity. Five artificial habitats consisting of wrapped crushed rock were set transversally to the water flow in five streams. The habitats were sampled weekly to assess community composition, and replaced after sampling to identify new potential colonizers. We analyzed the accumulation of new colonizers after each week using a logistic model. We selected pairs of experimental habitats and estimated the Bray-Curtis dissimilarity index to assess the community composition trajectory during the experiment. We used the dissimilarity values in ANOVA tests, identifying the importance of time and space for the community. The number of new taxa stabilized in the third week, and we estimated a weekly increase of 1.61 new taxa in the community after stabilization. The overall pattern was a small change on community composition, but one stream had a higher weekly turnover. Our results showed a relevant influence of time in the initial communities of aquatic insects of temporary streams. However, we must observe the temporal pattern in a spatial context, once different streams have different successional history regarding number of taxa and community turnover. We highlight the importance of aerial dispersal and movement to seek oviposition sites as an important factor in determining colonization patterns.

The Mediterranean: high discovery rates for a well-studied trematode fauna.

Our knowledge of trematode diversity in Mediterranean Sea fishes is based on many contributions since the early 1800s (e.g. by Rudolphi, Stossich, Looss, Bartoli, Bray and Gibson). We have updated data from the Natural History Museum Host-Parasite Database and listed 302 digenean trematode species allocated to 146 genera in 29 families from 192 fish species (27% of the known fish-fauna) belonging to 76 families. The most diverse (with 31-41 species) digenean families (Opecoelidae Ozaki, 1925, Didymozoidae Monticelli, 1888 and Hemiuridae Looss, 1899) represent more than a third of the total richness (36% of species) and have been most frequently recorded (43% of the records). The overall mean number of species per host is close to recent global estimates for digenean richness in teleosts (1.57 vs 2.04, respectively), indicating a high diversity in the Mediterranean. The most diverse host families are also the best studied. However, three speciose host families (Rajidae de Blainville, Gobiidae Cuvier and Myctophidae Gill) appear under-studied and no digenean reports exist for 94 of 169 fish families present in the Mediterranean. Thus, although Mediterranean fishes appear well studied, further efforts are needed. Nevertheless, the descriptions of a large number of new taxa since 2000 indicate that focused efforts have resulted in a high discovery rate (2.4 species per year). Many of these new (often cryptic) taxa are the result of combined morphological and molecular methods, which promise more reliable estimates of digenean diversity in this region. We provide host-parasite lists for 192 species of fish in the Mediterranean comprising 890 host-parasite associations.

Kociolek, Patrick J., Laslandes, Berengere, Benett, Danuta, Thomas, Evan, Brady, Mariska, and Graeff, Carrie.2014. Diatoms of the United States 1: Taxonomy, Ultrastructure and Descriptions of New Species and Other Rarely Reported Taxa from Lake Sediments in the Western U.S.A. Bibliotheca Diatomologica Volume 61. J. Cramer in der Gebrüder Borntraeger Verlagsbuchhandlung, ISBN 978‐3‐443‐57052‐1, 188 pp., PB, 79.00 Euro

Diatoms continue to hold a key position in many aquatic studies for several good reasons. For example, diatoms are important (and at times dominant) primary producers, and they are excellent biomonitors of environmental change and superb paleoenvironmental indicators. Their use as biomonitors requires an accurate assessment of the taxonomic composition of assemblages—an area of research that continues to receive considerable attention. This volume is an important contribution to the taxonomic literature on diatoms. The authors describe what they believe to be 50 new diatom species identified from sediments collected from lakes across the western United States. The book includes 80 plates with both high-quality light microscope images and scanning electron micrographs for each described taxon. The book begins with a brief introduction that outlines the history of reporting new diatom species from lakes in the United States, starting with the early collections of European diatomists such as Ehrenberg, Cleve, and others and ending with a listing of some of the more recent contributions from both European and North American researchers, including the National Lakes Assessment (NLA) program that has collected sediments from over 1000 lakes across the United States. The described taxa are from a subset of sediment cores collected from 55 NLA lakes from the western United States (North Dakota to California) including subfossil assemblages from recent (modern) and pre-industrial sedimentary intervals. The authors report a large number of new taxa, previously undescribed or taxa that were never or rarely reported in the literature from the United States, and a few taxa for which the authors propose taxonomic changes. For each taxon, the authors include a morphological description as well as their ecological distribution within their 55-lake survey and, importantly, their systematic similarities and affinities. The authors use a morphological species concept approach where taxa are described by detailed microscopic examination to delineate minor morphological differences (pseudo-cryptic species). Many of the newly described diatom taxa are only distinguishable on the basis of minute ultrastructural features of their frustule and often there appears to be very little difference with previously established taxa. For the researcher whose ultimate goal is the practical use of diatoms to understand environmental change, such fine-grained distinctions between established and new taxa may be somewhat disquieting. It is for this reason that the inclusion of high-quality light microscope and scanning electron images are critical. On this count, the book delivers superbly. Because of the morphological similarity between many new and previously described taxa, it is important that the systematic similarities and affinities are included in the description. Supplying the reader with this information is important from a practical viewpoint, so that diatomists using this book can potentially differentiate these taxa, although this may still prove difficult with light microscopy alone. This information has been provided within a “Discussion” for many of the new taxa in this book, but unfortunately not for all taxa (for example, Aulacoseira spathulata and A. pusilloides). The book will be useful (some may argue essential) for diatomists working not only in the western United States but also in other regions, as it is likely that these taxa are more widespread. The book also reemphasizes that our work on the taxonomic description of diatoms is far from over or, as the authors conclude, the documentation of the inland diatom flora of the western United States is “still in a period of discovery.” Kathleen Rühland, Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Lab (PEARL), Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6; ruhlandk@queensu.ca John P. Smol, Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Lab (PEARL), Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6; smolj@queensu.ca

Evaluating the Quality of Taxonomic Publications: A Simple Alternative to Citations and Effort

Despite the fundamental importance of taxonomic work, its impacts go largely unrecorded and unacknowledged because of a reliance on citations in its evaluation (Valdecasas et al. 2000). In published articles, the names of subject species are provided but generally without citing the taxonomic publications that described the species or higher taxonomic levels (Valdecasas et al. 2000, Venu and Sanjappa 2011). The continued use of indices based on citations to evaluate taxonomic publications is therefore unfair and unreasonable. The recently proposed T-Index is an alternative method for evaluating taxonomic publications and is based on the nature and extent of the work or effort involved (Valdecasas 2011). This index considers each taxonomic level separately (e.g., genus, family, order) and assumes that taxonomic effort increases with the number of new taxa described (newly discovered and revised combined) but decreases with the consequent total number of taxa within each level (Valdecasas 2011). More precisely, it takes the square of the number of new taxa within each taxonomic level, divided by the resulting total number of taxa within the level, and summed over relevant taxonomic levels (Valdecasas 2011). Some minor adjustments to this index have been suggested and accepted (PallGergely 2014, Valdecasas 2014). The T-Index may assess the performance of taxonomic work and would obviously get away from citation-based indices, thus avoiding their inherent problems (Krell 2000, 2002, Valdecasas et al. 2000), but it provides little or no assessment of taxonomic impact. In assessing such impact, it would surely be necessary to determine the usefulness of being able to identify and name particular taxa, something the T-Index does not do. Therefore, given the increasing and understandable attempts to consider research impact in evaluating individual researchers, their institutions, grant proposals, and so on (Pyke 2013, 2014), a new approach to evaluating taxonomic publications is still required. The impact of a description of a new taxon seems best assessed by how many subsequent articles mention that taxon (Wagele et al. 2011), which provides a simple basis for an alternative index for evaluating taxonomic publications. With computer technology, mentions of particular taxa could be tallied across publications, presumably counting multiple mentions within a single document just once. Each mention of a taxon could also be taken as a mention of all relevant higher-level taxa, with decreasing weight assigned to successively higher taxa on the basis of the increasing number of included species. A simple way to achieve this would be to take the reciprocal of the total number of included species as the weight for each mention of a particular taxon. Summing weighted mentions for each taxonomic publication across the described taxa could provide an overall index for that publication. I shall refer to this index as the M-Index. The following example illustrates how the M-Index might work in practice. Suppose a taxonomic publication described a new genus and three new species and that a subsequent publication mentions two of these species. In that case, the second publication would count as two mentions of the original publication at the species level and a one-third-weighted mention of the genus, giving a total weighted mention of 2.33 for the original taxonomic publication. This process could be similarly repeated across all publications that mention either one of the three species or the genus, with the weighted mentions summed over all such publications. Descriptions at higher taxonomic levels could be evaluated in the same way. Of course, the M-Index would be based on a changing classification system across all species, but this need not impede its implementation. Each time a taxon is newly described or revised, the overall system would change, but keeping track of such changes should not be difficult with available computer technology. For the evaluation of taxonomic publications, my proposed M-Index therefore provides a simple alternative to measures based on citations or effort. However, it might warrant modification and refinement, and it could be used in combination with other indices.

Consideration of a recommendation to co-publish optional combinations in alternative classifications of the Ornithogaleae (Scilloideae, Asparagaceae)

A number of new taxa were recently described from the tribe Ornithogaleae of the subfamily Scilloideae in the Asparagaceae, with names following the generic classification by Martínez-Azorín et al. (2011). Manning & Goldblatt (2013) subsequently provided new combinations to enable a transfer of these taxa to an alternative generic classification system proposed by Manning et al. (2009). In view of the prevailing nomenclatural flux within the Ornithogaleae epitomised by the aforementioned publications, Manning & Goldblatt (2013) recommended that “all future descriptions of species and any new combinations in the [Ornithogaleae] include an optional combination in the alternative classification (i.e. Manning et al. 2009 or Martínez-Azorín et al. 2011) to obviate the necessity for separate publications on the combinations, and to facilitate their direct integration into existing collections and databases”.

Acarological publications in the last 150 years: historical trends and an assessment of current journals

Next month, the 14th International Congress of Acarology will be held in Kyoto, Japan (14–18 July), and Journal Citation Reports® (JCR) will release the 2013 impact factor for journals. I am using this opportunity to provide an overview of acarological publications in the last 150 years and also an assessment of acarological journals. Acarologists were traditionally affiliated and associated with entomologists and other zoologists, and their publications are scattered in many different journals and books. The first specialist journal, Acarologia, did not start until 1959 (Table 1), and the First International Congress of Acarology was held just half a century ago (Flechtmann 2011). Beginning in the 1950s, the number of papers on the Acari started to increase rapidly (Fig. 1), and reached a peak of over 13,000 during the 1980s. This level of very high output continued for the next 25 years, with over 12,000 papers per decade (while the data for 2010–2014 is for less than half a decade, based on current data, the total for this decade is predicted to be similar to the last two decades). The number of new taxa of Acari in the publications for each decade followed a similar trend, but peaked at just over 10,000 during the 1970s and 1980s. This was followed by a rapid decline (about 25% decrease) in the 1990s FIGURE 1. Numbers of papers and new taxa on the Acari published during the last 150 years. The number of papers was based on the search result of “Acari*” in the online edition of Zoological Record. The number of new taxa was based on metrics search of “Acari” at http://www.organismnames.com/ (data as of 12 June 2014).

Permian (Capitanian) gastropods from the Akasaka Limestone (Gifu Prefecture, Japan)

A gastropod fauna from the Permian (Capitanian) Akasaka Limestone from Japan is described. It is one of the most diverse known Permian gastropod faunas and consists of at least 74 species level taxa. Forty taxa have been identified to species level; the remainder are treated in open nomenclature because of insufficient preservation. In addition, three types of neritimorph opercula are present. One family, seven genera and 28 species are described as new by Nützel. New taxa are the family Araeonematidae, the genera Coeloconulus, Asamiella, Costataenia, Akasakiella, Cerithiozone, Yochelsonistylus and Permocerithium, and the species Anomphalus japonicus, Anematina parva, Araeonema panthalassica, Coeloconulus panae, Trochonodus permianus, Goniasma fortecarinata, G.? nodifera, Vebericochlis mazaevi, Costataenia hayasakai, Trypanocochlea parva, Cerithiozone ornata, Cerithioides angulatum, Stegocoelia akasakaensis, Yochelsonistylus seussae, Y. felixi, Knightella hydrobiformis, Palaeostylus? irregularis, P. attenuatus, P. minutus, P. lateapicatus, Permocerithium nudum, Protorcula permiana, Medfrazyga convexa, M. rectecostata, Acteonina koizumii, Heterosubulites fusiformis, Nanochilina japonica and Streptacis orientalis. The gastropod fauna of the Akasaka Limestone has previously been known for containing some of the largest species from the Permian and the entire Palaeozoic, with specimens as large as 40 cm. The fauna is strongly dominated by molluscs and especially by gastropods and bivalves. The dominance of these groups represents a modern aspect of this fauna. Among the gastropods, high-spired caenogastropods form the most diverse and abundant group. Most of the new gastropod genera are related to Cerithioidea and some have anterior siphonal canals. This suggests an early radiation of these caenogastropods in the Asia/Panthalassa realm. The relatively large number of new taxa suggests that gastropod faunas of this region have been poorly sampled or preservation of such faunas is only sporadic. Several of the present genera and a few species are also known from Permian deposits in China, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Some of the genera are cosmopolitan.

Two new species of Arctiidae (Lepidoptera) from Peru

Approximately 300 species of Phaegopterinae (Arctiidae) occur in Peru, many of which were described by Walter Rothschild between 1909 and 1935 from Carabaya province (Puno Department). Only relatively recently has the moth fauna of other regions of the country been surveyed in detail, notably the expeditions undertaken by Thierry Porion in northern and central Peru in the 1980s. Hervé de Toulgoët examined the arctiid material from those surveys, which are deposited in the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris). He described about 15 new species, but a number of new taxa remain among this material, two of which are described here. In addition to the Porion/Toulgoët work, recent collecting using mercury vapour light was conducted to augment available material.