South African Museum Research Articles

Molecular data reveal a highly diverse species flock within the munnopsoid deep-sea isopod Betamorpha fusiformis (Barnard, 1920) (Crustacea: Isopoda: Asellota) in the Southern Ocean

Abstract Based on our current knowledge about population genetics, phylogeography and speciation, we begin to understand that the deep sea harbours more species than suggested in the past. Deep-sea soft-sediment environment in particular hosts a diverse and highly endemic invertebrate fauna. Very little is known about evolutionary processes that generate this remarkable species richness, the genetic variability and spatial distribution of deep-sea animals. In this study, phylogeographic patterns and the genetic variability among eight populations of the abundant and widespread deep-sea isopod morphospecies Betamorpha fusiformis [Barnard, K.H., 1920. Contributions to the crustacean fauna of South Africa. 6. Further additions to the list of marine isopods. Annals of the South African Museum 17, 319–438] were examined. A fragment of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene of 50 specimens and the complete nuclear 18S rRNA gene of 7 specimens were sequenced. The molecular data reveal high levels of genetic variability of both genes between populations, giving evidence for distinct monophyletic groups of haplotypes with average p-distances ranging from 0.0470 to 0.1440 (d-distances: 0.0592–0.2850) of the 16S rDNA, and 18S rDNA p-distances ranging between 0.0032 and 0.0174 (d-distances: 0.0033–0.0195). Intermediate values are absent. Our results show that widely distributed benthic deep-sea organisms of a homogeneous phenotype can be differentiated into genetically highly divergent populations. Sympatry of some genotypes indicates the existence of cryptic speciation. Flocks of closely related but genetically distinct species probably exist in other widespread benthic deep-sea asellotes and other Peracarida. Based on existing data we hypothesize that many widespread morphospecies are complexes of cryptic biological species (patchwork hypothesis).

The distribution and biology of Bittacus tjederi Londt, 1970 (Mecoptera: Bittacidae)

Bittacus tjederi Londt, 1970, together with B. capensis (Thunberg, 1784), B. smithersi Londt, 1972, and B. milleri Londt, 1978, constitute a distinctive species-group of hangingflies which is distributed between Grahamstown and Citrusdal in the southern parts of South Africa (Londt 1978). The recent capture of some B. tjederi specimens prompts this short report. Londt described B. tjederi from a relatively long series collected by a South African Museum expedition (Londt 1970), and later added a second record (Londt 1972). Londt (1978), in describing B. milleri, briefly discussed the interesting distribution of this species-group. A list of all known specimens of B. tjederi follows – exact label data being provided (lines of information separated by the symbol ‘/ ’). The exact coordinates of previously published localities are not known, and quarterdegree grid references are all that can safely be provided (in square brackets after the relevant place names). Published records. SOUTH AFRICA: 218 (including holotype), 169 (including allotype), ‘Goedehoop/Heidelberg [3420BB] Distr., /C.P.’, ‘Mus., Exped., /Oct. 1951’. Primary types and most of the paratypes are housed in the Iziko South African Museum, Cape Town. Two pairs of paratypes, originally stated as being in my personal collection, now form part of the Natal Museum’s collection in Pietermaritzburg (NMSA); 18, 29, ‘South Africa/Swellendam [3420AB]/14.11.1964/F. Honiball’ (18, 19 in Stellenbosch University collection, 19 in NMSA). New record: 48, 59, ‘South Africa: W Cape/Pat Busch Nature Reserve/33°46’17”S: 19°59’55”E/ 18-20.x.2005 JGH Londt / 317m Renosterbos / and rocky road verges’ (NMSA – pinned except for 18 preserved in ethanol for molecular analysis). A map of the distribution of species within the B. capensis group was published by Londt (1978). Bittacus smithersi is known only from the vicinity of Grahamstown, B. capensis has a wider distribution between Port Elizabeth and Knysna, B. tjederi is now known to occur between Heidelberg and Robertson, and finally B. milleri is found between Citrusdal and Clanwilliam. The species are accordingly allopatric, their combined distributions extending as a narrow band across the southern tip of South Africa, between c. latitude 32–34°S and c. longitude 19–27°E. Far more data are needed before it will be possible to establish the exact limits of each species so that the factors responsible for maintaining their separation can be understood. As far as B. tjederi is concerned, the new locality is of special interest as it is situated on the southern slopes of the Langeberg mountain range. While the exact coordinates of the collection sites involved in the ‘Goedehoop’ and ‘Swellendam’ material are not known, both centres (i.e. Heidelberg and Swellendam) also lie south of the Langeberg and within 15 km of the mountains. It is tempting to suggest that all three collecting localities probably lie in the southern foothills of the Langeberg which are relatively cooler and better vegetated than surrounding areas. This extensive mountain range effectively separates the Cape Floristic Region to the south from the Succulent Karoo Region to the north. It is possible that B. tjederi is confined to a relatively narrow area along the northern boundary of the Cape Floristic Region, well known internationally for its rich floral diversity (Van Wyk & Smith 2001). The Cape Floristic Region receives winter rainfall, while the more arid Succulent Karoo receives low summer rainfall. Bittacus tjederi, like the other species in the B. capensis group, has been collected mainly during October and November. This relatively short period of adult activity coincides with the end of the local rainy season and the beginning of warmer summer weather. Without exception, all the Pat Busch Nature Reserve specimens of B. tjederi were found hanging from the twigs of a group of bushes, identified as Ortholobium candicans (Eckl. & Zeyh.) C.H. Stirt, found growing along the verges of a sandy farm road (Fig. 1). These plants reach a height of about 2 m and have small c. 15 mm long, narrow, trifoliolate leaves borne on rather straight branches (Fig. 2). The c. 10 mm wide creamy white flowers were much in evidence at the time of the collec-

A Characterization of the MSA Stone Artefact Assemblage from the 1984 Excavations at Klein Kliphuis, Western Cape

INTRODUCTION The primary objective of this paper is to present a characterization of the Middle Stone Age assemblage from the site of Klein Kliphuis (KKH) in the Western Cape (Fig. 1). KKH was excavated in 1984 by a team from the South African Museum (now part of Iziko Museums of Cape Town). The excavation was to form part of a larger regional project looking at the nature and distribution of Later Stone Age (LSA) huntergatherer and herder sites. During the course of the excavation a single 1 m × 1 m square was excavated below the perceived end of the LSA, into what were presumed to be Middle Stone Age (MSA) artefact-bearing layers. The excavator’s original division between the LSA and MSA layers of Klein Kliphuis is retained here as a useful distinction, though it is the contention of this paper that some of the artefacts excavated from below this division are of LSA association. Information pertaining to the LSA component of the site was published (van Rijssen 1992), but although the MSA component was sorted, it was neither analysed in depth nor published. Analysis conducted in 2005 and 2006 suggests the presence of a stratified sequence at Klein Kliphuis which appears to parallel part of the sequence at Diepkloof Rock Shelter some 50 km to the southwest. This paper discusses the layers at Klein Kliphuis in terms of their culture–historical affiliation, based on comparison with published data from better resolved MSA excavations elsewhere.

Caring for a South African Treasure: Preserving the Bleek and Lloyd Collection at University of Cape Town Libraries

In the papers of Dr Wilhelm Bleek, Lucy Lloyd and Dorothea Bleek we have a unique record of the San peoples, in particular the /Xam people, of whom none now remain. The importance of the collections held at University of Cape Town Libraries (UCT), the National Library of South Africa and the South African Museum is recognised by their listing in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register. Increasing use of the records by scholars, as well as the need to preserve this valuable South African heritage demands that we find ways both of making it more easily accessible and of preserving it. The collection includes notebooks (over 12,000 pages of the stories and histories of the /Xam and /Kung informants), artworks, photographs and correspondence. A project has recently been completed at UCT Libraries to digitise an album of photographs taken by Dorothea Bleek on several expeditions between 1910 and the late 1920s. While a selection of the photographs has been made available on the web, a major advantage in having the album accessible in electronic form is that the originals no longer have to be handled. The paper deals with the digital imaging project, as well as other work that has been done or is planned regarding preservation of the collection. ESARBICA Journal Vol.22 2003: 37-42

Synoptic overview of marine ichthyology in South Africa

The coast of South Africa is subject to a range of oceanographic conditions and habitats, and this translates into a wide diversity of fishes. Indigenous people knew of, and used, some of these fishes long before the arrival of explorers and naturalists from Europe, who subsequently described many of the species in the scientific literature. The appointment of J.D.F. Gilchrist as the marine biologist to the Cape Colony in 1895 started a tradition of ichthyology in South Africa that was fostered by K.H. Barnard at the South African Museum. The discovery of the coelacanth in 1938 put South African ichthyology firmly on the world map, and J.L.B. Smith produced the first edition of the remarkable volume Sea Fishes of Southern Africa in 1949. Subsequently, in 1986, with the assistance of numerous local and international contributors, M.M. Smith and P.H. Heemstra compiled Smiths’ Sea Fishes, which documented >2000 species from the region. With the information in this volume as a basis, the coastal and shelf ichthyofauna of South Africa is examined at a biogeographic level. Diversity and endemism are discussed and complementarity analysis used to address the suitable location of marine protected areas to conserve the ichthyofauna of South Africa.

Typecast: Representations of the Bushmen at the South African Museum

From the early decades of the 20th century, plaster casts of Khoisan people have been on exhibition at the South African Museum. The most popular visitor attraction, they have also become the most controversial and hotly debated exhibits. Initially made as part of an anthropological project to document the physical characteristics of a race believed to be near extinction, the casts outlived their scientific moment to become compelling exhibits in their own right. As academic paradigms shifted so too did the conceptual contexts in which the casts were shown. By the 1960s, ecological approaches were displacing former evolutionist theories, although the latter did not entirely disappear. Accordingly, a number of the casts were redisplayed in a large diorama depicting an early 19th-century hunter-gatherer camp in the Karoo. No longer were the casts presented only as examples of a primitive race but as idealized hunters and gatherers. Since that time there have been relatively few significant modifications to the diorama, but it has increasingly become the subject of critical scrutiny and negative comment. It was recently screened from public view. In this paper I review issues relating to the diorama, outline the history of the casting project and the ideas that shaped it, and discuss ongoing curatorial debates against a changing political context in which Khoisan people have reclaimed their right to be heard and to engage in how their past is represented to the general public.

Typecast: Representations of the Bushmen at the South African Museum

From the early decades of the 20th century, plaster casts of Khoisan people have been on exhibition at the South African Museum. The most popular visitor attraction, they have also become the most controversial and hotly debated exhibits. Initially made as part of an anthropological project to document the physical characteristics of a race believed to be near extinction, the casts outlived their scientific moment to become compelling exhibits in their own right. As academic paradigms shifted so too did the conceptual contexts in which the casts were shown. By the 1960s, ecological approaches were displacing former evolutionist theories, although the latter did not entirely disappear. Accordingly, a number of the casts were redisplayed in a large diorama depicting an early 19th-century hunter-gatherer camp in the Karoo. No longer were the casts presented only as examples of a primitive race but as idealized hunters and gatherers. Since that time there have been relatively few significant modifications to the diorama, but it has increasingly become the subject of critical scrutiny and negative comment. It was recently screened from public view. In this paper I review issues relating to the diorama, outline the history of the casting project and the ideas that shaped it, and discuss ongoing curatorial debates against a changing political context in which Khoisan people have reclaimed their right to be heard and to engage in how their past is represented to the general public.

Distribution and population separation of Bryde's whale Balaenoptera edeni off southern Africa

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 220:277-289 (2001) - doi:10.3354/meps220277 Distribution and population separation of Bryde's whale Balaenoptera edeni off southern AfricaP. B. Best* Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa South African Museum, PO Box 61, Cape Town, 8000 South Africa. E-mail: pbest@samuseum.ac.za ABSTRACT: A review of available catch and biological data suggests that there are 3 populations of Bryde¹s whales in the southern African region. An inshore population (the South African Inshore Stock) occurs over the continental shelf of South Africa, south of about 30°S, and seems to be non-migratory, although there is a movement up the west coast in winter. A pelagic population (the Southeast Atlantic Stock) occurs on the west coast of southern Africa, ranging from equatorial regions to about 34°S, and appears to migrate north in autumn and south in spring. Whales from the Southeast Atlantic Stock differ from the South African Inshore Stock in size, scarring, baleen shape, seasonality of reproduction, fecundity and prey types. Both occurred in the west coast whaling ground off Donkergat, but with differing seasonalities and distributions from the coast. Bryde¹s whales are rare on the east coast of southern Africa, but are found in summer in some numbers south of Madagascar. Whales from this population are clearly smaller than those from the Southeast Atlantic Stock, but are similar in size to, or even smaller than, those from the South African Inshore Stock. Their external appearance is unknown, but they differ in prey type from the South African Inshore Stock, and because of a clear discontinuity in distribution it is believed that they form a third (pelagic) population (the Southwest Indian Ocean Stock). This population may or may not move north as far as the Seychelles in winter, but seems to be separate from Bryde¹s whales in the Arabian Sea. From their size composition, length at sexual maturity and infrequent capture, Bryde¹s whales taken at Durban may have represented strays from either the South African Inshore Stock or the Southwest Indian Ocean Stock, and recorded stomach contents also indicate prey types common to either stock. The unusual degree of population differentiation shown by Bryde¹s whales may be a consequence of their limited seasonal migrations and apparent resource partitioning. KEY WORDS: Bryde's whale · Distribution · Population separation · Southern Africa Full text in pdf format PreviousNextExport citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 220. Online publication date: September 27, 2001 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2001 Inter-Research.

A redescription of the adult male of Caecognathia cryptopais (Barnard, 1925) (Crustacea: Isopoda: Gnathiidae) from southern Africa.

A redescription of the adult male of Caecognathia cryptopais (Barnard, 1925) is provided from syntypes and other material deposited in the South African Museum. The generic status of Caecognathia cryptopais is also revised. This redescription is based on light and scanning electron microscopy.

Middle Stone Age Stratigraphy and Excavations at Die Kelders Cave 1 (Western Cape Province, South Africa): the 1992, 1993, and 1995 Field Seasons

Die Kelders Cave 1, first excavated under the direction of Franz Schweitzer in 1969–1973, was re-excavated between 1992 and 1995 by a combined team from the South African Museum, SUNY at Stony Brook, and Stanford University. These renewed excavations enlarged the artefactual and faunal samples from the inadequately sampled and less intensively excavated lower Middle Stone Age (MSA) layers, increased our understanding of the complex site formation processes within the cave, enlarged the hominid sample from the MSA deposits, and generated ESR, TL, and OSL dates for the MSA layers. Importantly, these new excavations dramatically improved our comprehension of the vertical and lateral characteristics of the MSA stratigraphy. Surface plotting of the MSA layers has led to the identification of at least two major zones of subsidence that significantly warped the layers, draping some along the eroding surface contours of major blocks of fallen limestone roof rock. A third zone of subsidence is probably present in the older excavations. Dramatic roof falls of very large limestone blocks occurred at least twice—once in the middle of Layer 4/5 where the roof blocks were only slightly weathered after collapse, and at the top of Layer 6 where the blocks weathered heavily after collapse, producing a zone of decomposed rock around the blocks. Many of the sandy strata are cut by small and localized faults and slippages. All of the strata documented by Schweitzer's excavations are present throughout the exposed area to the west of his excavated area, where many of them thicken and become more complex. Layer 6, the thickest MSA layer, becomes less diagenetically altered and compressed to the west.

Art and Oracle: Spirit Voices of Africa

Curated by Alisa LaGamma, the exhibition “Art and Oracle: Spirit Voices of Africa,” opening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, on April 26 and running through July 30, will include approximately 200 works selected from public and private collections in the United States and abroad. The companion catalogue, “Art and Oracle: African Art and Rituals of Divination”, is by LaGamma, with an essay by John Pemberton III. Published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and distributed by Harry N. Abrams, New York (80 pp., 5 b/w and 50 color photos, $19.95 softcover), it illustrates fifty of the most representative works in the exhibition and includes extended commentaries on their significance. Upon the opening of “Art and Oracle,” the museum plans to launch an electronic version of the catalogue on its Web site (www.metmuseum.org). It will feature an additional section, organized by the University of the Witwatersrand Art Galleries in Johannesburg, presenting objects from South African museum collections wi...

Miscast: The place of the museum in negotiating the Bushman past and present

THERE ARE TWO museums in South Africa competing for representation and commentary on `who are the Bushmen?'. The South African Museum and the South African National Gallery, situated across from each other in Cape Town's Company Gardens, combine efforts to concretise a debate regarding how the indigenous categories, `Bushman' and `Khoisan' (1), can be publicly represented. The two museums draw together different and changing historical relationships to these categories as well as the practice of museum display and exhibition. On the one hand, the SA Museum (a natural history museum), with its turn-of-the-century-built dioramas of Bushmen frozen in primordial time, reminds us of the colonial era ethnologist whose vocation it was to preserve the promise of a more authentic relationship between man and nature. While, on the other hand, the National Gallery, an art museum, offers a critique of the exibitionary enterprise which made museum representations and practices, such as those found in the SA Museum, a naturalised source and display of information. Patricia Davison, the Assistant Director of the SA Museum, says, It is hoped that the present exhibition [at the National Gallery] will set up a dialogue, as it were, with the diorama [at the SA Museum]. Together, these exhibits have inspired heated dialogue and debate around a multitude of issues facing contemporary South Africans, and testify to the important role of public culture in actively shaping both ethnic and national boundaries. This paper will focus primarily on one exhibit, namely the Miscast exhibit that opened in Cape Town's National Gallery on April 12, 1996. By documenting the negotiation process now unfolding in the spaces between and within the National Gallery and the SA Museum, this paper will look at how public culture and the museum (i.e., the National Gallery) contribute to the crafting of national and ethnic boundaries. More specifically, we examine the limitations and ambiguities of cultural critique deployed in the interrogation of museum and representational practices. The primary obstacle to the Miscast curator's vision of a break with the past is the fact that in South Africa the colonial past rests too heavily on its present. As a result of this continuity, many of the visitors to this exhibit at the National Gallery (2) found themselves unable to extricate and distance themselves from the discomfort emanating from their identification with the representations of Bushmen subjects drawn on for this exhibit. South Africa's rapidly changing political climate has drawn the Museum into efforts to dismantle the icons, lexicons, and artifacts of apartheid through the installation of exhibits and displays which interrogate the past with a strategically critical eye. The exhibit analyzed here is one that has drawn historically silenced and marginalised groups into the legitimated and powerful domain of the state Museum, enabling them to participate in their own public cultural representations. The exhibitionary politics brought into being by the debates between these two Museums and their constituent publics invites the language of racial-ethnic difference, the nation's need to heal, reclaim, and revise its past, as well as the impulse to propel contemporary social boundaries into interaction with a newly forged democratic public sphere. Circulating between the two museums are a whole host of publics bringing diverse local readings to bear on a debate which has been unfolding among academics for many years (3). The natural history museum (SA Museum), as a continuous, legitimated, and even celebrated space of representation, has been central to the codification of scientific visual and textual meaning. The National Gallery, by the same token has contributed to the codification of the nation through artistic representation. The opening and democratising of the public sphere of these museums provide a lens through which we can observe individuals coming together as active brokers of the boundaries of the public and dominant cultural frameworks. …

MARINE INVERTEBRATE SYSTEMATICS AND ZOOGEOGRAPHY IN SOUTHERN AFRICA: AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

SUMMARY For 150 years, from the 17th century onward, South African marine invertebrate taxonomy was in the hands of overseas specialists, specimens typically reaching them via “cabinets of curiosities”. A more rigorous approach was adumbrated with the establishment of the South African Museum in 1825, the arrival of professional and semi-professional collectors and, in the second half of the 19th century, the great marine exploratory expeditions. A signal event was the appointment of John D.F. Gilchrist, as South Africa's first resident marine biologist, in 1895, followed by Keppel Barnard's arrival in 1911. Barnard monographed the crustaceans and molluscs, as well as some minor groups, and this was later to be accomplished for the polychaetes by John Day and for the hydroids by Naomi Millard. Few other groups have received such rigorous treatment and some (e.g. bryozoans and subtidal sponges) remain little known. Despite much invertebrate biogeographical work, the key investigator remains Alan Stephenson, in the 1930s; the concepts he developed require only slight modification in the light of subsequent findings. More attention needs to be devoted to marine invertebrate taxonomy and zoogeography if the high standard of marine research achieved in South Africa is to be maintained.

The status and importance of cephalopod systematics in southern Africa

A checklist of southern African cephalopods published in 1974 listed 94 species for the region 20–45°S, 10–40°E. Just 23 years later the number of known species has doubled to an estimated 195, represented in the South African Museum collection by 4 252 accessioned lots (15 434 specimens, excluding many paralarvae). In 1995, cephalopods constituted the sixth most valuable fisheries resource worldwide (after shrimps and tunas). Only one subspecies, Loligo vulgaris reynaudii, is targeted in South Africa at present, but it is important commercially because of the high prices it commands internationally. A number of other species constitute alternate resources of potential commercial interest, including at least 12 sepiids, 7 loliginids, 6 ommastrephids and 9 octopods. Cephalopods are also important in the trophic relations of marine fish, birds and mammals. Knowledge of the southern African cephalopod fauna is important not only for regional biodiversity studies but also from a wider perspective. The region ...

Studies on African zygaenoid moths (Lepidoptera: Zygaenoidea) The genusPsychariumHerrich-Schäffer, with descriptions of four new species (Somabrachyidae)

The genus Psycharium is revised for the first time. Until now, only a drawing of the female type species was known. The male and female of the type species, P. pellucens Herrich-Schaffer, and four new species, manta­ num, kammanassiense, bamardi and nata/ense, are comprehensively described. A key to the species of Psy­ charium, based on males and females (except for P. nata/ense where only males are known), is given. Descriptions of taxa include drawings of their genitalia. African flannel moths (Somabrachyidae) consist of two gen­ era with a highly interesting disjunct distribution. Soma­ brachys Kirby is found along the broad coastal strip from Morocco to Syria and in southern Spain, and Psycharium Herrich-Schaffer in the southwestern and eastern Cape and central Kwazulu-Natal. Somahrachys is better known taxo­ nomically, the number of constituent species ranging from one to about 30, depending upon the taxonomic treatment or opinion of authors (Aurivillius 1894; OberthUr 1908, 1911, 1922; Seitz 1912; Jordan 1916; Hopp 1927; Hering 1933; Freina & Wilt 1990). The monotypic Psycharium was only named and depicted by Herrich-Schaffer [1856] (Figure I), but he never formally described nor assigned it to a family. Since the mid-eighties extensive field work, including searches, breeding from field-collected material and light­ trapping of these moths has been carried out in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Larvae are frequently encoun­ tered, especially on the exotic conifer Pinus radiala D. Don. (Pinaceae), but rearing of larvae is, mainly due to high levels of parasitism, difficult and hardly rewarding. By these efforts, however, much material including large numbers of males, almost absent in institutional holdings, has been obtained. Material held by the National Collection of Insects, Pretoria, the Transvaal Museum, Pretoria and the South African Museum, Cape Town, was also included in this study. This has resulted in the discovery of several new taxa, including new species of Psycharium. This article is part of a series dealing with Somabrachyidae. An introduction to the family, with comments on their rela­ tionship and main features, and a description of the adult mor­ phology of Psycharium have been accepted for publication (Geertsema, in press a, b). Here the genus Psycharium, including descriptions of the type species, P. pe//ucens Her­ rich~Schaffer, and four new species (P. man/anum, P. kamma­ nassiense, P. barnardi and P. nata/en.~e), is dealt with. A key to the species is also given. Descriptions of related new taxa and descriptions of the larvae of some Psycharium species will follow later. The present study is taxonomic in nature. Adults used in this study were mostly reared from field-col­ lected larvae or from eggs. Genitalia were removed, kept in 10% KOH for 24 hours, cleaned, lightly stained with Chlora­ zol Black E, and dissected in glycerine. After drawing fea­ tures of the genitalia, they were mounted in Canada Balsam on slides (indicated as GP in the text) or stored in glycerine­ filled microvials (indicated as Glyc). Limited intraspecific variation in the structure of male geni­ talia of Psycharium is apparent, for example in P. pellucens (Figures 15-22) and P. kammanassiense (Figures 23-29), where the structure of the uncus, especially its tip, and shape of the valvae varies between some individuals. Female geni­ talia are weakly developed. The anterior lateral edges of abdominal segments 9+ I 0 are extended into a pair of poste­ rior apophyses, indicated as lateral arms in the illustrations. The lateral arms are small in P. pellucens, but well developed in the other species. The anterior apophyses are not well

Type Material of Species now Assigned to Mimecomutilla Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) in the South African Museum

Résumé Matériel type des espèces attribuées actuellement à Mimecomutilla (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) à partir des collections du Muséum d'Afrique du Sud. — L'holotype de Mutilla marotsa et des syntypes de Mutilla psammathe, Mutilla takota et Mutilla umtata, décrits par Péringuey, ont été identifiés et décrits. Des lectotypes et paralectotypes ont été désignés parmi les syntypes. Ces espèces sont attribuées actuellement au genre Mimecomutilla (les trois premières pour la première fois, comb. nov.). De plus, un lectotype et des paralectotypes sont designés pour Mimecomutilla renominanda Bischoff, sur la base des spécimens utilisés par Péringuey pour décrire la femelle de Mutilla purpurata identifiée de manière erronée.

FIFTY YEARS OF MARINE FISH SYSTEMATICS AT THE J.L.B. SMITH INSTITUTE OF ICHTHYOLOGY

SUMMARY In 1946 Rhodes University created the Department of Ichthyology with J.L.B. Smith at the helm. Smith's research centred on the fishes of South Africa and the Western Indian Ocean. In his 22 years at the Department he produced the Sea Fishes of Southern Africa (SFSA) and revised numerous taxa based on material collected during his frequent trips to various parts of the Western Indian Ocean. After his death his wife and life-long assistant, M.M. Smith convinced Rhodes University and the South African Council for Industrial Research to establish the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology. She became the first Director of the Institute, and created a lecturer post for a postgraduate course in ichthyology. The first two scientists to fill this post were marine ichthyoloigists, i.e. Dr T.H. Fraser (1970–1973) and Dr R. Winterbottom (1973–1976). Winterbottom was replaced by Dr M.N. Bruton, a freshwater ecologist, who later became the Institute's second Director. M.M. Smith's major research project was the revision of SFSA which started in 1977 and culminated with the publication, in 1986. of Smiths' Sea Fishes (SSF). For this project Smith hired Dr P.C. Heemstra, her co-editor of SSF, who is currently the Curator of Marine Fishes at the Institute. Three SSF collaborators became Institute staff in the 1980s. Mr O. Gon was hired by Bruton to produce, with Heemstra as co-editor, Fishes of the Southern Ocean, a comprehensive review of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic fishes published in 1990. In 1984 a cartilaginous fish expert, Dr L.J.V. Compagno joined the Institute (1984–1989) and later created the Shark Research Centre: Compagno and his Centre are now at the South African Museum, Cape Town. A deep-sea fish specialist, Dr M.E. Anderson joined the staff in 1989 and has since expanded his research interest to include studies of South African fish fossils. In the 50 years since the establishment of the Department the number of marine species known from South Africa has nearly doubled. During that period Institute scientists described 446 new species and subspecies, and have been involved in international research programmes.

A HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE TAXONOMY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY OF FRESHWATER FISHES IN SOUTH AFRICA—THE PAST 50 YEARS

SUMMARY The history of systematic freshwater ichthyology in South Africa is traced from its origins to the present but focussing on the past 50 years. In the 19th century freshwater fishes were described by European scientists and explorers. The first South African collections began around the turn of the 20th century with that in the South African Museum becoming the dominant collection over the next 50 years through the input and research of initially Dr John Gilchrist and later Dr Keppel Barnard. A fundamental shift in locus from Cape Town to Grahamstown occurred in the 1950s when Rex Jubb began to work at the Department of Ichthyology at Rhodes University, and, from 1961 at the Albany Museum. Freshwater fish taxonomy subsequently resumed at the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology, Grahamstown. The first half of the past 50 years was also marked by the contributions of nature conservation and colonial fishery agents. From 1970 a new generation of trained ichthyologists, locally and abroad, assumed responsibility and undertook mostly revisions of species and genera. The impact of cladist philosophy is most evident in the generic changes that have occurred during this latter time period. The alpha-taxonomy of the southern African freshwater fish fauna is about 90% complete. Modern focus is moving towards biophysiological, biochemical, molecular and cytogenetic studies. Traditionally the geographical derivation of southern African freshwater fishes was explained within the framework of a dispersalist paradigm. Alternative views arguing that there am two distinct historical faunas in southern Africa, a temperate and a tropical fauna, have more recently been presented. The available evidence indicates that both these faunas have co-evolved largely in situ throughout the Tertiary. The patterns of species distributions that now exist are the product of a complex and dynamic process of drainage evolution.

The South African Cultural History Museum Library

The South African Museum (cultural history) opened in 1966 as part of the South African Museum; in 1969 it began an independent existence as the South African Cultural History Museum, with a mission to enable the ‘entire community… to enjoy and to learn about our Cape and international heritage’. The library dates back to the opening of the museum, and now comprises some 12,000 books, 900 pamphlets, and 190 current journals on art related topics. Although the library exists primarily to serve the museum staff, it is open to the public and is well used by students.

Redescription of Zonophryxus quinquedens Barnard, 1913 (Crustacea, Isopoda, Dajidae) from the Weddell Sea, Antarctica, with notes on its biology and zoogeography

Until now the dajid isopod species Zonophryxus quinquedens Barnard, 1913 was only described from off Cape Point, South Africa. By collecting one male and three female specimens from the Weddell Sea, Antarctica, the known range of the species and genus has to be extended to 69°58.9′S 05°08.5′E. One female specimen was found attached to the dorsal carapace of the benthopelagic decapod shrimp Nematocarcinus longirostris Bate, 1888, which served as a host for the ectoparasitic isopod. The mouthparts of the isopod penetrated directly into the heart of the shrimp. Based on the new Antarctic specimens and the type specimens of Barnard from the South African Museum, we present a redescription of Zonophryxus quinquedens. Possible conclusions from the disjunct distribution for the ecology of the species are discussed.