Tiny Species Research Articles

A box quadrat for standardised sampling of Orthoptera in open habitats: Design, handling, applications and baseline data

Globally, insects are declining at an alarming rate. Therefore, there is an urgent need for standardised monitoring methods to detect changes in insect populations at an early stage. Box quadrat sampling enables highly precise assessments of Orthoptera community composition within a specific area. However, a detailed design of a box quadrat that guarantees an easy workflow, precise descriptions of its handling and a compilation of baseline data for future comparisons have yet been lacking. Based on thirty years of our own experience in box quadrat sampling, we present here: (i) the detailed design of a box quadrat, (ii) its standardised handling in the field (including a video as a supplement), (iii) its applications and (iv) Orthoptera species richness and abundance baseline data for open habitats. The low construction costs (∼300 €) and simple design allow for a wide distribution of this type of box quadrat in future. Moreover, due to the plug system and the light aluminium construction, the quadrat can easily be transported, assembled, handled and dismantled by one person. For comparisons of Orthoptera species richness, abundance and community composition between habitats, we recommend using a quadrat of 2 m² size and 0.8 m height and a minimum sampling area of 20 m² per plot (10 touchdowns per plot). For long-term monitoring or when species are sampled that generally occur in low density, a sampling area of 30 m² (15 replicates) is suggested. By contrast, for the surveys of tiny species (e.g., groundhoppers) and developmental stages (nymphs), smaller box quadrats can also be used and the sampled area per plot can be below 20 m². Box quadrat sampling is less dependent on favourable weather conditions and vegetation structure than many other insect survey techniques. Overall, it allows rapid and highly precise assessments of Orthoptera community composition.

Unsteady dynamical analysis of convective hydromagnetic thermal migration of chemically reacting tiny species with dissipation and radiation in an inclined porous plate

The essence of the current examination is to carry out thermofluid parametric sensitivity with time-varying thermal migration of chemically reactive tiny species across an oscillating infinite plate surface. The impact of thermal motile tiny particles under the influence of many other oscillating flow parameters has yet to be investigated; hence the results obtained in this research are novel. Using a suitable non-dimensional variable, the leading PDEs (partial differential equations) are transmuted into dimensionless PDEs, ensuring equations are numerically solved using the MAPLE built-in approach. The numerical values produced in a limited scenario are linked with the outcomes found in the literature to validate the precision of the numerical approach utilized. The fluctuations in the profiles of the velocity, temperature, and concentration, in addition to the wall friction and rate of thermal and solutal transport, are illustrated via graphs and tables due to the modification of the critical parameters. The endmost results of the study concede that increasing permeability quantity and thermal and solutal buoyancy impellers intensify the fluid velocity. In contrast, a converse tendency is perceived with magnetic parameter and also, wall friction acts opposite to the velocity. The fluid temperature attenuated with dilation of the Prandtl number and radiation parameter, whilst a contrary trend was perceived with Eckert number. The increasing thermo-diffusion helps to develop fluid concentration whilst the Schmidt number and chemical reaction displayed opposite trend. Further, we achieved a tremendous conformity between the current findings and genuine results in the literature.

Rickenella fibula (Repetobasidiaceae: Basidiomycota): a tiny species with large distribution also occurs in Brazil

Rickenella fibula (Repetobasidiaceae: Basidiomycota): a tiny species with large distribution also occurs in Brazil

Seiitaoides sandyi n. sp., a new species of spider crab (Decapoda, Brachyura, Majidae) from New Caledonia

Abstract Four species of Seiitaoides Griffin & Tranter, 1986 (Majoidea: Majidae) are now known from the Indo-West Pacific. A fifth species, Seiitaoides sandyi n. sp., is described here from deeper waters in New Caledonia. This tiny species is most similar to S. orientalis (Sakai, 1961) from the western Pacific, but differs markedly by the shape and armature of the supraorbital eave, carapace regions and plates, as well as structure and proportions of the male thoracic sternum, ambulatory legs and male first gonopod.

A tiny cuckoo: Risk‐dependent interspecific brood parasitism in a predatory mite

Abstract Many animal species protect their eggs against predators, and other species may profit from this by adding their eggs to those of the protecting species. We studied two tiny species of predatory mites that share a food source, are engaged in intraguild predation, and which eggs are attacked by the same egg predator. One of these predatory mites (Neoseiulus californicus) adds its eggs to those of the other species (Gynaeseius liturivorus) which guards its eggs from egg predators, resulting in reduced predation of the eggs of the nonguarding species. The guarding species experiences costs in the form of intraguild predation of her offspring, and the addition of eggs to the guarding species therefore qualifies as brood parasitism. In the presence of egg predators, the brood parasite preferentially adds its eggs to those of the guarding host species, not to those of another, nonguarding mite species. This cuckoo behaviour comes with a cost for the parasite when egg predators are absent, and therefore only occurs when egg predators are present. Our findings emphasize the importance of the risk of egg predation as a factor driving facultative brood parasitism. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

How tiny species can be overlooked: the finding of Eudendrium capillaroides (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) in the Strait of Gibraltar

Eudendrium capillaroides Schuchert, 2008 has not been reported since its original description. The new and abundant material found in Ceuta, southern coast of the Strait of Gibraltar, allows us to refine the morphological diagnosis of this species. Eudendrium capillaroides is characterized by small monosiphonic colonies, a dense ring at the base of the hydranth, and it seems to have a preference for growing on other hydroids. Male gonophores on atrophied polyps, two-chambered (occasionally one chamber), and female gonophores on reduced polyps in the initial stages of development but hydrants later completely atrophied. Nematocysts are heterotrichous microbasic euryteles of two size classes, a larger size densely distributed in a band on the hydrant body basally and a smaller size abundant mainly on the tentacles. Furthermore, we carried out molecular analyses to assess the status of E. capillaroides and its most similar congener E. capillare within the genus Eudendrium. The use of few morphological characters or incomplete descriptions may thus lead to an incorrect wide distribution of a nominal species that actually represents a species complex. This can particularly be the case in less conspicuous species, such as many hydroids, where the degree of diversity might be underestimated. The accurate description of tiny, inconspicuous and/or cryptic species is important in order to better estimate global marine diversity as well as to understand marine communities and the relationships between their components.

A new species of toothless, short dorsal-fin Schindleria (Gobiiformes: Gobiidae) from the Red Sea (Egypt)

Abstract We describe a new, tiny species of Schindleria from a reef lagoon in the Red Sea off the coast of Hurghada, Egypt. Schindleria edentata, new species, belongs to the short dorsal-fin type of Schindleria, with the dorsal and anal fins of about equal length. Schindleria edentata is characterized by an elongated but relatively deep body (body depth at anal-fin origin 10.8% of SL and at 4th anal-fin ray 10.9 % of SL); a short dorsal fin originating just slightly anterior to the anal fin (predorsal-fin length 60.9% of SL, pre-anal fin length 64.8% of SL); a stubby head with a steep frontal profile, a short snout (i.e., 23.1% of head length), and large eye (i.e., 27.7% of the head’s length); a long pectoral radial plate (length 7.6% of SL); four dorsal and four ventral procurrent caudal-fin rays increasing in length posteriorly; last procurrent ray simple without additional spine and, although the longest, not distinctly elongate; 15 dorsal-fin rays; 13 anal-fin rays; the base of the first anal-fin ray positioned below the base of the third dorsal-fin ray; upper and lower jaws toothless; in vivo with translucent body; eye black; swim bladder capped by a melanophore blotch; no pigmentation externally on body after preservation.

A tiny new species of Microhyla Tschudi, 1838 (Amphibia: Anura: Microhylidae) from Belitung Island and Southeastern Sumatra, Indonesia.

A tiny new species of narrow-mouthed frog of the genus Microhyla is described from the island of Belitung and southeastern Sumatra, Indonesia. The most distinctive feature of the new frog is its diminutive adult size, snout-vent length ranging only from 12.3 to 15.8 mm in adult males. Phylogenetic analyses based a fragment of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene, along with detailed morphological and acoustic comparison differentiate the new taxon from all known congeners. The new species, formally described as Microhyla sriwijaya sp. nov., is a member of the M. achatina species group and the sister taxon to M. orientalis. It is diagnosable from other congeners by a combination of characters: (1) smaller male snout-vent size 16 mm; (2) snout obtusely rounded in dorsal view; (3) absence of mid-dorsal line and skin fold; (4) first finger reduced (finger I length less than half of finger II length); (5) dorsum with a prominent dark median mark extending posteriorly, narrow anteriorly near the level of the shoulder and expanding dorsolaterally up to the vent; margins of the dorsal marking concave with broad reddish-brown or orange colouration on either side; (6) foot webbing rudimentary, reaching just up to the first subarticular tubercle on all toes; (7) dorsal skin with prominent tubercles, especially in life; (8) tibiotarsal articulation of adpressed limb reaching beyond the snout tip; and (9) males produce a single type of call with pulsatile temporal structure, calls of relatively short duration ranging between 31.862.8 s, with two to three pulses delivered at a rate ranging between 32.236.0 pulses per second, and the mean overall dominant frequency of 4.3 kHz. The uncorrected pairwise genetic distances between Microhyla sriwijaya sp. nov. and all other known congeners are > 3.8% for the studied 16S gene fragment. The new species was discovered from wayside rural areas with oil palm plantations at four localities in the small island of Belitung (type locality), and from coffee plantation and secondary forest at Lampung in southeastern Sumatra. It is not known from any protected area and appears to be threatened due to tin mining activity, intensive logging, oil palm, and other commonly practiced agriculture activities.

Tiny Species with Big Impact: High Activity of Cu Single Atoms on CeO2–TiO2 Deciphered by Operando Spectroscopy

Tiny Species with Big Impact: High Activity of Cu Single Atoms on CeO₂–TiO₂ Deciphered by <i>Operando</i> Spectroscopy

Novel Lineages of Oxymonad Flagellates from the Termite Porotermes adamsoni (Stolotermitidae): the Genera Oxynympha and Termitimonas

The symbiotic gut flagellates of lower termites form host-specific consortia composed of Parabasalia and Oxymonadida. The analysis of their coevolution with termites is hampered by a lack of information, particularly on the flagellates colonizing the basal host lineages. To date, there are no reports on the presence of oxymonads in termites of the family Stolotermitidae. We discovered three novel, deep-branching lineages of oxymonads in a member of this family, the damp-wood termite Porotermes adamsoni. One tiny species (6-10μm), Termitimonas travisi, morphologically resembles members of the genus Monocercomonoides, but its SSU rRNA genes are highly dissimilar to recently published sequences of Polymastigidae from cockroaches and vertebrates. A second small species (9-13μm), Oxynympha loricata, has a slight phylogenetic affinity to members of the Saccinobaculidae, which are found exclusively in wood-feeding cockroaches of the genus Cryptocercus, the closest relatives of termites, but shows a combination of morphological features that is unprecedented in any oxymonad family. The third, very rare species is larger and possesses a contractile axostyle; it represents a phylogenetic sister group to the Oxymonadidae. These findings significantly advance our understanding of the diversity of oxymonads in termite guts and the evolutionary history of symbiotic digestion.

Impact of the neozoic ladybird Harmonia axyridis on the coccinellid community in Bohemia

Since 2007, when Asian harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) has become a part of coccinellid entomofauna in Bohemian hop gardens, the spectrum of aphidophagous coccinelids has changed considerably. Whereas, in the period before its invasion native species Coccinella septempunctata L., Adalia bipunctata L. and Propylea quatuordecimpunctata L. used to be the dominant predators of damson hop aphid (Phorodon humuli Schrank), Harmonia axyridis has been the most frequent ladybird species in Zatec (Saaz) hop growing region nowadays. Population densities of adults of aphidophagous ladybirds in the middle of the eighties (1985), shortly before the invasion of the above-mentioned Asian species (2004) and in the recent years (2011 and 2015) are compared. Whereas four years ago harlequin ladybird represented just 10% of the total Coccinellidae, in 2015 it forms nearly half of coccinellid adults observed in hop gardens in NW Bohemia. It is followed by tiny species P. quatuordecimpunctata and A. bipunctata, which consist together more than one third, whereas in the middle of the eighties they generally formed two thirds of the coccinellid populations. On the other hand adults of C. septempunctata have become less abundant. It may be caused by aggressiveness of H. axyridis, whose larvae were observed to feed on eggs and young larvae of C. septempunctata. To prevent attacks from larvae of H. axyridis, females of C. septempunctata appear on hop plants and begin to lay eggs earlier as illustrated by the presence of the third and the fourth instars larvae in the time when larvae of H. axyridis reach much smaller size and are not competitive enough. Decline in population densities of native species of ladybirds on response to arrival of the Asian invasive species, their responses and potential efficiency of aphidophagous coccinelids, including H. axyridis, on damson hop aphid will need to be observed in the future so as us to know more about this issue.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Paravannella minima (Amoebozoa, Discosea, Vannellida)

We present a complete sequence and describe the organization of the mitochondrial genome of the amoeba Paravannella minima (Amoebooza, Discosea, Vannellida). This tiny species represents a branch at the base of Vannellida tree, to the moment being its earliest-branching lineage. The circular mitochondrial DNA of this species has 53,464 bp in length and contains 30 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNAs, 23 transfer RNAs, and 15 open reading frames. This genome is significantly longer and contains more protein-coding genes than any yet sequenced mitochondrial genome of vannellid amoebae. Unlike the previously sequenced mitochondrial genomes of Vannellida, which should be translated using the “Table 4” (the mold, protozoan, and coelenterate mitochondrial code), that of P. minima can be properly translated using the universal genetic code.

Tiny diatoms Minidiscus vodyanitskiyi sp. nov. (Bacillariophyta) from the Sea of Azov and consideration of polygonal areolae pattern

A new tiny species of Minidiscus, M. vodyanitskiyi, was found in the water column collected from the central part of the Sea of Azov. Its morphology was examined by scanning electron microscopy, described and illustrated. This centric diatom is characterized by: 1) small valve diameter of less than 10 µm; 2) one central fultoportula surrounded by two satellite pores located opposite each other; 3) one rimoportula located one areola away from the central fultoportula which internally appears similar to a slit surrounded by a plan elliptic rim oriented radially or slightly tangentially; 4) 4–6 (10) marginal fultoportulae that are equally spaced on a border between the valve surface and valve mantle; 5) three satellite pores that surround every marginal fultoportula, where a central satellite pore is directed towards the valve margin; 6) hexa- or heptagonal pattern of valve areolae; and 7) a hyaline conical flange connects the cingulum with the valve. The new species is compared with similar ones. A new term ‘polygonal areolae pattern’ is proposed instead of ‘eccentric pattern’. The term emphasizes that the pattern comprises concentric polygons formed by tangential areolae rows. Its qualitative characteristic, ‘polygonality’, has been described which allows more precise differentiation of the geometry of the valve pattern and describing areolae size variability.

Polyphasic examination on Merismopedia tenuissima CHAB 7021 from Ganjiang River, China revealed the polyphyly of the genus Merismopedia (Cyanobacteria)

Species in the cyanobacterial genus Merismopedia are present in freshwaters at different trophic levels, with some species even as the components of cyanobacterial blooms. However, species diversity in this genus was not fully verified by molecular investigation and polyphasic taxonomic studies. In this study, Merismopedia-like strain tenuissima CHAB 7021 was isolated from Ganjiang River in Jiangxi Province, China, and polyphasic characterization of this strain was performed by morphological observation, ultrastructural examination, chemical detection of pigments and phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences. Morphological identification of the strain was supported by the ultrastructural features, as the tiny species Merismopedia tenuissima Lemmermann. The phylogeny based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed at least three clades formed by the strains of Merismopedia. The three M. tenuissima strains including M. tenuissima CHAB 7021 was gathered in clade III with distant relationship to the clade I formed by the six Merismopedia strains including the type species M. punctata, and such a genetic distance may propose Merismopedia tenuissima to separate from Merismopedia genus. However intermixture relationship in between strains of M. punctate and M. glauca in the phylogenetic tree still complicated the taxonomic status in the genus Merismopedia. The process for taxonomic revision in the Merismopedia genus still await for examination and further information on more strains of type species M. punctata.

Nanospace-Confined High-Temperature Solid-State Reactions: Versatile Synthetic Route for High-Diversity Pool of Catalytic Nanocrystals

The present study proposes a methodology to extend the utility of solid-state reactions to a synthetic route for producing a high-diversity pool of nanocrystals (NCs) by circumventing the problematic sintering of nanoparticles at high temperatures. For this purpose, nanometer-scale-confined NC formations/transformations were investigated using specifically designed SiO2 nanospheres with a radially differentiated core@shell structure as a reaction medium. The core of the SiO2 medium was modified by aminosilanes, thus providing binding sites for the metal ions and enabling pore creation through thermochemical treatment. This hindered the outward diffusion of fast-moving tiny species initially generated within the tens of nanometers-sized medium. The entire evolution process of Pd NCs during the high temperature reaction was confined within the SiO2 nanosphere, which transforms from the amine-containing nanosphere, Pd2+/SiO2(NH2), to a hollow nanosphere, Pd@h-SiO2. This nanoscale confinement strategy was app...

About Trinocladus Raineri, 1922: when some Permocalculus (Gymnocodiacean algae) reveal to be Triploporellacean algae (Revision of the Jesse Harlan Johnson Collection. Part 5)

The Upper Cretaceous-Paleogene genus Trinocladus that is based on T. tripolitanus Raineri, 1922, originally described from Libyan material, is morphologically well constrained. Its species are commonly distinguished on the basis of their biometrics. However, the narrow Gaussian distribution reported for some measurements may result from post-mortem dynamic sorting as suggested by a review of the surrounding microfacies. An examination of Brazilian material of the type-species suggests a slightly club-shaped thallus morphology. Two “false Permocalculus” species originally described by Johnson and the type-material of which has been reexamined are formally reascribed to the genus Trinocladus. T. budaensis, the smallest one, has slightly club-shaped thallus, too. T. elliotti is poorly mineralized and insufficiently documented. In addition to T. tripolitanus, Raineri described a tiny species which was later revised by Pia, i.e., Dissocladella ondulata. D. bonardii, a name recently introduced by Radoicic et al. and which is based on Raineri’s original material, is considered here as an objective junior synonym of D. ondulata.

The semi-aquatic pondweed bugs of a Cretaceous swamp.

Pondweed bugs (Hemiptera: Mesoveliidae), considered a sister group to all other Gerromorpha, are exceedingly rare as fossils. Therefore, each new discovery of a fossil mesoveliid is of high interest, giving new insight into their early evolutionary history and diversity and enabling the testing of their proposed relationships. Here, we report the discovery of new mesoveliid material from Spanish Lower Cretaceous (Albian) amber, which is the first such find in Spanish amber. To date, fossil records of this family only include one species from French Kimmeridgian as compression fossils, two species in French amber (Albian-Cenomanian boundary), and one in Dominican amber (Miocene). The discovery of two males and one female described and figured as Glaesivelia pulcherrima Sánchez-García & Solórzano Kraemer gen. et sp. n., and a single female described and figured as Iberovelia quisquilia Sánchez-García & Nel, gen. et sp. n., reveals novel combinations of traits related to some genera currently in the subfamily Mesoveliinae. Brief comments about challenges facing the study of fossil mesoveliids are provided, showing the necessity for a revision of the existing phylogenetic hypotheses. Some of the specimens were studied using infrared microscopy, a promising alternative to the systematic study of organisms preserved in amber that cannot be clearly visualised. The new taxa significantly expand the fossil record of the family and shed new light on its palaeoecology. The fossils indicate that Mesoveliidae were certainly diverse by the Cretaceous and that numerous tiny cryptic species living in humid terrestrial to marginal aquatic habitats remain to be discovered. Furthermore, the finding of several specimens as syninclusions suggests aggregative behaviour, thereby representing the earliest documented evidence of such ethology.

Early Paleocene landbird supports rapid phylogenetic and morphological diversification of crown birds after the K–Pg mass extinction

Evidence is accumulating for a rapid diversification of birds following the K-Pg extinction. Recent molecular divergence dating studies suggest that birds radiated explosively during the first few million years of the Paleocene; however, fossils from this interval remain poorly represented, hindering our understanding of morphological and ecological specialization in early neoavian birds. Here we report a small fossil bird from the Nacimiento Formation of New Mexico, constrained to 62.221-62.517 Ma. This partial skeleton represents the oldest arboreal crown group bird known. Phylogenetic analyses recovered Tsidiiyazhi abini gen. et sp. nov. as a member of the Sandcoleidae, an extinct basal clade of stem mousebirds (Coliiformes). The discovery of Tsidiiyazhi pushes the minimum divergence ages of as many as nine additional major neoavian lineages into the earliest Paleocene, compressing the duration of the proposed explosive post-K-Pg radiation of modern birds into a very narrow temporal window parallel to that suggested for placental mammals. Simultaneously, Tsidiiyazhi provides evidence for the rapid morphological (and likely ecological) diversification of crown birds. Features of the foot indicate semizygodactyly (the ability to facultatively reverse the fourth pedal digit), and the arcuate arrangement of the pedal trochleae bears a striking resemblance to the conformation in owls (Strigiformes). Inclusion of fossil taxa and branch length estimates impacts ancestral state reconstructions, revealing support for the independent evolution of semizygodactyly in Coliiformes, Leptosomiformes, and Strigiformes, none of which is closely related to extant clades exhibiting full zygodactyly.

Benthic foraminiferal evidence of deep-sea sediment transport by the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake and tsunami

Benthic foraminiferal assemblages within turbidites recovered from two upper slope stations off Sendai Bay, northeast Japan, have been analyzed to estimate the source area of the turbidites resulting from the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake and tsunami. The turbidite at one station (St. 5; 893m water depth) is composed of a surface layer that contains foraminiferal species living on the outer shelf or inner bay, and a lower part with bathyal species. In the turbidite at the second station (St. 6; 1446m), the assemblage consists of only bathyal species (living in 800–1000m). The composition of the St. 6 assemblage gradually changes from the base to the top of the turbidite, consistent with the upward-fining graded structure (i.e. thin-walled, tiny species are increased in the upper layer). The lower part of the turbidites at both sites, St. 5 and St. 6, are considered to have originated from turbidity currents triggered by earthquake shaking. In contrast, the most probable generation mechanism for the turbidity current that formed the surface layer at St. 5 is the tsunami-related agitation of sediment in shallow water. The relatively good preservation of benthic foraminiferal tests in the turbidites suggests transport processes with minimal internal friction and/or collision of grains within the turbidity current. These results show that benthic foraminifera are useful in turbidite paleoseismology.

Towards a sound definition of Skeneidae (Mollusca, Vetigastropoda): 3D interactive anatomy of the type species, Skenea serpuloides (Montagu, 1808) and comments on related taxa

The family Skeneidae, originally characterized by their minute size, lack of nacre and a rhipidoglossate radula, is an example of a polyphyletic assemblage. Most ‘skeneimorph’ species are based on the shell, sometimes the radula and rarely features of the external body. Data on internal anatomy are almost entirely lacking. In order to provide a complete anatomical data set with histological information, we applied serial semithin sectioning and 3D reconstructions to describe and visualize the anatomy of the type species of Skeneidae, Skenea serpuloides (Montagu, 1808). In addition, comparative data are provided for three other Skeneidae, Skenea profunda Friele, 1879; Dillwynella lignicola Marshall, 1988 and Dillwynella voightae Kunze, 2011 as well as for a tiny turbinid-like species, Lodderena minima (Tenison-Woods, 1887). We diagnose Skeneidae as trochoidean vetigastropods with combined epipodial sense organs (ESOs), neck lobes, eyes with a closed vesicle and the diagnostic propodial penis. Other features include simultaneous hermaphroditism with distinct testis/vas deferens and ovary/oviduct, a urogenital opening with the right kidney and a distinct seminal receptacle. Several features of Skeneidae are explained by dwarfing through progenesis, and accordingly, we interpret paedomorphosis of various characters. In contrast, L. minima has a true hermaphroditic gland, but lacks of propodial penis and a receptaculum. Also, molecular data support an exclusion of Lodderena from the Skeneidae.