#Zootaxa

[markscherz]

🐸🚨New Frog Just Dropped!🚨🐸

Meet the ✨Most Beautiful Tree Frog✨, Guibemantis pulcherrimus, a new species described by my colleagues and me in the journal Zootaxa this week. The scientific name 'pulcherrimus' literally means 'most beautiful'. It's a close relative of Guibemantis pulcher (just 'beautiful', ha!), but has more little spots and less pronounced lateral blotches. It's found in the northeast of Madagascar, where it lives in Pandanus screw-palms.

[herpsandbirds]

Nofy Leaf Chameleon (Brookesia nofy), family Chameleonidae, Madagascar

Recently discovered, 2024.

Max. total length of up to 33 mm.

photos: Thorsten Negro, Marko VodeOs, Rakotoarison et al.

https://mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.5506.4.3

[todropscience]

NEW HAMMERHEAD SHARK JUST DROPPED

Not every day does a new shark get discovered! Meet the Shovelbill Shark (Sphyrna alleni), a newly described species of hammerhead shark named after Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul Allen. This new species is found in the coastal waters of the Caribbean and southwest Atlantic.

Hammerhead sharks are easily recognized by their laterally expanded and dorsoventrally compressed heads. Genetic studies have revealed that what was once thought to be a single bonnethead species (Sphyrna tiburo) is actually a complex, with Sphyrna alleni now recognized as a separate species. A longtime advocate for wildlife conservation, Paul Allen and his Paul G. Allen Family Foundation supported Global FinPrint, an international survey of the world’s reef sharks and rays. It was during this project that scientists conducted much of the fieldwork necessary to describe this newly recognized species. The Shovelbill Shark is smaller than the bonnethead, with distinct genetic and morphological characteristics, including a different number of vertebrae, which suggest it is separate from other hammerhead species. This new species is distributed from Belize to Southern Brazil, inhabiting estuaries, coral reefs, sandy and muddy bottom beds, seagrasses, and mangroves.

The Shovelbill Shark is a common component of artisanal fisheries in many Latin American countries and currently lacks proper management or protection. Previous reports indicate that this new species is undergoing overexploitation, making it imperative to safeguard their populations and establish fisheries regulations.

Photographs: Above is a male shovelhead shark (Sphyrna alleni), described from the Caribbean and the Southwest Atlantic. Below is Cindy Gonzalez, the lead researcher of the study, tagging the new species Sphyrna alleni (photo courtesy of the Mays Family Foundation).

Reference: Gonzales et al., 2024. Sphyrna alleni sp. nov., a new hammerhead shark (Carcharhiniformes, Sphyrnidae) from the Caribbean and the Southwest Atlantic. Zootaxa.

[typhlonectes]

GOOD NEWS:

Enduring the Earthquake: Rediscovery of the Critically Endangered Mesilau Stream Toad, Ansonia guibei Inger, 1966 (Anura, Bufonidae) and its conservation implications

EVAN S.H. QUAH, PAUL YAMBUN IMBUN, SZE HUEI YEK

Abstract

The Mesilau Stream Toad (Ansonia guibei) is a species of bufonid endemic to Sabah, Borneo, and restricted to a single mountainous location above 1600m in elevation. The species is only known from the type locality, the Mesilau watershed on Mount Kinabalu. An earthquake in 2015 resulted in massive landslides, causing extensive damage to the species’ habitat at Mesilau. This event was expected to have caused significant population declines of at least 80% or even the potential extinction of the species. A survey in 2017 at Mesilau failed to locate any individuals, which resulted in it being listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN. Surveys in late 2023 to reassess the status of the species and its habitat resulted in the rediscovery of a single subadult specimen of A. guibei. Tadpoles of the species were recorded in the main Mesilau River and one additional tributary, which indicates the species survives and is breeding. Studies are ongoing to collect more ecological data on the species and determine its current distribution. The data gathered will be used to construct a robust conservation plan for the species. Nevertheless, these preliminary observations bode well for the future of the species as it demonstrates that it is resilient and capable of recovering from the damages caused by the earthquake.

Read the paper here:

Enduring the Earthquake: Rediscovery of the Critically Endangered Mesilau Stream Toad, Ansonia guibei Inger, 1966 (Anura, Bufonidae) and its conservation implications | Zootaxa (mapress.com)

[mindblowingscience]

An international team of marine biologists including Oliver Shipley, Ph.D., of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) at Stony Brook University, have discovered a unique isopod, a form of crustacean, that has been formally identified as a new species of the genus Booralana from the deep waters of The Bahamas. The finding, detailed in a paper published in the journal Zootaxa, is another example that discovery of life in the oceans is far from complete. By uncovering the creature's role in deep-sea ecosystems, scientists may be able to understand ocean biodiversity better.

Continue Reading.

[feelingautistic]

A new species of hammerhead shark related to the bonnethead shark has been discovered!

Sphyrna alleni (also known by its common name 'shovelbill shark') has been confirmed to live in the Caribbean and Southwestern Atlantic.

(The image above is taken from the published paper on this discovery: Gonzales, C. et al. (2024), 'Sphyrna alleni sp. nov., a new hammerhead shark (Carcharhiniformes, Sphyrnidae) from the Caribbean and the Southwest Atlantic.' Zootaxa, 5512(4), 491-511. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5512.4.2)

[manessha545]

The Ghost Cave, Venezuela: Cueva de El Fantasma is a giant cave in southern Venezuela, located in one of the most biologically rich, geologically ancient parts of the world, along the slopes of Aprada-tepui. Large enough for two helicopters to land in the cave, the report from Zootaxa is said to be the first photographic evidence of such an immense cave. However, experts note, it is not technically a cave, but rather a collapsed, steep gorge. Wikipedia

[humanbyweight]

Okay so one of the leading Neotropical cicada experts just published a new key to cicadas in the Lesser Antilles which makes several pages of my book IMMEDIATELY dated. 🤣

We both also independently committed a few of the exact same taxonomic changes, which makes me feel good about myself. 🤣

I'm really glad I included a "date manuscript submitted to printer" in the foreword so the overlapping information from the staggered publication dates doesn't confuse anyone working in the field. It's just awesome to be living in a golden age of cicada science!

His paper is great btw. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5497.1.2

[chickenorthedickhead]

Researchers have discovered a new species of rove beetle that grows a termite puppet on its back to fool real termites into feeding it. The replica is so precise, it even mirrors the termites’ distinct body segments and has three pairs of pseudo-appendages that resemble antennae and legs.

The new beetle species (Austrospirachtha carrijoi)—found beneath the soil in Australia’s Northern Territory—emulates a termite by enlarging its abdomen, a phenomenon known as physogastry. Evolution has reshaped this body part into a highly realistic replica of a termite (as seen above), head and all, which rides on top of the rest of the beetle’s body. The beetle’s real, much smaller head peeks out from beneath its termite disguise, the authors report this month in the journal Zootaxa. The termite “puppet” may help the beetle evade detection—though termites are blind, they sense one another through touch.

Because A. carrijoi’s mouth parts are tiny, the authors think it begs food from its hosts rather than eating eggs or larvae. Worker termites feed other castes digested food in a process called trophallaxis. This adaptation has obvious advantages to the beetle. Once it is inside the nest, it can relax and spend the rest of its life living off of termite room service.

Words by Richard Pallady

[rattyexplores]

Young Saunder's Case Moth

Metura elongatus

More information on Metura: E, Beaver 2020, 'Revision of the genus Metura (Lepidoptera: Psychidae) with description of two new species', Zootaxa, vol. 4861, no. 2, pp. 188-210.

22/03/23 - NSW

[herpsandbirds]

my life has only known joy since i learned of elysia chlorotica

E X Q U I S I T E

Eastern Emerald Elysia (Elysia chlorotica), family Plakobranchidae, found along the East Coast of the United States

This creature engages in kleptoplasty, taking the chloroplasts from the algae that it eats, and using the chloroplasts for the waste products they create though photosynthesis. Its kind of a... solar powered sea slug!

These sea slugs are not nudibranch, but are in a different order of gastropods.

image via: Views of Elysia chlorotica from Martha’s Vineyard. Figure 15 of Krug et al., 2016, Zootaxa 4148:1

image via: Karen N. Pelletreau et al.   http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0097477

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Beetle specimen spared in fire at Brazilian National Museum turns out to be new species

Senckenberg researcher Dr. Marianna Simões, together with her colleague Dr. Lukáš Sekerka of the National Museum in Prague, discovered a new species from the tortoise-beetle genus. The insect, newly described as Dorynota phoenix in the journal Zootaxa, comes from the collections of the Brazilian National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, which were almost completely destroyed by an out-of-control fire in 2018.

Large parts of the 200-year-old National Museum and its archives in Rio de Janeiro were destroyed by a major fire on September 2, 2018. "The Brazilian collections of the National Museum held more than 20 million objects of inestimable value. They included the oldest collection of ancient Egyptian exhibits in the Americas, the largest meteorite discovered in Brazil, and Brazil's first complete dinosaur fossil.

"The inventory also included one of the largest reference collections of insect diversity in South America—with an extensive beetle collection of more than two million specimens representing a wide range of species," explains Dr. Marianna Simões from the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt. "Except for a few pieces on loan that were not present in Rio de Janeiro at the time of the fire, these collections were irretrievably lost."

Continue reading.

[news-wtf]

‘Ghost’-like creature with ‘ample’ genitalia found at power plant. It’s a new species

Scientists searched through archive collections for preserved animals from South America. They were looking for “ghost”-like creatures — and they found several.

The researchers were studying Otoniela spiders, also known as ghost spiders, according to a study published Dec. 8 in the journal Zootaxa. For years, there were only two known species of ghost spiders.

Ghost spiders earned their name because they are “very fast” and “difficult to see” in the wild, the study’s lead author Luiz Fernando Oliveira told McClatchy News via email.

In the archives, researchers found 20 similar-looking ghost spiders, the study said. Taking a closer look at the animals, the scientists realized they’d discovered a new species: Otoniela lupercioi, or Lupercioi’s ghost spider.

[typhlonectes]

A new species in the Cyrtodactylus intermedius (Squamata: Gekkonidae) group from an isolated limestone karst formation in southwestern Cambodia

SOPHEA CHHIN+ THY NEANG+ SOMALY CHAN+ KIMSRENG KONG+ RATANAK OU+ VISATHA IN+ VIREAK SAMORN+ RATHA SOR+ VANNY LOU+ SOPHA SIN+ MENG CHHIM+ BRYAN L. STUART+ L. LEE GRISMER+

Abstract

The gekkonid lizard Cyrtodactylus intermedius was formerly considered to be a single widespread species in hilly areas across eastern Thailand through southern Vietnam but has recently been partitioned into a complex of 12 nominal species across its range. A population belonging to the C. intermedius group was recently found in an isolated limestone karst block in Kampot Province in southwestern Cambodia, part of which lies within the recently designated Phnom Preah Kuhear Loung Natural Heritage Site. Comparisons of morphometric, meristic, qualitative morphological and color pattern data, as well as a molecular analysis using the mitochondrial ND2 gene, revealed that this population differs from all other named members of the C. intermedius group, and so is described here as a new species. The karst-dwelling C. regicavernicolus sp. nov. was recovered as the sister species to C. laangensis, the most geographically proximate member of the complex and one that is also restricted to a small limestone karst habitat.

Read the paper:

A new species in the Cyrtodactylus intermedius (Squamata: Gekkonidae) group from an isolated limestone karst formation in southwestern Cambodia | Zootaxa (mapress.com)

[mindblowingscience]

A new species of Antarctic dragonfish, Akarotaxis gouldae or Banded Dragonfish, has been discovered in waters off the western Antarctic Peninsula by researchers at William & Mary's Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS). The species, named in honor of the recently decommissioned Antarctic research and supply vessel (ARSV) Laurence M. Gould and its crew, exemplifies both the unknown biodiversity and fragile state of the Antarctic ecosystem. Described in the journal Zootaxa, Akarotaxis gouldae was initially identified through genetic analysis. Larval specimens collected off the coast of Antarctica while trawling for zooplankton were originally thought to be Akarotaxis nudiceps, a closely related dragonfish. However, after comparing their DNA to Akarotaxis nudiceps specimens housed in collections at VIMS, Yale University and the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris, France, significant variations in mitochondrial gene regions suggested the larval samples were a species unto themselves.

Continue Reading.

[snakemanaustralia]

Taxonomic vandalism - James Farquhar

Jules Farquhar and the Adam Britton cohort are faking scientific discoveries again.

Today they have SPAMMED the media and the web with false claims of the discovery of a new species of lizard from central Australia, that they have called Liopholis aputja. Problem is that it was already named Liopholis faaark by a proper scientist, Snake Man Raymond Hoser a year ago!

The fake scientists have merely copied the pioneering work of the snake man and then falsely claimed it as their own.

This dishonest practice of renaming species already named is called Taxonomic vandalism.

Download the original Hoser paper from Feb 2024 at: Hoser, R. T. 2024. Hiding in plain sight: Yet ten more new species and five new subspecies of skink lizard from mainly southern Australia (Scincidae: Liopholis and Flamoscincus). Australasian Journal of Herpetology 67:44-64. Published 12 February 2024. LSIDURN:LSID:ZOOBANK.ORG:PUB:37F01C42-C0A4-4CBF-9883-57E1ECDC22D8

Full text at: https://www.smuggled.com/AJH-67-pages-44-64.pdf

The more recent so-called “paper” was published in the notorious online only, not peer reviewed “journal” called Zootoxic.

It is was uploaded to the web this week (Nov 2024) and titled: “A new species of rock skink (Scincidae: Liopholis) from the central ranges bioregion of arid Australia. Zootaxa 5536(1) 153-177“

You cannot read this bootlegged data because the authors have stashed it behind a paywall in breach of the relevant rules of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.

Renaming an established species in an act of taxonomic vandalism is also a breach of the Australian Copyright Act under the moral rights sections.

From Hoser 2024.

LIOPHOLIS FAAAAAARK SP. NOV.

LSIDurn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:4B15ED4F-FF8D-48E8-86CF 49618271EFD0

Holotype: A preserved specimen at the South Australian Museum, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, specimen number R51590 collected from 36.5 km south east of Amata, South Australia, Australia, Latitude -26.2558 S., Longitude 131.4933 E. This government-owned facility allows access to its holdings.

Paratypes: 1/ A preserved specimen at the Australian Museum, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, specimen number R.17456 collected from the Erliwunyawunya Rockhole, Musgrave Ranges, South Australia, Australia, Latitude -26.35833 S., Longitude 131.72499 E. 2/ A preserved specimen at the South Australian Museum, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, specimen number R60802 collected from approximately 10km north of Ernabella (now called Pukatja), South Australia, Australia, Latitude -26.1917 S., Longitude 132.1458 E. 3/ A preserved specimen at the Australian Museum, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, specimen number R.17271 collected from the Piltadi Rockhole in South Australia, Australia, Latitude -26.116 S., Longitude 130.283 E.

Diagnosis: Since Glen Storr’s original description of “Egernia margaretae” in 1968, the South Australian population of Liopholis margaretae (Storr, 1968) as it is now known, type locality: Palm Valley, Northern Territory (NT), Australia, Latitude 24.03 S., Longitude 132.42 E. has been treated by all Australian herpetologists until now as the same species. However the concept of the South Australian population being of the same species is biogeographically untenable. Therefore it is formally described herein as Liopholis faaaaaark sp. nov.. L. faaaaark sp. nov. is readily separated from L. margaretae by the very narrow separation of nasals (versus wide), wider interparietal (more-or-less as wide as the frontal), versus not so in L. margaretae, fewer supraciliaries (6) versus 7-9 (usually 8) in L. margaretae, usually more upper palpebrals (11 to 13) versus 10-12 in L. margaretae, and on average fewer rows of midbody scales (32 to 36), versus 34-38 in L. margaretae. The relatively long limbs are about 31 and 42 percent of SVL (versus 22-28% and 31-38% in L. margaretae). Colouration of both L. margaretae and L. faaaaark sp. nov. is olive brown dorsally with reddish-brown anteriorly and paler on the tail. In L. margaretae there is black spotting on the back and tail that is irregularly distributed, but tending towards longitudinal alignment. Small black spots are scattered on the top and side of the head. Sutures of chin shields are irregularly margined with black. There are dark brownish grey spots or short wavy lines on the throat. In about a third of specimens black markings are almost or completely lacking. L. faaaaark sp. nov. generally lacks patterning on the dorsum in adults. Sometimes there are faded black spots, these being the remnants of a laterodorsal stripe that is better defined in juveniles. Both preceding species have a narrow to moderately-wide ear aperture, 3-5 lobules, usually obtuse, sometimes rectangular, rarely acute. Snout-vent length averages about 95 mm in adults and a snout that is no more depressed than the rest of the head (versus strongly depressed and concave in plan in the closely related species M. personata (Storr, 1968), the latter being found in more southern parts of South Australia, generally in or around the Flinders Ranges district. The three preceding species are separated from all others in the genus Liopholis Fitzinger, 1843 by the presence of smooth dorsal scales, the presence of conspicuous black callus along the free edge of the subdigital lamellae and the scales of the soles and palms each with a prominent black tubercle. L. faaaaark sp. nov. from hilly country in far north South Australia, is separated from the Northern Territory population of L. margaretae with a distribution centred on the central ranges of central Australia by the Amadeus Lowlands, a well-known biogeographical barrier. A molecular phylogeny of Oliver et al. (2007) at fig. 3. found that centralian populations of geckos in the genus Diplodactylus subgenus Yankunytjatjaragecko Hoser, 2023, namely D. (Yankunytjatjaragecko) galeatus Kluge, 1963 from the Coober Pedy area of South Australia, D. (Yankunytjatjaragecko) aah Hoser, 2023 from the Macdonell Ranges of central Australia and D. (Yankunytjatjaragecko) ooh Hoser, 2023 from the Bagot and Beddoma Ranges in northern South Australia, diverged from one another between 5 and 10 MYA. A similar divergence between L. faaaaark sp. nov. and L. margaretae can therefore also be reasonably expected.

This is more than sufficient divergence for species-level recognition. L. faaaaark sp. nov. is depicted in life in Cogger (2014) on page 639 bottom left. L. margaretae in life is depicted in Wilson and Swan (2021) on page 397, second image from top and Brown (2014) on page 513, second from top on right. Distribution: L. faaaaark sp. nov. is confined the hilly region in the north-west of South Australia, just south of the NT/SA border. It is separated from the Centralian population of the closely related species L. margaretae by the Amadeus Lowlands, a well-known biogeographical barrier.

Conservation: While this taxon is relatively range restricted by virtue of relevant biogeographical barriers, the remoteness of the region in terms of human activity offers the species significant protection. Long-term habitat destruction by feral or native animals is perhaps the biggest potential issue facing this taxon in the foreseeable future and to that extent populations of this and other species and subspecies restricted to this region, such as the recently described range restricted gecko Diplodactylus (Yankunytjatjaragecko) ooh Hoser, 2023 should have their populations monitored at regular intervals.

Etymology: In 1983, when searching for the newly named species in far north-west South Australia, I recruited the assistance of some native Pitjantjatjara children who said they knew where and how to find them. When a child saw a lizard scuttle under a boulder he yelled out “FAAAAAARK”, giving this species it’s scientific name.