scholarly journals Taxonomy of family Benthopectinidae (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) in the Mexican waters of the Gulf of Mexico

2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (Suppl.1) ◽  
pp. 118-131
Author(s):  
Magdalena De los Palos-Peña ◽  
Francisco-Alonso Solís-Marín ◽  
Alfredo Laguarda-Figueras
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Smithsonian Institution ◽  
Valid Species ◽  
National Museum ◽  
Sea Stars ◽  
Dichotomous Key ◽  
The Family ◽  
The World

Introduction: The family Benthopectinidae is composed of deep-sea sea stars distributed in eight genera and approximately 70 valid species. So far, only five species of this family have been reported for the Mexican waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Objective: To provide an updated local taxonomy of this family. Methods: A total of 566 specimens deposited in the Echinoderm National Collection, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, collected from 1952 to 2015, were taxonomically examined. Results: We present descriptions, photographs, and an illustrated dichotomous key for Benthopecten simplex simplex, Cheiraster (Barbadosaster) echinulatus, Cheiraster (Cheiraster) planus, Cheiraster (Christopheraster) blakei, and Cheiraster (Christopheraster) mirabilis in the region. Conclusions: The five studied species represent 6 % of the world biodiversity of the family and can now be identified with the illustrated key.

A review of the genus Trichogorgia (Cnidaria, Octocorallia), including descriptions of new species

Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4706 (4) ◽  
pp. 517-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
RALF T. S. CORDEIRO
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Smithsonian Institution ◽  
National Museum ◽  
Taxonomic Key ◽  
The Family ◽  
Two New Species

The genus Trichogorgia (Cnidaria: Octocorallia) is composed of mesophotic gorgonians, and has been traditionally included in the Family Chrysogorgiidae. The family is polyphyletic and in need of generic morphological reassessments. Herein, two new species of that genus are described, based on material deposited in the National Museum of Natural History—Smithsonian Institution. Additionally, we provide a taxonomic key to all species of Trichogorgia, also briefly discussing important characters of the group and closely related taxa.

Crinitostella laguardai, new genus and species of wood-dwelling deep-sea sea-star (Asteroidea: Caymanostellidae) from the Gulf of Mexico

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Carolina Martin-Cao-Romero ◽  
Francisco Alonso Solís-Marín ◽  
Guadalupe Bribiesca-Contreras
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
New Genus ◽  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Sea Star ◽  
New Genus And Species ◽  
Sea Stars ◽  
The Family ◽  
Phylogenetic Hypotheses

Abstract The Caymanostellidae is a family of rarely encountered wood-dwelling deep-sea sea-stars, with only six species, in two genera, described to date. During the COBERPES 5 expedition on board the RV ‘Justo Sierra’, off Tabasco, Gulf of Mexico in 2013, 12 specimens were recovered from a single piece of sunken wood. Herein we describe a new genus and species of caymanostellid, Crinitostella laguardai gen. nov., sp. nov. This species represents the shallowest known caymanostellid (418–427 m depth), and the first known occurrence of the Caymanostellidae from the Gulf of Mexico. The family Caymanostellidae displays affinities with several groups, such as Asterinidae and Korethrasteridae, making it difficult to infer its phylogenetic position evidenced by the myriad of contrasting phylogenetic hypotheses proposed. In an attempt to shed some light on the phylogenetic relationships of the family, sequences of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA of the new species were generated and combined with published data. As previously suggested, caymanostellids seem to be part of valvatacean polytomy rather than velatids.

Four new species of the family Lithodidae (Decapoda: Anomura) from the collections of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Zootaxa ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2302 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
SALLY HALL ◽  
SVEN THATJE
Keyword(s):  
South Carolina ◽  
New Species ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Smithsonian Institution ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
National Museum ◽  
Galapagos Archipelago ◽  
The Family ◽  
One New Species ◽  
The Bering Sea

Four new species of lithodid crab were identified in the collections of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. These include three species of the genus Paralomis: P. nivosa from the Philippines, P. makarovi from the Bering Sea, and P. alcockiana from South Carolina; and one new species of the genus Lithodes, L. galapagensis, from the Galapagos archipelago. Two of these species, P. nivosa and P. makarovi were part of a collection of previously unidentified lithodid samples from the Albatross expeditions of 1906–1908. Paralomis makarovi may have been misidentified as P. multispina Benedict, 1894, or P. histrix (De Haan, 1844) in other collections owing to superficial similarities in carapace ornamentation and overlapping distributions.

Ocotea dilcherii, a new name for Ocotea obtusifolia (Berry) LaMotte (Lauraceae)

Phytotaxa ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 239 (2) ◽  
pp. 199
Author(s):  
Sergei Vasilyevich Vikulin
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Type Specimen ◽  
Valid Species ◽  
Early Eocene ◽  
National Museum ◽  
Mississippi Embayment ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Early Oligocene ◽  
Leaf Remains ◽  
Nomen Novum

The fossil species  Oreodaphne obtusifolia Berry (1916: 301) was described, based on the fossil leaf remains of the most abundant laurel from the Early Eocene Wilcox Group sediments of Holly Springs: Marshall Co, Grenada Co., Miss.: Mississippi embayment (Southeastern North America). Nowadays, most systematists consider the extant Oreodaphne to be a member of Ocotea (Mez, 1889: 219; Rohwer, 1986; van der Werff, 2002; Chanderbali et al., 2001). LaMotte (1952) transferred Berry’s (1916: 301) combination to Ocotea, and this transfer was followed by Dilcher (1963), who reinforced attribution of Wilcox leaf megafossils to Ocotea by cuticular analysis of epidermis and stomata (Dilcher & Lott, 2005). However, according to Art. 53.1 of the ICN (McNeill et al.  2012) the name Ocotea obtusifolia (Berry) LaMotte (1952) is illegitimate because of the existence of the earlier overlooked homonym, Ocotea obtusifolia Kunth (1817: 165–166), an extant lauraceous species from Colombia (Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, holotype: http://plants.jstor.org/stable/10.5555/al.ap.specimen.P00128771). The homonymy between these fossil and extant American species of Ocotea was revealed during the description of the new fossil Early Oligocene species Ocotea rossica Vikulin from the south of the Middle-Russian upland (Vikulin, 2015: 326). Since Ocotea obtusifolia (Berry) LaMotte has been systematically recognized as a valid species in current use and it does not have any synonym, a nomen novum, O. dilcherii, is formally proposed here as a replaced name. Because a type specimen was not indicated among the validating illustrations of Berry (1916: pl. 80, fig. 1; pl. 83, fig. 2–5, and pl. 84, fig. 1 and 2), a lectotype must be designated here, from the specimens illustrated in the protologue (Berry, 1916: 301–302) amongst those perfect specimens with blunt leaf apex, which are very abundant in the clays at Puryear, Tenn. (Proposed lectotype: paleobotany collection # USNM 35867, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (USA), illustrated in Berry, 1916: 301, pl. 83, fig. 5.

scholarly journals The genus Pelophylax (Amphibia, Ranidae) in Pakistan: museum collections and possible distribution

Herpetozoa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 141-147
Author(s):  
Daniel Jablonski ◽  
Addison Wynn ◽  
Rafaqat Masroor ◽  
Theodore Papenfuss ◽  
Spartak N. Litvinchuk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
National Museum ◽  
Museum Collections ◽  
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ◽  
Field Investigations ◽  
The Family ◽  
Kabul River

We provide the first comprehensive data on the questionable distribution of the genus Pelophylax and the family Ranidae from Pakistan. Based on a literature review and two specimens of the genus from Tasp, Panjgur District in Pakistani Balochistan (USNM 26194–95), stored in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA, we discuss the possible occurrence and affiliation of these frogs in the context of Central Asia. Our comparison shows that the nearest records of Pelophylax in relation to the Tasp specimens are reported from more than 280 km (air-line) away in Iran and Afghanistan, which are currently separated by hot and mostly desert environments. We suggest that possible surviving populations of this genus may still be present in Balochistan (Rakhshan River) or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Kabul River) Provinces of Pakistan. This would, however, need further field investigations.

The Alloxysta (Hymenoptera: Figitidae: Charipinae) type material in the United States National Museum of Natural History and the Canadian National Collection of Insects

2013 ◽  
Vol 145 (6) ◽  
pp. 603-625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mar Ferrer-Suay ◽  
Jesús Selfa ◽  
Juli Pujade-Villar
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Natural History ◽  
District Of Columbia ◽  
The United States ◽  
Type Material ◽  
Valid Species ◽  
Nominal Species ◽  
National Museum ◽  
United States National Museum ◽  
Nomina Dubia

AbstractAlloxysta Förster, 1869 (Hymenoptera: Figitidae) type material of 19 nominal species deposited in the Canadian National Collection of Insects (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) and the United States National Museum of Natural History (Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America) were studied. Nine species are treated as valid: A. australiae (Ashmead, 1900), A. commensuratus Andrews, 1978, A. japonicus (Ashmead, 1904), A. lachni (Ashmead, 1885), A. longiventris Baker, 1896, A. minuscula Andrews, 1978, A. nothofagi Andrews, 1976, A. vandenboschi Andrews, 1978, and A. xanthopsis (Ashmead, 1896). The following synonymies are established: A. affinis (Baker, 1896) and A. quebeci Andrews, 1978 junior synonyms of A. castanea (Hartig, 1841); A. alaskensis Ashmead, 1902 and A. coniferensis Andrews, 1978 junior synonyms of A. macrophadna (Hartig, 1841); A. bicolor (Baker, 1896) and A. anthracina Andrews, 1978 junior synonyms of A. obscurata (Hartig, 1840); A. dicksoni Andrews, 1978 junior synonym of A. pilipennis (Hartig, 1840); and A. leguminosa (Weld, 1920), A. megourae (Ashmead, 1887), and A. rauchi Andrews, 1978 junior synonyms of A. brevis (Thomson, 1862). The type material of A. schlingeri Andrews, 1978 and A. halli Andrews, 1978 could not be found and we consider them as nomina dubia. Alloxysta vandenboschi Andrews is removed from synonymy with A. obscurata and considered a valid species. Comments on the type material are given. Complete redescriptions and images are presented for the valid species.

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