A new crinoid from the Mississippian (Early Carboniferous) of South Pembrokeshire,Wales

A new species of cladid crinoid, Hylodecrinus cymrus, is described from the Pembroke Limestone Group (Mississippian, Tournaisian, Courceyan) of West Angle Bay in south Pembrokeshire, Wales. It has a medium bowl‐shaped aboral cup, with strong ridges extending across the basals and radials forming pits at the plate corners. It is most similar to the late Tournaisian H. carinatus (Hall, 1861) of North America but differs in having less strongly cuneate brachials that are longer than wide with more subtle carinae on the aboral side. This specimen represents the first report of this genus from Europe, which most probably migrated from North America. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Two cases of probable hybridisation between the pufferfishes Arothron meleagris (Anonymous 1798) and A. nigropunctatus (Bloch and Schneider 1801) on a fringing reef at Réunion Island

Two individuals displaying mixed features of the colour patterns distinctive of Arothron meleagris and A. nigropunctatus were observed on the fringing reef at Réunion Island, between September 2012 and August 2013. Because many hybrid fish have been first identified through colour patterns that are intermediate between two known species, these pufferfish individuals were suspected to be hybrids. However, since no specimen was collected for examination, a hypothesis that the observed individuals could be hybrids is based on comparison of their colouration with colour patterns documented for A. meleagris and A. nigropunctatus. Several factors favouring hybridisation are met on this reef, particularly a difference in abundance between the two putative parental species. Since larval retention and self-recruitment are considered probable at Réunion, these individuals could be the progeny of interbreeding populations of these species on this reef. To our knowledge, only one hybrid has ever been reported in the genus Arothron, although without genetic confirmation. This implies that the existence of potentially interfertile species in this genus remains a hypothesis. Our field observations provide additional data supporting this hypothesis.     

渤海西岸多管藻类的形态分类学研究

利用显微观察及生物冷冻切片技术,对采集自河北秦皇岛的多管藻类(Polysiphonia Complex)海藻样品进行形态分类学研究。经鉴定,样品中包括:多管藻属(Polysiphonia)2种:多管藻(Polysiphonia senticulosa Harvey)和丛托多管藻(Polysiphonia morrowii Harvey);新管藻属(Neosiphonia)2种:倾伏新管藻(Neosiphonia decumbens(Segi) Kim et Lee)和球果新管藻(Neosiphonia sphaerocarpa(Børgesen) Kim et Lee),其中丛托多管藻、倾伏新管藻及球果新管藻均为渤海西岸首次记录。本文对样品物种的外部形态及内部结构特征进行了详细描述,并提供了清晰的特征图片。研究结果补充了渤海湾内的藻类资源数据,为多管藻类相关研究提供了分类学参考。