ALBERT

Notes: Summary Carrion Crow and Hooded Crow are regarded as subspecies of the Crow. They show frequent hybridisation along the adjacent borders of their distribution. Mixed pairs produce fertile offspring which are able to breed successfully with both hybrids and mates of either phenotype. However, hybridisation does not lead to phenotypic changes of Carrion and Hooded Crows in general nor in their distinct distribution. We studied the mating behaviour of Crows in the hybrid zone on the Island of Amrum (Schleswig-Holstein, Germany) and found evidence that Crows may prefer mates of the same phenotype. Our data confirm previous studies which reported assortative mating with respect to plumage coloration from hybrid zones in Italy and Siberia. We discuss why this behaviour should be related tofitness traits which in our opinion have not yet been studied adequately nor identified.

Notes: Abstract This paper shows how evolutionary algorithms can be described in a concise, yet comprehensive and accurate way. A classification scheme is introduced and presented in a tabular form called TEA (Table of Evolutionary Algorithms). It distinguishes between different classes of evolutionary algorithms (e.g., genetic algorithms, ant systems) by enumerating the fundamental ingredients of each of these algorithms. At the end, possible uses of the TEA are illustrated on classical evolutionary algorithms.

Notes: Abstract The G+C contents of 25 strains of Dipodascus capitatus, Dipodascus spicifer and Geotrichum clavatum were found to be heterogeneous on basis of derivative graphs of the melting profiles. Strains showing similar derivative graphs of the melting curve exhibited high levels of DNA homology (80-100%); strains showing dissimilar derivative graphs exhibited low levels of DNA homology (5 to 45%). Being considered separate taxa on basis of these parameters, D. capitatus, D. spicifer and G. clavatum could be identified by a combination of the key characteristics growth on xylose, cellobiose, salicin and arbutin.

Notes: Abstract Sequence variation in the ITS1 locus of the nuclear ribosomal DNA in beets has previously been used to reconstruct phylogeny of the species in the genus Beta. We have developed protocols that allow the identification of Beta taxa by use of taxon-specific primers. Beta sections, species and subspecies can be identified. Differences within the ITS1 region of a single base can be exploited for species identification. The results from this study not only provide effective methods for wild beet identification, but also indicate the potential use of the techniques in other crops.

Notes: Abstract It is estimated that only 10–15% of the world's insect fauna has been described and named. Efforts to inventory insect biodiversity are hampered by this taxonomic impediment, which is compounded by the logistical problems of an insufficient taxonomic workforce and their remote location in museums thousands of miles from the areas of highest biodiversity. Compared to most other invertebrate groups however, the taxonomic impediment is relatively benign in the order Orthoptera. This is a small to medium-sized order (approximately 20 000 described species) which is well known taxonomically, owing to the group's agricultural importance worldwide. Furthermore, orthopteran taxonomists are now fortunate to have a published up-to-date catalogue of all known species, which has just become accessible as a regularly updated database on the World Wide Web. Whilst new information technology, in the form of e-mail networks, World Wide Web sites and CD-ROM information archives, is already enhancing communication between specialists and helping to reduce the logistical problems of documenting orthopteran biodiversity, a major reinvestment in basic taxonomic research is needed if we are to reduce the existing taxonomic impediment significantly. There is general agreement that an internationally coordinated approach will be necessary and priorities must be set to tackle the biodiversity/systematics crisis. In the future, the Orthoptera can make an important contribution to invertebrate faunal surveys and have potential as an indicator taxon. Furthermore, the Orthoptera Species File establishes a taxonomic framework which could be readily enlarged to include geographic data and phenology of species from existing museum specimens.

Notes: Abstract The reputations of scientists among their contemporaries depend not only on accomplishment, but also on interactions affected by influence and personality. The historical lore of most fields of scientific endeavor preserve these reputations, often through the identification of founders, innovators, and prolific workers whose contributions are considered fundamental to progress in the field. Historians frequently rely on the historical lore of scientists to guide their studies of the development of ideas, exhibiting justifiable caution in reassessing reputations in the light of current knowledge. However, the transmission of historical lore can obscure the relative importance of accomplishment, influence and personality in shaping contemporary reputations, leaving the historian to either accept reputations at face value or attempt to reconstruct the context in which they were created. The science of taxonomy, because of its rules of priority, leaves a relatively accurate record of historical accomplishment through the persistence of taxa in catalogues and faunal guides. These records allow the modern historian an unbiased means to assess the relative accomplishments of historical figures and therefore a means to critically reassess reputations independent of personality and influence. In the historical lore of North American ichthyology, Louis Agassiz at Harvard and Spencer Baird at the Smithsonian emerge as central figures in the early development of the field during the mid-1800s, contributing not only through the quality and quantity of their science, but also through their roles as institutional leaders and mentors to workers who followed. Charles Girard, originally a student of Agassiz's and later a coworker with Baird, receives little notice in the history of ichthyology, and his reputation is that of a minor player in the initial description of the North American fish fauna, and one whose work appears to have been flawed or even careless when compared to his contemporaries. However, a review of both contemporary and modern taxonomic works reveals that Girard's productivity far exceeded that of either Agassiz or Baird. Furthermore, an examination of the tendency of Girard and his contemporaries to introduce synonymous names into the literature, which might reflect careless or uncritical work, suggests that Girard was among the more accomplished workers of hisera, including Agassiz and Baird. Girard's low ranking in the folklore of North American ichthyology, therefore, can not be attributed to discernible shortcomings in his scientific work, but rather to a public and private campaign of criticism waged by Agassiz after Girard's departure from Harvard. While Agassiz's dispute with Girard stemmed from their personal interactions, he expressed them as criticisms of Girard's work, and thus helped shape Girard's scientific reputation as it has been transmitted through the lore of ichthyology. This case study reveals how scientific reputation may not always rest on accomplishment, but can be influenced by personal interactions obscured by time but nonetheless important to history.

Notes: Abstract We compared contamination levels in fish from contaminated and uncontaminated floodplain swamps of the lower Mississippi River to assess differences in contamination risks between swamps, across different taxonomic and ecological groupings of fishes within and between swamps, and with seasonality in river stage. Fish tissue levels of inorganic contaminants were substantially lower than environmental levels in both swamps, suggesting either that fish were not uptaking these contaminants, or they were effectively eliminating the contaminants from their bodies. Tissue levels of organic contaminants were high relative to environmental levels, suggesting that these contaminants were bioaccumulating. Organic contaminants were significantly higher in fish from the contaminated swamp (Devil's Swamp) than in fish from a reference swamp up river (Tunica Swamp). Because the organic contaminants were largely confined to sediments, we expected bottom-oriented fishes to have higher concentrations than pelagic fishes. Assuming that uptake was primarily through the food chain, we expected top predators to exhibit higher concentrations than low-level consumers. We also expected year- round swamp residents to exhibit higher accumulations than more transitory users of backswamp habitat. However, organic contaminant levels did not differ in the directions expected for any of these groupings. We did observe differences in organic contaminant levels within and between swamps for different taxonomic groupings of fishes (species and genera). Some taxa occupying low to middle positions in the food web (e.g., gizzard shad, Lepomis spp.) exhibited higher concentrations than taxa near the top of the food web. Within Devil's Swamp, organic contaminant levels were significantly higher at low river stage, when fish were confined to the swamp, than at high river stage, when fish were free to move between the river and the swamp. We caught more species and more fish per unit effort in Devil's Swamp than in Tunica Swamp, contrary to expectations if contaminants in the former were negatively impacting population and community structure. Species richness differences between swamps were a consequence of catch differences, with higher catch corresponding to inclusion of more rare species. The lower catch in Tunica Swamp may have resulted from physical modifications of its waterways to support agriculture and hunting. The results of this study underscore the importance in factoring information on the taxonomy and ecology of organisms, and seasonal changes in environmental conditions, into assessments of contamination risks.

Notes: Abstract Tretopileus sphaerophorus, a synnematous hyphomycete with basidiomycetous affinities was newly isolated from the decaying petiole and peduncle ofCocos nucifera collected in Depok, Indonesia. The species produced first a bulbil as a propagule on the top of a synnema. After the bulbil had fallen, the synnema proliferated about seven times to produce new bulbils, each time making conspicuous nodes at the upper part. By careful morphological observation, clamp connections were confirmed on the hyphae in the specimens and culture. In culture, each hyphal cell with or without a clamp was found to be dikaryotic by DAPI nuclear staining. Germination of the bulbils occurred first from projecting hyphal tips on their upper surface, which have been treated as germ pores. The inner structure of the bulbils, the hyaline mucus of the bulbils, and conidium-like hyphal fragments were also examined. Phylogenetically,T. sphaerophorus was inferred to be related to the Aphyllophorales based on the nuclear encoded small subunit (18S) rDNA using the homology search system (FASTA) and the neighbour-joining method.

Notes: Abstract The order Phyllachorales contains ascomycetous fungi of considerable economic importance. The group is represented mostly by foliar parasites which produce perithecia under a clypeus, inside a stroma, or do not produce any stromatic tissue. A major taxonomic problem with this order is the lack of reliable morphological characters that clearly delimit the entire group. The main purpose of this review is to provide a clear picture of the taxonomic relationships of the order Phyllachorales, along with a key to the most important genera in the family Phyllachoraceae.

Notes: Abstract Two lignicolous species ofMycena (Agaricales, Basidiomycetes) are described and illustrated from eastern, Japan:Mycena auricoma sp. nov., forming ephemeral coprinoid basidiomata and belonging to sectionRadiatae, was found on a dead fallen twig ofQuercus serrata. It appears to close to a Malaysian species,“Trogia” crinipelliformis. Mycena spinosissima in sectionSacchariferae, new to Japan, was collected from dead bark ofAphananthe aspera, a dead fallen inflorescence ofCryptomeria japonica, and a dead fallen twig ofQuercus serrata.

Notes: Abstract Macrocyst formation in the sexual cycle was found in three dictyostelid species:Dictyostelium monochasioides, Polysphondylium candidum, andP. pseudo-candidum. Mating tests suggested thatD. monochasioides andP. pseudocandidum were heterothallic andP. candidum was homothallic. The primary walls of macrocysts had partially or fully degenerated, while the inner walls, believed to be tertiary walls, showed an undulate structure.

Notes: Abstract Three new species ofMycogloea are described and illustrated; they are:M. amethystina from Canada,M. nipponica, from Japan, andM. bullata from Thailand.Mycogloea tahitiensis is reported from Japan and additional undescribed taxa in the genus are briefly noted. Some characteristics of the genus are discussed, and a key is provided for six species recognized at this time.

Notes: Abstract Cryptophiale sphaerospora sp. nov. is described and illustrated based on a single collection attached to a synnematous fungus,Janetia synnematosa, from a dead bamboo culm. It differs from other species ofCryptophiala in having spherical to subspherical conidia and a cerebroid layer of phialides. The overall morohology of this species is smaller than that of previously described species.

Notes: Abstract The chloroplasttrnL intron from 46 differentVicia accessions, representing five of the nine sections of the genusVicia subg.Vicia sensuMaxted (1991a) were amplified by the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) using oligonucleotide primers homologous to conserved regions intrnL. The products fell into two distinct groups; those of approximately 250 nt and those of around 450 nt in length. Of these, products from 17 differentVicia species were cloned and their nucleotide sequences determined. Multiple alignments were assembled and phylogenetic trees constructed by the weighted least-squares distance method. ALathyrus latifolius trnL intron sequence was used as an outgroup. The resulting trees clearly group and separate the sectt.Narbonensis, Bithynica andFaba species but were less able to distinguish species from sectt.Hypechusa andPeregrinae. Based on these sequence data,V. faba appears to be more distant from sect.Narbonensis than sectt.Hypechusa andPeregrinae. The results are in general agreement with a recent treatment ofVicia subg.Vicia (Maxted 1993) and lend further support to placingV. faba in the monospecific sect.Faba.

Notes: Abstract Electrophoretic analysis of five enzyme systems, LAP, PGI, SKDH, SOD and 6-PGDH, among 102Vicia accessions representingV. bithynica and seven species of theV. narbonensis complex, namelyV. eristalioides, V. kalakhensis, V. johannis, V. galilaea, V. serratifolia, V. narbonensis andV. hyaeniscyamus, has been performed. The recorded variation was tentatively assigned to 41 allelic genes at eight loci; intraspecific variation was observed in all species except forV. eristalioides. The results obtained were compared with the corresponding data reported earlier forV. faba. Hierarchical grouping of the investigated taxa, includingV. faba, was based onNei's genetic identities calculated from the allozyme frequency data.Vicia faba andV. bithynica were shown to be most distantly related to one another and to the remaining species investigated.Vicia serratifolia appeared to be a peripheral member of theV. narbonensis complex. The results are discussed with reference to genetic diversity and taxonomic relationships of the species under study.

Notes: Abstract In contrast to animals, the slowly evolving mitochondrial nucleotide sequences of plants appear well suited to investigate phylogenetic relations between old taxonomic groups. Analysis ofnad5 gene sequences in 47 bryophytes, the living representatives of very early land plants, confirm this assessment. Statistically reliable phylogenetic trees are obtained with different mathematical approaches. A group I intron sequence conserved in thenad5 gene of all 30 mosses and 15 liverworts investigated supports a sister group relationship of the two classes. The intron sequence adds phylogenetic information for fine resolution on top of the conserved exon sequences down to the level of classically defined orders or families, respectively. This intron is not present in the hornwortsAnthoceros husnotii andA. punctatus. The results allow statements on diverging taxonomic interpretations and support the monophyly of the liverworts, mosses, Jungermanniidae, Marchantiidae and Bryidae, and allow recognition of subclasses like Hypnanae and Dicrananae. Among the mosses, the derived orders (subclass Bryidae) are confidently set apart from the Sphagnales, Andreaeales, Polytrichales and Tetraphidales with Buxbaumiales occupying a mediating position. Among the liverworts, full support is found for the classic separation of simple (jungermanniid) and complex thalloid (marchantiid) species with a strikingly low mitochondrial sequence divergence among the latter.

Notes: Abstract Since 1992, as part of a study to circumscribe the genus Porphyra in New Zealand, an extensive culture programme has been developed at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. This collection currently houses more than 800 cultures and 150strains. We currently recognise at least 20 species in New Zealand, most of which are undescribed. Close observation of reproduction and the development of conchocelis-phase filaments grown in the laboratory, under controlled conditions of temperature, irradiance and photoperiod, has enabled the recognition of characters that can assist in species separation. The comparative taxonomic value of a range of such characters is discussed, including reporting a novel reproductive mode.

Notes: Abstract Although Porphyra is commercially farmed in many countries, in South Africa only small harvests of wild populations for sale as nori have been carried out. The discovery that Porphyra improves growth of South African abalone (Haliotis midae) farmed inland-based tanks has led to increased pressure to harvest wild populations. This paper reports on a survey of the distribution and seasonality of Porphyra in the southern Western Cape. Porphyrawas present at all sites surveyed, and showed considerable temporal variation. A significant amount of the Porphyra present is in reserves and therefore protected from harvesting. Close rexamination of one site revealed seasonal populations of Porphyra that occupied different niches dependent on season. Recruitment peaked in spring and autumn, leading to dense summer and winter populations. Summer populations generally grew lower in the eulittoral than winter populations. No pattern in the mortality of larger thalli wasde tected, though sporeling mortality was high following recruitment peaks. Although it seems that most sites in the southern Western Cape are suitable for harvesting, the taxonomy of the genus in the region urgently needs revision if populations are to be appropriately managed.

Notes: Abstract The genus Dunaliella comprises 28 species defined primarily by morphological and physiological criteria, which vary considerably depending on growth conditions. Concomitantly, the taxonomic status of various species is uncertain. To confirm the taxonomic identity and to better understand the relationship within Dunaliella, seven taxa ( D. salina, D. bardawil, D. tertiolecta, D. parva, D. viridis, D. lateralis, D. peircei) were compared using RFLP analysis of the nuclear rDNA repeats, specifically the internal transcribed spacer regions, including the 5.8S rRNA gene. Volvox aureus was used as an outgroup. A single ITS PCR amplification product was obtained for each taxon. An ITS fragment of ca. 640 bp was present in all the taxa within the subgenus Dunaliella, except for D. salina CCMP 1303 (ca. 540 bp) and D. lateralis (subgenus Pascheria) (ca. 600 bp). A cluster analysis based on the presence or absence of bands generated by digestion of the PCR product with 8 restriction endonucleases (DpnI, HhaI, EcoRI, PvuII, TaqI, HaeIII, MspI, StyI) revealed no correlation between the genetic relationship inferred from the ITS-RFLP data and the morpho-physiological attributes used for taxonomy. In addition, differences in morphology, physiology and in the length and restriction fragment patterns of the ITS region of D. salina CCMP 1303 suggest that this strain does not belong to Dunaliella.

Notes: Abstract Cortinarius prunicola sp. nov., found in orchards and plantations ofPrunus mume, is described and illustrated. It is characterized by its dry and violet-white carpophores, unpleasant odor, and its close association withP. mume in spring and early summer. The differences betweenC. prunicola and similar species are briefly discussed.

Notes: Abstract The generic concepts inAniptodera, Halosarpheia, Nais andPhaeonectriella are discussed and those species occurring in freshwater are described, some with illustrations. Five new species:Aniptodera lignicola, A. mauritaniensis, A. megalospora, A. palmicola, Phaeonectriella appendiculata are also described. A key to the freshwater species in the above genera and a synoptic diagram of their ascospores are provided.

Notes: Abstract A new speciesDactylospora mangrovei is described and illustrated and compared withD. haliotrepha andD. canariensis, all marine inhabiting species.Dactylospora haliotrepha andD. mangrovei are tropical/sub-tropical mangrove species collected in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand, whileD. canariensis was described from temperate waters. A map of the geographical distribution of the three marineDactylospora species is presented.

Notes: Abstract A new species ofArecophila and a species previously known asAmphisphaeria coronata are described and illustrated from dead culms of bamboo.Arecophila bambusae sp. nov. is distinct in the genus in having ellipsoidal ascospores with slightly round ends, and asci with a narrow subapical ring.Arecophila coronata comb. nov. has asci with a wedgeshaped apical ring and weakly striated ascospores enclosed in wide mucilaginous sheath.

Notes: Abstract Segregating Pterocladiella from Pterocladia stimulated new taxonomic studies of the species originally assigned to Pterocladia. A total of 28 species are ascribed to the genus, one of them with doubts. Thirteen of the 27 names are synonyms. Three of the remaining 14 species belong with Gelidium, including G. americanum, G. mcnabbianum (Dawson) comb. nov. and G. musciformis. Seven other species belong with Pterocladiella, including P. bartlettii (Taylor) comb. nov., P. bulbosa, P. caerulescens, P. caespitosa (Kylin) comb. nov., P. caloglossoides (Howe) comb. nov., P. capillacea and P. melanoidea. Two species are retained in Pterocladia, the type P. lucida and P. rectangularis. Two others, P. heteroplatos and P. media are placed in incertae sedis as additional studies of fertile materials are needed to determine their generic status. The genus Pterocladia now appears to include two large-sized species restricted to Australia-New Zealand. Pterocladiella has 8 small-sized species (including P. minima), mainly inhabiting tropical and subtropical waters. Future research documenting sexual reproduction in Gelidiella and solving the presently recognized heterogeneity in Gelidium will help to trace the relationships between Pterocladiella and these two genera.

Notes: Abstract Strains of Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri were isolated from Mexican lime (Citrus aurantifolia) trees in several countries in southwest Asia. These strains produced typical erumpent bacterial canker lesions on Mexican lime but not on grapefruit (C. paradisi). Lesions on grapefruit were watersoaked and blister-like in contrast to the typical erumpent lesions seen after artificial inoculation with all described pathotypes of X. axonopodis pv. citri. This group of strains hydrolysed gelatin and casein and grew in the presence of 3% NaCl as is typical of X. axonopodis pv. citri pathotype A. RFLP analyses and DNA probe hybridization assays also gave results consistent with X. axonopodis pv. citri pathotype A. Metabolic fingerprints prepared with the Biolog® system showed similarities as well as differences to X. axonopodis pv. citri pathotype A. In spite of the physiological and genetic similarities to pathotype A of X. axonopodis pv. citri, these strains had no or very little affinity for polyclonal antiserum prepared against any of the reference strains of X. axonopodis pv. citri and also did not react with monoclonal antibody A1, an antibody that detects all strains of pathotype A of X. axonopodis pv. citri. These strains were also insensitive to bacteriophage Cp3 like X. axonopodis pv. citri pathotype A and unlike X. axonopodis pv. citri pathotype B. We conclude that these strains, designated Xcc-A*, represent a variant of X. axonopodis pv. citri pathotype-A with pathogenicity limited to C. aurantifolia. The existence of extensive genotypic and phenotypic variation within pathotype A of X. axonopodis pv. citri was unexpected and further complicates the systematics of this species.

Notes: Abstract A taxonomic revision of the Euglenophyta found exclusively in South America is presented. The taxonomy, geographical distribution and critical analysis of the synonyms are given. More than two hundred species and infraspecific entities from South America are described, many of them recorded several times in different regions. The genus Trachelomonas comprises the highest number of new taxa, reaching more than 100 entities. It is followed by Phacus (48 taxa), Strombomonas (33 taxa), Euglena (15 taxa) Lepocinclis (14 taxa), and Distigma, Entosiphon and Sphenomonas with one new taxon each.

Notes: Abstract A new species of harpacticoid copepod, Neocervinia itoi (Cerviniidae), is described on the basis of females and copepodids collected from the Hatsushima cold-seep site in Sagami Bay, Japan. It is morphologically very close to its deep-sea congeners N. tenuicauda (Brotskaya, 1963) and N. unisetosa (Montagna, 1981). The new species differs primarily in the segmentation of the antennule and the endopod of both mandible and maxilliped, and in form and shape of the setae on leg 5. The presence of sensillar structures on the proximal part of the antennule is discussed. A key to the species of Neocervinia is presented.

Notes: Abstract Cytogenetic and morphological studies have begun to reexamine the taxonomy of the red howlers Alouatta seniculus which live throughout the northern and western Amazon basin, in the Guianas, and from northern Colombia and Venezuela, south to Bolivia. We briefly review the current state of knowledge of the taxonomy and distributions of red howlers, in particular, that of the Guianan subspecies. Recently, two names have been applied to populations from this region, Simia straminea Humboldt, 1812, and Alouatta macconnelli Elliot, 1910. Allen (1911, 1916) unquestioningly accepted the validity of A. macconnelli from the Guyana coast, but most subsequent taxonomic revisions (Cruz Lima, 1945; Cabrera, 1957; Husson, 1978) have synonymized it with S. straminea. Tate (1939) and Hill (1962) listed Alouatta seniculus macconnelli, but both doubted its validity. Nevertheless, recent cytogenetic and morphological studies, without due consideration of the taxonomic history of the two scientific names, have led to the resurrection of A. macconnelli, as distinct from S. straminea. The use of the name Alouatta macconnelli has evidently arisen from a cursory reading of Hill (1962) or an uncritical interpretation of his provisional subspecific distribution map or both. There are also contradictory interpretations of a reciprocal translocation as indicating that Simia straminea and Alouatta macconnelli are separate species (Bonvicino et al., 1995) or the same subspecies (Sampaio et al., 1996). Doubts about the type locality of Simia straminea Humboldt, 1812, as given by Hill (1962), led us to research its original description and to conclude that Simia straminea is a synonym of Alouatta caraya and therefore unavailable for Alouatta seniculus. Before A. macconnelli is accepted as the next available name for the Guianan red howlers, however, we advocate a thorough review of Guianan, Venezuelan, and Colombian red howler subspeciation, with due consideration for the taxonomic status of Mycetes auratus and Mycetes laniger Gray, 1845. We note that Alouatta guariba (Humboldt, 1812) is a senior synonym of Alouatta fusca (Saint-Hilaire, 1812).

Notes: Abstract In this paper we present a taxonomy of manufacturing problems, labeled in a general sense as Design, Production, or Distribution problems. One or more basic systems concepts, such as complexity and adaptation, attach themselves to each such problems. By combining the hierarchical Design—Production—Distribution idea with system concepts, we establish the fact that there is, indeed, a significant systems component to most problems of modern manufacturing.

Notes: Abstract Taxonomic relationships amongst the genera of the southern African tribesPodalyrieae andLiparieae are discussed. Data gained from morphological, cytological and chemical investigations are analyzed cladistically to determine relationships. The genusCadia (tribeSophoreae) is included in the investigation to establish whether it should be transferred to thePodalyrieae. The results clearly indicate that thePodalyrieae andLiparieae are monophyletic and that they should be united, but thatHypocalyptus andCadia should be excluded. Within the monophyletic group, there are two distinct subclades each supported by three apomorphies. The results also show that there is a strong sister relationship betweenAmphithalea andCoelidium. In the taxonomic treatment theLiparieae are placed into synonymy under thePodalyrieae and two subtribes are recognized. A key to the genera in the tribe is given, followed by a synopsis of the genera.

Notes: Abstract Adonis sect.Consiligo is split into three subsections based on morphology, growth pattern, pollen and fruit morphology. For all species distribution maps are provided and discussed with regard to their ecology and climatic requirements. These data reveal additional characters that support the classification of the taxa. Most species of the section grow in continental Eurasiatic steppes and mountain steppe habitats. Only the species of subsect.Amurenses grow in Far Eastern temperate forests and prefer a more oceanic climate. The taxonomic position of these strongly divergent species is supported by the distributional and ecological data. The evolution ofAdonis sect.Consiligo occurred under strong climatic control. During evolution the taxa could only slightly widen their ecological amplitude and, thus, ecology remained rather stable except that of the subsect.Amurenses. Ecological and distributional data can be used to validate taxonomy and phylogeny and reveal additional informations.

Notes: Abstract The pollen morphology of the taxa belonging to the generaAetheorhiza Cass.,Launaea Cass.,Reichardia Roth andSonchus L. in the Iberian Peninsula has been studied with light and electron microscopy. The pollen is 3(-4)-zonocolporate and echinolophate (without polar lacunae, but in general with prelacunae), with equatorial ridges and 15–20 lacunae: 3–4 poral, 6–8 abporal and 6–8 paraporal. Small to medium size, P × E = 19−36 × 23–42 µm; sometimes two different sizes have been found. Exine 3–9 µm thick and ornamentation microreticulate and echinate. The results clearly show the relationships between genera.

Notes: Abstract The fine structure of the type species of the genusCyanothece Komárek 1976,C. aeruginosa, is described and compared with the main cytological characteristics of morphologically related members of the generaCyanobium, Cyanobacterium andSynechococcus. Several morphological features, such as cell walls with thick outer layers containing a special type of vesicles, position of thylakoids, “keritomy” (net-like appearance of protoplast caused by arrangement of thylakoids, net-like nucleoids and/or by tendency to form intrathylakoidal spaces) and a special structure of mucilaginous envelopes were found to be characteristic of this genus, supporting its separate position among coccal cyanoprokaryotes (cyanobacteria, cyanophytes). The taxonomic significance of ultrastructural features in all mentioned genera is discussed.

Notes: Abstract The results of a comparative survey on pollen morphology in theBoragineae by means of light, scanning and transmission electron microscopy are presented and discussed in relation to the taxonomy of the tribe. Multivariate analyses lead to the recognition of 15 pollen morphotypes for which a discriminant key is proposed. The discriminatory characters concern mainly the stereostructural and ultrastructural features of the grains, such as tectum sculpture and aperture morphology, while the number of apertures appears variable within genera and even single species. Seven out of the 12 investigated genera, as currently circumscribed, are matched by palynological data:Anchusella, Borago, Brunnera, Elizaldia, Lithodora, Symphytum andTrachystemon. On account of aperture shape,Lithodora is however closer to theLithospermeae than to theBoragineae. Other genera, and in particularNonea, show a wide variation in tectum ornamentation, shape of grains and number of apertures. Palynological data do not support a broad concept of the genusAnchusa, and point to the autonomy of the ‘satellite’ generaHormuzakia, Gastrocotyle, Phyllocara, Pentaglottis andCynoglottis.

Notes: Abstract The phylogeny of the subfamilyRubioideae (Rubiaceae) was estimated from sequence variation in therps16 intron (cpDNA) in 143 ingroup and 5 outgroup taxa. The analysis largely confirms a recent one based onrbcL sequences, but branch support is often much stronger. Three of the traditional subfamilies are supported,Rubioideae, Cinchonoideae s. str., andIxoroideae s. l. while there is no support forAntirheoideae. TheRubioideae are the sister group of all otherRubiaceae and comprise the tribesAnthospermeae, Coccocypseleae, Cruckshanksieae, Coussareeae, Gaertnereae, Hedyotideae, Knoxieae, Morindeae, Ophiorrhizeae, Paederieae, Pauridiantheae, Perameae, Psychotrieae, Rubieae, Spermacoceae, Theligoneae, andUrophylleae. TheHamelieae andHillieae belong to theCinchonoideae. Rachicallis andSiemensia should be transferred from theHedyotideae to theCinchonoideae. ThePauridiantheae, Urophylleae, Ophiorrhizeae, andRaritebe form the basalmost subclade of theRubioideae. The second basalmost clade consists of the generaLasianthus andPerama. The third basalmost clade consists of the tribesCoussareeae, Coccocypseleae andCruckshanksieae, and the generaDeclieuxia andHindsia. The tribesKnoxieae, Anthospermeae, Argostemmateae, Paederieae, Theligoneae, Rubieae, Hedyotideae, andSpermacoceae are members of one clade. TheKnoxieae are monophyletic ifOtiophora, Otomeria, andPentas are included. The tribeAnthospermeae is supported as monophyletic, but its subtribes are not. ThePaederieae, together withTheligonum, form a paraphyletic grade basal to theRubieae. TheHedyotideae, includingSchismatoclada, form a grade at the base of theSpermacoceae. TheGaertnereae are monophyletic and distinct from thePsychotrieae. TheMorindeae are monophyletic and includeDamnacanthus andMitchella. Schradera is the sister group of theMorindeae. ThePsychotrieae are monophyletic when theGaertnereae, Lasianthus, andDeclieuxia are excluded. The recognition of a subtribeHydnophytineae leaves the rest of thePsychotrieae paraphyletic.Psychotria is paraphyletic with respect to all other genera of the tribe. Approximately 50 genera are here classified for the first time based on molecular data.

Notes: Abstract Previous molecular phylogenetic analyses have demonstrated that Saxifragaceae sensu lato are polyphyletic, with component lineages scattered throughout the eudicots. As part of our effort to elucidate the relationships of members of Engler and Prantl's Saxifragaceae s. l., we undertook a molecular systematic study of subfamily Brexioideae, which comprises three genera:Brexia, Ixerba, andRoussea. Not all taxonomic treatments have concurred, however, in placing these genera together. To elucidate relationships among these three genera as well as their relationships to other angiosperms we constructed large data sets ofrbcL, 18S rDNA, andrbcL + 18S rDNA sequences. Our phylogenetic analyses indicate clearly that Brexioideae are polyphyletic.Brexia is part of a celastroid clade that also includesParnassia, Lepuropetalon, and Celastraceae.Ixerba appears as sister to a large eurosid I clade;Roussea appears as part of Asterales. Molecular data, therefore, indicate that Brexioideae are a polyphyletic assemblage and component genera should ultimately be incorporated into other groups. Our studies continue to demonstrate the polyphyly not only Saxifragaceae s. l., but also of its constituent subfamilies.

Notes: Abstract Enterobacteria isolates from potato tubers were able to fix nitrogen, to protect plants against phytopathogens and to produce phytohormones thus increasing the plant yield. These isolates were previously phenotypically identified as Erwinia carotovora; however, they differed from typical E. carotovora in a number of biological characteristics and were found to be nonphytopathogenic (avirulent) due to the lack of pectate lyase activity. A data matrix, containing 31 strains and 105 biological characteristics was used for computer cluster analysis. The avirulent strains formed a separate cluster more closely related to Klebsiella spp. strains (with a 0.67 level of similarity) than to typical phytopathogenic bacteria of the E. carotovora group (with a 0.48 level of similarity). A phylogenetic analysis based on restriction polymorphisms of an amplified ribosomal DNA spacer region revealed that the avirulent strains studied here were different from all Erwinia, Klebsiella and other enterobacteria species strains. The AP PCR/hybridization technique showed cross homology of amplified DNA of these avirulent strains and a lack of such homology with the DNA from strains of other species. Numerical taxonomy data, rDNA analysis and AP PCR/hybridization assays confirmed that these avirulent bacteria may be regarded as an independent group of enterobacteria.

Notes: Abstract RFLP analysis of a PCR amplified 3.2-kbp region of cpDNA bounded by the conserved sequences in rbc L and ORF 106 was performed in eggplant (Solanum melongena), its related Solanum species, S. incanum, S. virginianum (= S. surattense), S. torvum, S. aethiopicum (= S. gilo), S. aethiopicum (= S. integrifolium), S. violaceum (= S. indicum), S. violaceum (= S. sanitwongsei) and S. mammosum and the reciprocal hybrids between S. aethiopicum (= S. integrifolium) and S. melongena 'Uttara'. The target region of cpDNA was amplified correctly by PCR. The amplified products were digested with each of 10 restriction enzymes (Alu I, Ase I, BamH I, Hinf I, Msp I, Rsa I, ScrF I, Sty I, Taq I and Xba I). Variations of restriction patterns among the species were recognized after digesting the amplified products with each of the seven restriction enzymes, Taq I, Alu I, Rsa I, Sty I, Ase I, Hinf I and Xba I. The restriction patterns divided the examined nine species into the following five clusters, 1) S. melongena and S. incanum, 2) S. virginianum (= S. surattense), 3) S. torvum, 4) S. aethiopicum (= S. gilo), S. aethiopicum (= S. integrifolium), S. violaceum (= S. indicum) and S. violaceum (= S. sanitwongsei) and 5) S. mammosum. The restriction pattern with Alu I in each of the reciprocal hybrids between S. melongena 'Uttara' and S. aethiopicum (= S. integrifolium) was identical with that of seed parent. The present study demonstrated the availability of the PCR-RFLP analysis of cpDNA for assessing taxonomic relationships and identifying cytoplasmic parentage of interspecific hybrids in eggplant and related Solanum species.

Notes: Abstract Almond, Amygdalus communis L., is an ancient crop of south west Asia. Selection of the sweet type marks the beginning of almond domestication. Wild almonds are bitter and eating even a relatively small number of nuts can be fatal. How man selected the sweet type remains a riddle. Also, the wild ancestor of almond has not been properly identified among the many wild almond species. Breeding experiment, which is the most critical test for identifying the wild progenitors of other crops, is ineffective in almond, because it is interfertile with many wild taxa. The so-called wild A. communis of central Asia cannot be regarded as a genuine wild form, but as a feral form, or remains of old afforestation. The wild taxa morphologically akin to almond, A. korshinskyi (H.-M.) Bomm. and A. webbii Spach, are also feral types occurring in the Middle East and southern Europe, respectively. The taxon A. fenzliana (Fritsch) Lipsky is the most likely wild ancestor of almond for three reasons: 1. It is a genuine wild type forming extensive thickets of large trees young seedlings and all the intergradations between them in nature; 2. Its morphology, and particularly the partially pitted grooved nut-shell are within the range of variation of almond, and 3. A. fenzliana is native of Armenia and western Azerbaijan in the Middle East where almond was apparently domesticated.

Notes: Abstract We report the results of two methods of DNA analysis to elucidate phylogenetic relationships among 29 Vicia subgen. Vicia species in comparison with two species of subgenus Vicilla sect. Vicilla. The methods employed were RAPD analysis of total genomic DNA and PCR-RFLP analysis of five chloroplast genes, rbcL, rpoB, 16S, psaA and trnK. The results of each method were similar and complementary, and support the current taxonomic systems of subsp. Vicia. According to RAPD and PCR-RFLP analysis the Narbonensis complex can be considered a well separated section, which may be related to section Vicia. Sections Vicia, Atossa and Wiggersia are separate, but closely related sections. Species of the section Hypechusa form a single monophyletic section, where V. lutea, V. anatolica and V. hyrcanica are quite remote from other species. Our results suggest that within the subgenus Vicia, V. faba is more closely related to V. bithynica and that these two species are most closely related to section Peregrinae. We found that PCR-RFLP of cp DNA provided more precise information concerning relationships between Vicia sections than RAPD analysis. However, RAPD analysis was more informative concerning diversity of closely related Vicia taxa, such as the variable groups, section Narbonensis and V. sativa aggregate.

Notes: Abstract A new species of planktonic rotifer, Keratella trapezoida n. sp. is described from the Yangtze River, P.R. China. The new morphospecies is characterized by its four enclosed dorsal median facets, nearly trapezoid shape of the first median facet on dorsal plate, and the caudal median facet with parallel margins and being open posteriorly.

Notes: Abstract This study was carried out to clarify the taxonomic status of the New World diploid wild rice species, Oryza glumaepatula. The morphological variation of 26 diploid rice accessions in the International Rice Genebank at IRRI from South America and Cuba was compared with that of O. rufipogon and O. nivara from Asia. The 28 morphological characters included 16 spikelet and grain, eight leaf and culm, and four panicle characters, and were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis. The first two principal components accounted for 53.6% of the total variation. The first component was characterized by leaf and sterile lemma characters, 5-panicle dry weight, and grain length, and the second by anther length and its ratio to grain length, grain width, thickness, and 20-hulled grain weight. The characters effectively differentiated the wild rices from Surinam, French Guiana, and the lower Amazon River basin in Brazil, which showed high negative scores along both axes, from other accessions from Venezuela, Colombia, and Cuba, and the Asian species. Most of the accessions from South America are quite distinct from O. rufipogon, with which they have often been grouped as a single species in some taxonomic treatments. Groupings obtained from cluster analysis corresponded closely with the results from PCA. This study supports a distinct taxonomic status of a group of diploid wild rices from South America as O. glumaepatula.

Notes: Abstract V. sativa L. sensu strictu was introduced in Rio Grande do Sul (Southern Brazil) by Italian settlers and is nowadays cultivated for forage in backyards and fields. V. angustifolia L. is a widespread highly polymorphic naturalized ruderal. Both taxa grow sympatrically and morphologically transitional types are often found. We analyzed 37 accessions of V. sativa, V. angustifolia, intermediate types, and V. cordata Wulf. ex. Hoppe from Rio Grande do Sul, for karyotypes, corolla and legume color, seed color pattern, pod constrictions and phenological development. Karyotypes allowed a clear distinction between the taxa: V. sativa (2n=12) had a metacentric marker chromosome, V. angustifolia and intermediate types (2n=12) only acrocentric chromosomes and V. cordata presented 2n=10. Flowering and fruiting periods were shorter for V. sativa than for V. angustifolia, which was separated into early and late flowering groups. Qualitative characters separated the taxa by Jaccard coefficients into three groups: V. sativa at 0.5 similarity level, V. angustifolia and intermediate types at 0.6 and V. cordata joined V. sativa at 0.12. Our results show that karyotypes and a range of qualitative characters are diagnostic for the aggregate represented in Southern Brazil.

Notes: Abstract Results are presented of a historical analysis of taxonomic research on Rotifera, as reflected by the case of α-taxonomy of Lecanidae and Dicranophoridae. The number of available names established, as well as the fraction presently considered valid are counted per decade. Two peak periods in taxonomic research are revealed, viz. a minor one in the last decades of the 19th century, and a major one in the 1920s–1930s. Especially work published during the second period contains a high proportion of names that are currently considered valid. The second half of the 20th century witnessed a decrease in quantity, but also in quality of taxonomic research. The basic cause for this is probably the typological approach to a group exhibiting high intraspecific morphological variability, but also poor taxonomic education, as reflected by a high incidence of insufficient descriptions, and poor knowledge of the rules governing zoological nomenclature, are of incisive importance.

Notes: Abstract The recent isolation of a mate recognition pheromone in the marine rotifer Brachionus plicatilis Müller has shed new light on the mate recognition system of rotifers. One result is improved understanding of the importance of mating behavior as a highly efficient process used by rotifers to choose conspecifics. There are many differences in the main characteristics of mating behavior in members of five different families of rotifers. The present work describes the use of these characteristics to assess species boundaries, especially where boundaries between two or more species are unclear. The method proposed here can assess quantitatively the response of males of one species to females of a questionable taxon by measuring the percentage of matings initiated and the number of completed copulations. The data generated can then be used together with molecular, morphological, and other data to determine the species boundaries. This approach can help distinguish between morphological differences resulting from evolutionary divergence of species and morphological differences induced by environmental or ecological factors.

Notes: Abstract Daphnia sarsi Daday, 1902 is redescribed from Patagonian populations and type material. Its taxonomic and nomenclatorial status is discussed. Because of the homonymy with D. sarsi Schödler, 1877, assigned to Australian populations, D. dadayana is proposed as new name. It is concluded that D. dadayana is a valid species with several morphological peculiarities and the proposed synonymies with D. carinata and D. similis can not be supported. Its subgeneric position is intermediate between Daphnia s. str. and Ctenodaphnia and there is an ontogenetical shift of the dorsocephalic suture from Ctenodaphnia-like to Daphnia-like. The possible origin of the group of species assigned to the subgenus Daphnia from a Ctenodaphnia-like ancestor is suggested.

Notes: Abstract Eight species of the genus Sabatieria, one of which is new to science, are described from the Strait of Magellan and the Beagle Channel, Chile. Sabatieria coomansi n. sp. is characterised by a rather long body (3236–4012 μm) with conspicuous lateral differentiation; head diameter 24 μm, amphids 2.25 turns; long spicules (132–149 μm) or 1.6–1.9 abd, 23–26 precloacal supplements, tail 3.3–3.6 abd. This species belongs to the praedatrix group (Platt, 1985). Sabatieria arcuata is found since its original description by Wieser in 1954. Six other species, i.e., S. celtica Southern, 1914, S. falcifera Wieser, 1954, S. furcillata Wieser, 1954, S. granifer Wieser, 1954, S. mortenseni (Ditlevsen, 1921) and S. parabyssalis Wieser, 1954 are redescribed in detail with emphasis on new or shortly described morphological features.

Notes: Abstract All representatives of the genus Ilyocryptus with short lateral setae at the postanal margin of the postabdomen may be separated into the compact species group I. brevidentatus s. lat. A new species of Ilyocryptus from this group is described from the Lake Numalla, Queensland, Australia. I. smirnovi n. sp. shows clear morphological differences in the armature of the valve, postabdomen, and several other structures, from all other species of the group. Differences between members of the above-mentioned species group are analogous with those between European species, listed by Štifter (1991).

Notes: Abstract The phototrophic flagellate flora of the Barra Lagoon (22°57′ S and 42°47′ W), Rio de Janeiro State, southeastern Brazil, is described. The lagoon is a shallow, oligohaline, hypertrophic ecosystem in which Cyanophyceae, Chlorophyceae and phytoflagellates are dominant. Between October 1990 and August 1993, weekly integrated samples were collected from a bay, using a plexiglass tube, 8 cm diameter and 1m length. All identifications, descriptions and measurements were carried out on live or in Lugol-fixed material. A total of 30 taxa, belonging to Euglenophyceae (5), Cryptophyceae (7), Raphidophyceae (1), Dinophyceae (4), Chrysophyceae (3), Prymnesiophyceae (2), Prasinophyceae (7) and Chlorophyceae (1) were identified. All the phytoflagellate species identified have been recorded previously from temperate sites. Nine of them were registered in a tropical water for the first time, suggesting that they have much broader distributions. Gymnodinium sanguineum, Pavlova lutheri and Pyramimonas grossii were the most frequently observed phytoflagellates in this study. The seasonal occurrence and some environmental requirements of selected phytoflagellates species are discussed.

Notes: Abstract A new species of the family Ancorabolidae Sars, 1909 (Copepoda, Harpacticoida), Arthropsyllus australis sp. n. was collected 1994 during 'Magellan Campaign' of RV 'Victor Hensen' and is described in the present paper. Its inclusion in the genus Arthropsyllus Sars, 1909 is justified by the diagnostic characters of the genus: lack of any dorsal or dorsolateral well-developed processes, body slightly depressed dorsoventrally, body somites with lateral epimeres except cephalothorax and last two abdominal somites. A. australis sp. n. differs from Arthropsyllus serratus Sars, 1909 in the shape of the rostrum, in having moderately-sized sensilla-bearing dorsal and dorsolateral projections on cephalothorax and body somites, and in several differences on mandible, maxillule, maxilla and swimming legs.

Notes: Abstract A new genus and new species of terrestrial potamid crab ( Carpomon pomulum) is described from the island of Palawan in the Philippines. This new genus can easily be distinguished from all other Philippine potamids in its smooth and inflated carapace, no trace of an epibranchial tooth, extremely low postorbital cristae, and stout and twisted male first gonopod.

Notes: Abstract Three new species belonging to the genera Diplolaimella and Thalassomonhystera of the family Monhysteridae and Theristus of the family Xyalidae are described from shrimp culture ponds near mangrove zones of Khung Kraben Bay, Thailand. Diplolaimella thailandica sp. n. resembles D. dievengatensis but differs from it by features of the ratios b and V, and size of the spicules and tail of the male. Thalassomonhystera siamensis sp. n. resembles T. diplops but differs from it in features of the amphids, ocelli, cloaca and gubernaculum. Theristus (Penzancia) longisetifer sp. n. resembles T. flevensis, T. ambronensis, T. macroflevensis, and T. pratti but differs from them in features of the cervical setae, ventral supplement of the male and others.

Notes: Abstract The limnoplanktonic calanoid copepod Sinodiaptomus valkanovi (Diaptomidae: Diaptominae) is redescribed in detail from Japan, where it commonly occurs in ponds and reservoirs especially around the Seto Inland Sea. The species has been referred to as a subspecies of S. sarsi outside Japan due to lack of subsequent morphological comparisons. Sinodiaptomus valkanovi is easily distinguishable from S. sarsi by having longer antennules in both sexes, a short projection on the right antennule segment 15 of the male, and a thumb-like posterodistal basal projection of the male left leg 5. These characters do not show significant variation, indicating differentiation at the species level. S. valkanovi is restricted to Japan, in contrast to the wide-range of it S. sarsi in Asian waters. The Bulgarian population, from which the species was originally described, and the North American population, which was formerly recorded as S. sarsi, are considered to have been introduced from Japan with aquatic plants such as water lilies.

Notes: Abstract A survey of rotifers from a small pond (less than 2 ha in area and 3 m deep), located at Kilometer 28 in the federal highway Ixtlahuaca-Jilotepec (19° 49′ 13″ N, 99° 42′ 22″ W) at an altitude of 2503 m above sea level, resulted in a total of 78 species. From these, 20 are new records for Mexico. This study confirms the presence of some of the rotifer species listed only in earlier studies. Comments on some species are made from a zoogeographical point of view.

Notes: Abstract The recent isolation of a mate recognition pheromone in the marine rotifer Brachionus plicatilis Müller has shed new light on the mate recognition system of rotifers. One result is improved understanding of the importance of mating behavior as a highly efficient process used by rotifers to choose conspecifics. There are many differences in the main characteristics of mating behavior in members of five different families of rotifers. The present work describes the use of these characteristics to assess species boundaries, especially where boundaries between two or more species are unclear. The method proposed here can assess quantitatively the response of males of one species to females of a questionable taxon by measuring the percentage of matings initiated and the number of completed copulations. The data generated can then be used together with molecular, morphological, and other data to determine the species boundaries. This approach can help distinguish between morphological differences resulting from evolutionary divergence of species and morphological differences induced by environmental or ecological factors.

Notes: Abstract Results are presented of a historical analysis of taxonomic research on Rotifera, as reflected by the case of α-taxonomy of Lecanidae and Dicranophoridae. The number of available names established, as well as the fraction presently considered valid are counted per decade. Two peak periods in taxonomic research are revealed, viz. a minor one in the last decades of the 19th century, and a major one in the 1920s–1930s. Especially work published during the second period contains a high proportion of names that are currently considered valid. The second half of the 20th century witnessed a decrease in quantity, but also in quality of taxonomic research. The basic cause for this is probably the typological approach to a group exhibiting high intraspecific morphological variability, but also poor taxonomic education, as reflected by a high incidence of insufficient descriptions, and poor knowledge of the rules governing zoological nomenclature, are of incisive importance.

Notes: Abstract Heliodiaptomus elegans Kiefer, 1935, incompletely described from Myanmar, is redescribed on specimens from Thailand. A Chinese congener, H. serratus Shen & Tai, 1962, is sunk into the synonymy of H. elegans.

Notes: Abstract Three new species of Rhabdocoela belonging to the Families Dalyellidae: Microdalyellia bipennata, and Typhloplanidae: Mesocastrada iberiensis, and Mesostoma extremeniensis are described. Fourteen species of the Orders Catenulida, Macrostomida, Proseriata and Rhabdocoela are cited the first time for Extremadura (southwest Spain).

Notes: Abstract Numerous specimens of Chirocephaluswere found repeatedly over the last eight years in an intermittent lake in SW Slovenia. They were first identified as Chirocephalus spinicaudatusSimon, 1886. Later it turned out that they fit the diagnosis of Chirocephalus croaticus (Steuer, 1899), a species described from a small lake in Southern Croatia, about 300 km from Slovenia. It was considered as endemic of its type locality only. Now its range expands into NW direction. The population in Slovenia is in good condition and, if there is no change in land use, could persist for a long time. A small population of the same species in a small puddle near the intermittent lake Cerkniško Jezero (about 30 km from lake Petelinjsko Jezero) was destroyed a few years ago. A detailed description of specimens of both sexes is given and some information on their ecology is added. Particular attention is given to the male legs which could provide good diagnostic characters. For comparison, legs of Chirocephalus diaphanus Prévost, 1803 are shown.

Notes: Abstract Cletocamptus merbokensis sp. nov. is described from material collected out of muddy sediments in the Merbok mangrove forest, northwest peninsula Malaysia. It is distinguished from all other known species of Cletocamptus by the presence of only two setae on P2 and P3 endopod-2 and no inner seta on P4 exopod-2; and by the form of the male P5 in which the baseoendopod and most of the endopodal and exopodal lobes are absorbed into the somatic cuticle. The higher taxonomic position of the genus is briefly discussed.

Notes: Abstract A marked salinity-related decrease in gillraker number in sea bass samples during growth was documented. All specimens share the same genetic stock and rearing conditions were constant during early ontogeny. Variation in gillraker number could be related to the ecophenotypism of this character but selection can not be excluded. Results obtained from reared specimens were compared with those reported in the literature and with data collected from wild stocks. Attention is focused on the pitfalls that the use of this character may have on the taxonomy of fish species.

Notes: Abstract The random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique was used to study the genomic relationships of three liverworts from the genus Pellia: P. epiphylla, P. borealis and P. neesiana. Altogether 150 characters (150 DNA fragments obtained using PCR) were scored. These characters were used to create a matrix of pairwise distances between all the pairs of taxa. Both distance (UPGMA, Fitch–Margoliash and Neighbor–Joining) and binary character‐state (Wagner and Camin‐Sokal parsimony and compatibility) methods were applied for trees' construction. Our results strongly support distinction of the recently discovered sibling species of P. epiphylla – species N and P. epiphylla – species S, which have an allopatric distribution in Poland (N – North, S – South Poland). Moreover, our data also supports the hypothesis of a hybrid origin (alloploid) of the polyploid P. borealis from P.epiphylla−N×P.epiphylla−S. P. neesiana was excluded as a donor of either of the genomes of P. borealis.

Notes: Abstract Seven anomnopodan species were recorded from top of Roraima and Ptari tepuis. Alona rusticoides is new species and Acroperus sp., Alonella cf. excisa and Paralona pigra seem to be different from species described from Europe.

Notes: Summary The Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl De la Llave, 1832), a widespread inhabitant of Central America and NW South America, currently comprises two subspecies (A. t. tzacatl andA. t. jucunda). Another taxon of the species complex isA. t. handleyi (Wetmore, 1963), initially described as an allospecies but here regarded only as a subspecies ofA. tzacatl. Based on diverging morphological features, the amount of geographical variation ofA. tzacatl in its South American range suggests the distinction of further populations. As a taxonomical consequence, we recognize the validity ofA. t. fuscicaudata (Fraser, 1840), and describe a new subspecies,A. t. brehmi subspec. nov., from Nariño, Colombia.

Notes: Abstract A Streptomyces strain UK10 was isolated from Ukrainian soil and identified by taxonomical studies as Streptomyces arenae var ukrainiana. HA-2-91 was isolated from the biomass of S. arenae var ukrainiana and is supposedly a polyene macrolide antibiotic belonging to the tetraene group. HA-2-91 showed promising antifungal activity (in vitro) against yeasts and filamentous fungi, including plant pathogens and dermatophytes and was found to be less toxic in mice than nystatin and rimocidin.

Notes: Abstract Three strains of Myxozyma mucilagina including the type strain were reexamined. Based on differences in their carbon utilization pattern, mobility of isoenzymes, mol% G + C of their DNA and extent of DNA complementary the new species Myxozyma neglecta is proposed.

Notes: Abstract A new species of oat, Avena insularis, is described. It was collected in southern Sicily where four populations were found on uncultivated clay soil. Morphologically, it is similar to the hexaploid wild oat A. sterilis, but can be distinguished by its smaller and more condensed panicle, less V-shaped dispersal unit and oblong disarticulation scar. Hybrids between A. insularis and the hexaploid cultivated oat A. sativa were obtained only when the latter was the seed parent in crosses. Chromosome pairing of the hybrids at meiosis was irregular with univalents and multivalents, but the mean number of chiasmata per cell was close to that of A. insularis. Furthermore, the hybrids were partially self-fertile. Thus, the newly discovered species seems closer to the hexaploid oats than any other tetraploid species, and is probably the tetraploid progenitor of hexaploid oats. Hybrids between A. insularis and A. magna were sterile because of irregular chromosome pairing at meiosis.

Notes: Abstract Rotifera of the family Dicranophoridae Harring, 1913 were recorded from mountainous altitudes of the Austrian Alps. Here, their morphology, distribution and ecology is detailed. The description of Encentrum walterkostei Jersabek is amended by observations on living animals. Of 19 species encountered, all but four are new to the alpine region, nine species are first records for the biogeographic region 'Alps'. Four species are new to science and will be published elsewhere. The majority are cosmopolites or widely distributed taxa, but also species with a more limited range, possibly endemics, seem to exist. Most species can be characterized as being more commonly found in cold environments, some of them are known to be psammobiontic or psammophilic.

Notes: Abstract A survey of rotifers from a small pond (less than 2 ha in area and 3 m deep), located at Kilometer 28 in the federal highway Ixtlahuaca-Jilotepec (19° 49′ 13″ N, 99° 42′ 22″ W) at an altitude of 2503 m above sea level, resulted in a total of 78 species. From these, 20 are new records for Mexico. This study confirms the presence of some of the rotifer species listed only in earlier studies. Comments on some species are made from a zoogeographical point of view.

Notes: Abstract A survey of 11 freshwater habitats in the floodplain of the River Nan, northern Thailand was carried out during April and September 1996. The rotifer samples were collected qualitatively from paddy fields, ponds, canals and reservoirs, using a 60 μm mesh net. One hundred and eighteen species were identified, four (Lepadella quinquecostata (Lucks), Macrochaetus danneeli Koste & Shiel, Testudinella ahlstromi Hauer and T greeni Koste) of which are new to Thailand and one (L. quinquecostata) is new to Asia. The numbers of species found in two localities are relatively high, with 86 and 73 rotifer taxa. Most of the species recorded are common, cosmopolitan or pantropical and warm-stenotherms. The occurrence of a species previously considered endemic to Australia, M. danneeli provides more evidence illustrating a relation between the rotifer faunas of southeast Asia and Australia. Comments are presented on some insufficiently known taxa in particular on the new records for Thailand.

Notes: Abstract RAPD markers were used to evaluate genetic similarity among 35 mandarin accessions, including 10 species and 7 hybrids. One octamer and twenty-two decamer primers produced 109 RAPDs, 45 of which were polymorphic. Jaccard coefficient was used to calculate genetic similarity, and UPGMA to generate the phenogram. The RAPDs obtained were sufficient to generate some accession-specific markers, and to separate these accessions by clustering them into several groups, many of them according to Tanaka's or Webber's systematic units. The genetic similarity within the mandarin group is high (GJ = 0.77), and suggests that cultivated mandarins have a narrow genetic base. The genetic similarity of mandarins to other true citrus species (Citron [C. medica L.] and Pummelo [C. grandis Osbeck]) was much lower (minimum GJ = 0.27). We propose that the mandarin group is a single species, C. reticulata Blanco, composed of several genetically different individuals and a great number of hybrids, rather than a large number of species as proposed by some taxonomic studies.

Notes: Abstract Paracyclops longispina n. sp. and Paracyclops altissimus n. sp. are described. New characters derived from detailed examination of body and limb ornamentation are used to differentiate them from other Paracyclops species. Paracyclops longispina n. sp. resembles Paracyclops fimbriatus (Fischer, 1853) and Paracyclops imminutus Kiefer, 1929. It differs from the former by the presence of a well-developed spinular row near the base of the inner setae on the antennal coxobasis in both sexes, and from the latter in the structure of the seminal receptacle and the position of the mid-distal spinular row on the posterior surface of the coxa of leg 1. Paracyclops altissimus n. sp. can be distinguished from other members of genus mainly by the structure of the seminal receptacle and leg 5.

Notes: Abstract Two new morphospecies of Keratella Bory de St. Vincent (Rotifera: Brachionidae) are described from Inner Mongolia, P.R. China. Keratella mongolianum n. sp. is related to K. cruciformis and K. eichwaldi, while Keratella zhugeae n. sp. belongs to the K. quadrata group. K. mongolianum n.sp. is known from a single locality only, but K. zhugeae n.sp. was found in several ponds and had previously been recorded from Tibet. Both taxa are restricted to the eastern Palaearctic region.

Notes: Abstract Diverticula are present in the copulatory organs of many species of the Terricola. In some species these structures are copulatory bursae or resorptive vesicles. The function of diverticula present in the copulatory organs in species of Dolichoplana and Platydemus (Rhynchodemidae), in Australoplana (Geoplanidae) and in some other caenoplaninid genera has been an enigma. From histochemical and other investigations of the ventro-posterior copulatory diverticulum in Platydemus manokwari de Beauchamp, it is evident that this structure is neither a copulatory bursa, resorptive vesicle nor a uterus. It is an adhesive gland producing a viscid, collagen-like fibrous glycoprotein derived from two secretory elements present in the gland. The secretion is expelled during cocoon laying to adhere the cocoon onto the substratum. The diverticulum appears late in the development of the copulatory organs, and is present when the gonopore is patent; this has implications for the taxonomy of platydemid flatworms.

Notes: Abstract On the basis of newly collected material the subspecies Bdellocephala angarensis bathyalis Timoshkin & Porfirjeva, 1989 is raised to full species status, B. bathyalis Timoshkin & Porfirjeva, 1989. Specimens of this species have been collected in Lake Baikal from depths ranging between 610 and 1060 m. The species is characterized by a light, uniform brown pigmentation, absence of eyes, distinct atrial folds, and large size. It is suggested that two features may be useful in elucidating the phylogenetic relationships between dendrocoelid genera: pharynx musculature, and presence of an extra layer of circular muscle in the ventral subepidermal body musculature.

Notes: Abstract Polycelis (Polycelis) sapporo (Ijima et Kaburaki, 1916) is a non-stenothermal species, common in Hokkaidô (including all of the adjacent islands), Northern Japan, except in the alpine region. It is also distributed in Aomori Prefecture in the northernmost part of Honshû. To the south, its range is bounded by a line from the base of the Tsugaru Peninsula, over Mt. Iwaki, Mt. Shirakami, Mt. Tashiro, Lake Towada, Mt. Hakkôda, the Natsudomari Peninsula, to the west of Mutsu and Ôhata in the Shimokita Peninsula. In Russia, the species is recorded only from the southern part of Sakhalin. Seidlia schmidti (Zabusov, 1916) is a stenothermal species found in cold-water biotops. It occurs in the North and East of Hokkaidô including the Shiretoko Peninsula and Rishiri Island. In Russia, the species is recorded from the southern part of Sakhalin, Primorskiy, Habarovsk including the base of the Chukotskiy Peninsula, and the Kamchatka Peninsula (and Bering Island).

Notes: Abstract While turbellarians are generally assumed to have body-wall musculature consisting routinely of longitudinal, circular, and diagonal fibers, members of the Acoela examined by a fluorescence-microscopy technique specific for actin showed more complicated and distinctive arrangements of muscles, giving promise for better delimiting taxa within this taxonomically difficult order. Certain globose or tear-drop-shaped worms such as Convoluta pulchra and species of Pseudaphanostoma, Mecynostomum, and Otocelis, showed a complex pattern in which muscles longitudinal in the anterior half of the body arc diagonally across the posterior half; complex brushes of parenchymal muscles that cross at the level of the statocyst and arc postero-laterally also characterize these groups. The more elongate acoel Paratomella sp. was found to have musculature dominated by strictly longitudinal fibers and with relatively weak circular fibers and few fibers running diagonally to the body axis, yet the elongate mecynostomid Paedomecynostomum bruneum showed a crossing of antero-longitudinal fibers similar to that seen in the more globose Mecynostomum sp. A distinctive looping of muscles around the mouth is seen in P. bruneum and the Anaperidae. Such similarities and differences in pattern of musculature promise to provide easily recognizable characters for taxonomy of the Acoela at levels ranging from species to family.

Notes: Abstract An investigation, using optical microscopy and SEM, of the trunk limbs of the Anomopoda has revealed a large number of characters, previously underused or unused in taxonomy and comparative morphology. All these characters, which are nicely paralleled by some more conventional traits (head shield and pores, postabdomen, antennae ...), show one clear tendency across all groups studied: a state of complexity at one extreme, and a state of often incisive simplification at the other extreme, with a number of transitional stages in between. The complex character state, which itself is a simplification of the leg structure of the Ctenopoda and other, ‘large’ Branchiopoda, is here considered to represent a primitive condition. The simplified state is considered advanced. Based on this assumption, we list a number of unifying characters (mainly structural aspects of P1 and P2, but also the gnathobase of P3 and P4) for all macrothricid and chydorid-like anomopods, which we unite in the new suborder Radopoda. Non-radopod Anomopoda are not reclassified. We then derive a cascade of (mainly trunk-limb based) characters to work out a hypothesis on the evolution of the Radopoda. The ‘chydorid’ line (basically the former family Chydoridae) is classified as a superfamily (the Eurycercoidea), with three families; the ‘macrothricid’ line is capped by the superfamily Macrothricoidea, with four families. Of these seven families, four are upgraded from subfamily status, the Chydoridae are left status quo, the Macrothricidae are redefined, and the Neothricidae are a new family. The Macrothricidae are further subdivided in two subfamilies, of which the Macrothricinae appear reasonably homogeneous (monophyletic), while the non-Macrothricinae require further study. Some of these (e.g. Guernella) have almost completely lost their P5, a situation parallel to that of the P6 in the Eurycercidae, Acantholeberidae, and Ophryoxidae.

Notes: Abstract The rotifer fauna from two localities at an Arctic beach at Disko Island was investigated. Five species were found; four are new to Greenland and two of these are new to science. Encentrum graingeri and Proales reinhardti were found in the psammon, and it is suggested that they inhabit the sea-ice during the winter and then shift to inhabit the psammon in the ice-free periods during summer. Encentrum porsildi n. sp. and Notholca angakkoq n. sp. are described. The descriptions are based on detailed SEM-studies of the trophi.

Notes: Abstract A new species of planktonic rotifer, Keratella trapezoida n. sp. is described from the Yangtze River, P.R. China. The new morphospecies is characterized by its four enclosed dorsal median facets, nearly trapezoid shape of the first median facet on dorsal plate, and the caudal median facet with parallel margins and being open posteriorly.

Notes: Abstract Rotifera of the family Dicranophoridae Harring, 1913 were recorded from mountainous altitudes of the Austrian Alps. Here, their morphology, distribution and ecology is detailed. The description of Encentrum walterkostei Jersabek is amended by observations on living animals. Of 19 species encountered, all but four are new to the alpine region, nine species are first records for the biogeographic region 'Alps'. Four species are new to science and will be published elsewhere. The majority are cosmopolites or widely distributed taxa, but also species with a more limited range, possibly endemics, seem to exist. Most species can be characterized as being more commonly found in cold environments, some of them are known to be psammobiontic or psammophilic.

Notes: Abstract A new genus and species of heteronemertean, Yinia pratensis gen. nov. and sp. nov., collected from low salinity waters (salinity 0.2–0.4 ‰) at Changjiang River Estuary, is described and illustrated. The species possesses a proboscis with an outer circular and an inner longitudinal muscle layer, and is placed in family Lineidae sensu Gibson. The following combination of morphological features distinguishes the new species from any other genera in this family: proboscis with two muscle crosses; dermis without connective tissue layer between gland cells and body wall outer longitudinal muscle layer; rhynchocoel wall circular muscles not interweaving with adjacent body wall longitudinal muscles; foregut with circular somatic muscles and subepithelial gland cell layer; neurochord cells present in central nervous system; caudal cirrus missing; blood system developed into alimentary plexus extending almost the full length of the body. Another significant character is that the lobular excretory cells are extremely well developed which may represent adaptation to water of low salinity.

Notes: Abstract Notholca dongtingensis n.sp. was found in the second largest lake of China, Dongting Lake. It is related to Notholca labis Gosse, 1887 and N. kozhovi Vassilijewa & Kutikova, 1969. Its main distinguishing taxonomic features are a square-oval lorica, very short anterior spines, anterior lateral spines curving outwards and protrusile posterior margin of the ventral plate.

Notes: Abstract In the rivers and lakes of Turkey, ten species of loaches of the genus Cobitis occur, viz. C. fahireae, C. varderensis, C. splendens, C. kellei, C. puncticulata, C. strumicae, C. levantina, C. turcica, C. simplicispina and C. bilseli. Cobitis bilseli is separated into a new subgenus, Beyshehiria.

Notes: Abstract Macrothix laticornis is redescribed and compared with populations from central North America (Mexico), and from south-east Asia (Vietnam). All three are closely related, but with sufficient morphological differences to establish a laticornis species-group. Two species new for science are described, viz. M. sierrafriatensis (Mexico) and M. vietnamensis (Vietnam).

Notes: Abstract The rare Macrothrix tripectinata Weisig, 1934 is redescribed on material from the East Pamirs (Tajikistan) and Tuva (Russia). Adult and juvenile parthenogenetic females and adult males were studied using optical microscopy and SEM. The thoracic appendages and the molar surface of mandibles were investigated in detail. Selected ‘conventional’ diagnostic features are critically reviewed. The importance of characters, rarely used in the systematics of Macrothrix, such as: type of valve reticulation, similarity or dissimilarity in size of the terminal esthetascs of the antennules of females and males, presence of an abdominal projection and reticulation on the postabdomen, presence, length and armature of a male seta on the antennule, are discussed. A key for the Eurasian species of Macrothrix is proposed.

Notes: Abstract Based on the result of investigations and former records, there are five freshwater species of the genus Thermocyclops in China, namely T. taihokuensis Harada, 1931, T. crassus (Fischer, 1853), T. vermifer Lindberg, 1935, T. dybowskii (Lande, 1890), and T. kawamurai Kikuchi, 1940. Two previously recorded species, T. brevifurcatus Harada, 1931 and T. hyalinus (Rehberg, 1880) are recognized as synonyms of Thermocyclops crassus. Another species, Thermocyclops mongolicus Kiefer, 1937, described from China by Tai & Chen, is a synonym of T. taihokuensis based on this study. Thermocyclops orientalis Dussart & Fernando, 1985 was compared with Thermocyclops kawamurai Kikuchi, 1940. It shows conspicuous differences and it seems unlikely that it is a synonym of T. kawamurai. The paper presents diagnostic characteristics of each species and a key to five Chinese species of Thermocyclops.

Notes: Abstract At least 41 taxa of aquatic oligochaetes including five new records have been recorded from the ancient Lake Biwa in Japan. The lake is characterized by eurybathyal occurrence of Branchiura sowerbyi. The posterior gill filaments of B. sowerbyi develop normally in lagoons adjacent to the lake, while in the lake they weakly develop or often disappear at littoral and sublittoral depths shallower than 30 m, and they almost completely disappear in the profundal zone. The profundal population of B. sowerbyi also differs from other populations in eastern Asia in having fewer and shorter hairs, and simple-pointed crotchets, or bifid crotchets with parallel teeth, in dorsal bundles of chaetae. This suggests that an intralacustrine speciation is progressing in the profundal population. An aberrant modification is found in the pectination of dorsal crotchets in Tubifex tubifex occurring at deep profundal depths of the lake. The ventral chaetae in segment II of Teneridrilus mastix are rarely modified in Lake Biwa. This requires cancellation of the modification of chaetae in II as a diagnostic characteristic of the genus Teneridrilus. Limnodrilus amblysetus, previously known only from China, is recorded from Lake Biwa. Descriptions and taxonomic remarks are provided for Haemonais waldvogeli (new to Japan), Pristina longiseta, Stephensoniana trivandrana and Ripistes parasita (new to Lake Biwa), and Ophidonais serpentina, based on Lake Biwa material.

Notes: Abstract A survey of 11 freshwater habitats in the floodplain of the River Nan, northern Thailand was carried out during April and September 1996. The rotifer samples were collected qualitatively from paddy fields, ponds, canals and reservoirs, using a 60 μm mesh net. One hundred and eighteen species were identified, four (Lepadella quinquecostata (Lucks), Macrochaetus danneeli Koste & Shiel, Testudinella ahlstromi Hauer and T greeni Koste) of which are new to Thailand and one (L. quinquecostata) is new to Asia. The numbers of species found in two localities are relatively high, with 86 and 73 rotifer taxa. Most of the species recorded are common, cosmopolitan or pantropical and warm-stenotherms. The occurrence of a species previously considered endemic to Australia, M. danneeli provides more evidence illustrating a relation between the rotifer faunas of southeast Asia and Australia. Comments are presented on some insufficiently known taxa in particular on the new records for Thailand.

Notes: Abstract During late Cenozoic pre-rift times the viviparid genus Bellamya was probably confined to eastern Africa while in the Congo Basin occurred the genera Neothauma and Kaya (a new genus described herein). During the Pliocene, Kaya became extinct and Neothauma became a relict in Lake Tanganyika. All African rift lakes formed during or after the Pliocene were colonised by populations of Bellamya, which evolved into lacustrine endemics. The changes in shell morphology in Bellamya, such as ornamentation functioning as protection against predators, are modest and repetitive in time and space. After the initial adaptations stasis followed, and there is no indication of an arms race between prey and predator in this genus. In the lakes of the western rift that were formed prior to the Pliocene, namely Lake Tanganyika and Palaeolake Obweruka, Neothauma instead of Bellamya was the coloniser. Initially morphological inertia also occurred in this genus both in Tanganyika and, during the first four million years of its existence, in Palaeolake Obweruka, although from the outset this lake contained abundant highly specialised molluscivorous fishes. About 4.5 Ma a major extinction event occurred in the Obweruka Basin which led to the extermination of 50% of the molluscan species but none of the molluscivores. Among the viviparids, only one of the Neothauma species survived, its populations isolated and highly reduced in numbers. Immediately after this crisis a conchological quantum change occurred, the surviving lineage changing into a strongly ornamented thalassoid form. The dramatic morphological change is deemed to have been due to focussed selection by the predators on isolated and small prey populations. A radiative event immediately followed, producing still more strongly ornamented forms. The morphological changes that occurred in the Obwerukan Neothauma, in comparison to the modest and repeated patterns of evolution that can be observed in viviparids from other lakes, provides an example of true or quantum evolutionary change and yields evidence as to how it may have occurred. The fossil record of the fresh water molluscs of the Albertine Basin, thanks to its duration (ca. 12 million years), its relatively fine resolution (0.5–1.0 million years) and its sound chronostratigraphic framework, is a unique resource for understanding the tempo and mode of macroevolution.

Notes: Abstract Two new chydorids, Nicsmirnovius camerounensis (gen. nov., sp. nov.) and Bryospilus africanus n.sp. are described, based on material from Korup, Mundemba, Bakingili and Debunscha, all in the rainforests of southwest Cameroon. Morphological structures show that both taxa are only remotely related, and that, while Nicsmirnovius is clearly an alonine, Bryospilus might well be a chydorine chydorid. Small, taxonomically non-significant differences occurred among specimens of Bryospilus recorded in three different forest areas.

Notes: Abstract The marine benthic algae from North East Herald Cay, Coral Sea, South Pacific, are listed with taxonomic, bibliographic and biogeographic details. The checklist includes 66 species of which 23 are green, 2 are brown, and 41 are red algal species. The almost complete absence of brown algae from what is seemingly a typical tropical reef environment on which a true coral cay has developed is noteworthy. All samples were from the lagoon, which forms the concave side of a crescent-shaped reef and which ranges in depth from 0–30 m. The endemic Caribbean green alga Chamaedoris peniculum is recorded for the Pacific for the first time, and a possibly undescribed species of the genus Rhipiliopsis was also discovered. Although only preliminary, the survey shows that the marine flora is seemingly typical of coral cays for the general region of the Great Barrier Reef.

Notes: Abstract Fourteen aquatic oligochaetes were described between 1773 and 1828. Dramatic increases in descriptions occurred in the decades beginning 1900, 1930 and 1960. These can be associated with specific authors, such as W. Michaelsen and S. Hrabě. In the period 1970–1990, some 250 marine species (excluding Enchytraeidae) were described, largely by C. Erséus. Some of the major scholars, such as W. Michaelsen and F. Vejdovský, I. I. Malevič and P. G. Svetlov, founded centers of oligochaete study that survive in Europe today. Others, such as those in the English speaking world, have had to develop in isolation. While numerical and phenetic methods had little influence on microdrile systematics, phylogenetic (parsimony) methods have, since the first publication by B. G. M. Jamieson. Most literature prior to 1970 was taxonomic. Other earlier work documented community structure in relation to pollution. The study of Rybinsk Reservoir (Russia) stimulated a large body of ecological and biological work by T. L. Poddubnaya. The St. Lawrence Great Lakes was also a focus for worm studies until recently. Early physiological work focused on respiration, with studies dating from the 1920s. This has been continued in relation to pollution ecology and energy flow. Physiological work was notably absent from our first proceedings volume and only poorly represented since then. Future prospects are difficult to identify. Developments in ultrastructure (including sperm and muscle cells), molecular biology and parsimony or cladistic phylogenetic methods will move from rather simple initial work that shows the possibilities, to a revisionary phase where the complexities begin to be revealed before it is possible to assess their value. This author has too superficial a level of understanding to predict the outcome, but suspects that agreement among the results of several methods is needed for them to be persuasive. I would hope that multivariate methods of data analysis in pollution studies would prove superior to the development of indices and over-reliance on toxicology. Toxicity studies are of use in comparing risks among products but not in predicting field effects. Benthic biology needs a method for identifying factors that are directly related to worm biology, such as food, rather than physical and chemical factors related to the water column. Surveys, relating communities to chemical and physiographic factors will remain unpredictive. It is easier to forsee some changes in taxonomy that are almost overdue. The haplotaxids should be broken up into several small families, Haplotaxis s.s. will be one of them, with a number of highly adapted and very similar species, many currently regarded as synonymous, redefined by careful anatomical study. The lumbriculids and branchiobdellidans may well be combined into a single taxon defined by their unique semi-prosopore male ducts, with lumbriculids defined by their unique muscle structure and the branchiobdellids by many apomorphic characters related to ectocommensal life. The position of Hirudinea remains unresolved, but relationship to this taxon is not excluded. Detailed study of penes in lumbriculids is required. The naidids and tubificids seem to be a monophyly. Existing genera may be hard to analyze phylogenetically because definitions are based on atrial form, which is hard to express as characters. Chaetotaxy in Naididae will prove insufficient and many synonyms will be declared. Capilloventridae and Randiellidae require description of male ducts and gonads. They may provide evidence counter to the octogonadal theory of oligochaete descent, or of polyphyly in the group. Knowledge of phreodrilid diversity will increase. Work will increase in Asia and South America, but sub-Saharan Africa remains under explored. Fish diseases will create more interest in North American worms. New methods, including molecular studies, and renewed interest in ontogeny and detailed anatomical studies, may improve our ability to resolve clusters of taxa with few, if any, apomorphic character states that remain at the base of cladograms. An ability to include sound evidence from vestigial organs and logical arguments on a 'weight of evidence' basis is needed as an adjunct. While molecular studies seem to hold much promise, early studies can prove over simplistic and can provide conflicting hypotheses. We need to complete the review of taxonomy according to parsimony before major terminology changes, such as abandonment of the term Oligochaeta, can gain acceptance.

Notes: Abstract Accurate taxonomic identification of species at all life stages is critical to understand and predict the processes that together determine marine community dynamics. However, zooplankton assemblages may include numerous sibling and congeneric species distinguished by subtle morphological characteristics. Molecular systematic databases, including DNA sequences of homologous gene regions for selected taxonomic groups, allow the design of rapid protocols to determine species' diversity and identify individuals. In this study, the DNA sequence of a 300 base-pair region of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene was determined for eight species of three genera of calanoid copepods: Calanus finmarchicus, C. glacialis and C. helgolandicus; Neocalanus cristatus, N. flemingeri and N. plumchrus; and Pseudocalanus moultoni and P. newmani. The DNA sequences differed between congeneric species by 13 – 22% of the nucleotides; the protein sequences differed by zero to five amino acid substitutions. Both the DNA and amino acid sequences resolved the evolutionary relationships among congeneric species; relationships among the genera were not well-resolved by this region of mtCOI. Using the same conserved primers, the only amplification product for C. finmarchicus was an aberrant sequence (and putative pseudogene) which differed from the C. finmarchicus COI sequence by 36% of the nucleotides and 32 amino acid substitutions. Species-specific oligonucleotide primers were designed for Calanus spp. (which cannot be distinguished at larval stages) and Pseudocalanus spp. (which are difficult to distinguish even as adults). Individual copepods were identified using competitive, multiplexed species-specific polymerase chain reactions (PCR) in two studies of co-occurring sibling species. The first study confirmed the presence of three Calanus spp. in Oslofjord, Norway and found a predominance of C. helgolandicus. The second study determined patterns of distribution and abundance of Pseudocalanus spp. on Georges Bank in the NW Atlantic and showed that P. moultoni predominated in shallow and coastal waters, while P. newmani was more abundant in offshore regions flanking the Bank. Competitive, species-specific PCR is a useful tool for biological oceanographers. This simple, rapid, and inexpensive assay may be used to identify morphologically-similar individuals of any size and life stage, and to determine a species' presence or absence in pooled samples.

Notes: Abstract The first species of the genus Helobdella in Australia is recorded from Victoria. Helobdella papillornata has all of the diagnostic features of the genus including: triannulate segments, one pair of eyes on somite II, diffuse salivary glands, five crop caeca, one annulus between the gonopores and one annulus between the anus and the caudal sucker. It is characterised by a subterminal mouth, lobed gastric caeca, five to seven darkly pigmented papillae per somite on the dorsal surface, 14 brown dorsal stripes, five pairs of compact testisacs and a resting length of 15 mm and a maximum extended length of 40 mm. Individuals lay between 20 and 50 eggs attached directly to the ventral surface of the parent. At 20 °C the eggs hatch after 2 weeks and the young immediately reattach to the parent for a further 2 to 4 weeks, during which time the attached young feed on snails captured by the parent. After leaving the parent, young forage on their own or in small groups of three or more until they reach reproductive maturity. Individuals become reproductively mature, producing eggs and young, 3 to 4 months after hatching.

Notes: Abstract A species from Lake Poso, Indonesia represents the first instance of cementation in the freshwater bivalve family Corbiculidae. Posostrea anomioides gen. nov., sp. nov., which is cemented indifferently by its left or right valve to calcareous rocks, reaches a size of 16 mm. It has typical corbiculoid dentition, with serrated lateral teeth, and juveniles are brooded primarily in the inner ctenidia. Lake Poso occupies a tectonic fault in central Sulawesi. Posostrea adds to an interesting radiation of endemic fishes and molluscs, including the gastropod genera Miratesta and Tylomelania.

Notes: Abstract It is argued, with selected examples from freshwaterfish systematics, that species should be viewed as anexpression of self-perpetuated clustered variation innature, conforming to the phylogenetic speciesconcept. The importance of species lies in thefunctional and structural significance of theirdiagnostic characters. Species can be nested by theircharacters into a tree diagram (phylogeny) orhierarchical alignment structure (classification) ofcharacter distribution, which may be taken to reflectevolution, the unifying theory of organismaldiversification. The phylogenetic species concept,which emphasizes recognition of a pattern ofvariation, describes better than any other proposedconcept the units called species by systematists.Other concepts are based on processes and normally donot permit recognition of particular taxa. Specieshave unique histories, and speciation may proceed bydifferent mechanisms. Whereas it may be postulatedthat speciation entails an irreversible change in thegenetic structure of taxa, recognized by phenotypicexpression and apparently also maintained to a largeextent by selection for a particular phenotype,species recognition must remain independent ofassumptions about species history and spatialdistribution. Species are monophyletic taxa and thespecies category does not differ significantly inphylogenetic regard from other systematic categories.Species as such are not necessarily evolutionaryunits. It is recommended to apply species names withreference to the diagnostic characters of the speciesand to abandon the type specimen described by theInternational Code of Zoological Nomenclature as anomenclatural reference unit.

Notes: Abstract Corals from 26 sites in the Indian Ocean, from numerous taxonomic sources, are analysed for distribution patterns after applying a consistent synonymy. The data set contains double the amount of distribution information used previously. Cluster analysis shows several contiguous regional groupings within this ocean, and no geographically dispersed groupings exist. Between-site species similarity correlates negatively with distance between sites. Coral species diversity and genus diversity plotted with latitude and longitude confirm that a band of high diversity stretches across the entire Indian Ocean, but that in this Ocean, unlike the Pacific and greater Caribbean area, there is no clear gradient with latitude at least up to the latitudinal limits of coral growth. About half the species are widespread throughout the Indian Ocean. Species frequency/distribution curves and cumulative frequency curves show that 150 species occur at only 2–4 sites. Multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) analysis using only these species confirms that they are important in forming sub-regional groupings which are superimposed on a general Indian Ocean homogeneity. The perennial problem of error in taxonomic data sets is examined. Increasing taxonomic error is introduced into the data using random methods. It is found that about 25% more error can be added to this data set before the relationship between similarity coefficient and geographical distance between pairs of sites is lost. Measures extracted from the clustering procedure using the original data and the data sets with added taxonomic error, show a sharp loss in cluster formation after addition of about 10 or 20% more error.

Notes: Abstract Pteropoda (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Euthecosomata) described by Beets (1943, 1950, 1953) from the alleged Late Miocene/Early Pliocene asphaltic deposits of Buton (SE Sulawesi, Indonesia) are revised. The following species are distinguished: Styliola subula (Quoy & Gaimard, 1827), Cavolinia bituminata (Beets, 1953), Cavolinia mexicana (Collins, 1934), Cavolinia vendryesiana (Guppy, 1873) and Diacria mbaensis Ladd, 1934. A comparison with the Fiji pteropod associations suggests a Miocene (Tortonian to Messinian) age for the Indonesian faunules. Pteropod species described by Ladd (1934) from Viti Levu (Fiji Islands), are revised in an appendix. Five species are distinguished, viz. Creseis acicula (Rang, 1828) (?), Cavolinia gypsorum (Bellardi, 1873), C. mexicana, C. rewaensis (Ladd, 1934) and Diacria mbaensis Ladd, 1934. The presence of Cavolina gypsorum dates this association as Miocene (Tortonian–Messinian).

Notes: Abstract An overview is presented of the actinopterygian fishes from the Late Jurassic (Late Kimmeridgian and Early Tithonian) ‘Plattenkalke’ near Solnhofen (Solnhofen lithographic limestone), Bavaria, Germany. The fish fauna is very diverse, with the palaeonisciform Coccolepis, halecostomes such as Lepidotes, Heterostrophus, three genera of macrosemiids and six genera of pycnodontiforms, halecomorphs including two genera of caturids, two genera of amiids, Ophiopsis, ‘Furo’, Ionoscopus, Brachyichthys, Callopterus, Liodesmus, ?Lophiurus, five genera of pachycormids, three genera of pholidophorids, Pleuropholis, two genera of aspidorhynchids and eleven genera of basal teleosts. Although several groups have been subject of revision, most of the fauna remains poorly known. Study of this rich fauna will provide a lot of information on the phylogeny and interrelationships of halecostome fishes.