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This paper describes four new species of earthworms, Amynthas shinanmontis sp. nov., Amynthas chilanensis sp. nov., Amynthas bilineatus sp. nov., and Amynthas cruxus sp. nov. from Taiwan. Amynthas shinanmontis is sexthecate and parthenogenetic with individuals with various levels of degeneration of spermathecae and male reproductive organs. It occurs at elevations of 1700–2700 m in the Central Mountain Range in southern Taiwan. Amynthas bilineatus and A. chilanensis are athecate and also parthenogenetic. They occur, respectively, at elevations of 1000 m in the central region and 1325 m in the northeastern region of Taiwan. Amynthas cruxus is octothecate, amphimictic, and occurs at elevations of 900–1700 m in southern Taiwan. This paper also discusses confusion and dilemma caused by uncertain, speculative synonyms and parthenogenetic morphs in species delimitation in oligochaete taxonomy, and recommends the use of absolute synonyms and phylogenetic species concept.

In this paper current knowledge on the diversity of the gastropod cephalaspidean genus Haminoea from India is revised. A comprehensive literature review was undertaken and novel specimens were coll...

The distinctive, large bumblebee Bombus tanguticus Morawitz was described from yellow-banded queens (females) collected from high elevations on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) by Nikolay Przhevalsky’s fourth Central Asia expedition. One of Morawitz’s syntype females is designated here as lectotype. Because of the distinctive female morphology, Pittioni placed the species in a subgenus of its own, Tanguticobombus. Surprisingly, in the 130 years since its description, and despite extensive sampling of bumblebees across the QTP, records for just seven more individuals of B. tanguticus have been published, all queens. In this paper I report two recently collected workers (females) that extend the known distribution of the species and describe a new white-banded colour pattern from one of the workers. Available data on the species’ distribution are mapped, the location of the collecting site for the highest confirmed records of any bumblebees worldwide at c. 5640 m above sea level is discussed, and the closest relatives of the species identified, placing it in the lapidarius-group of the subgenus Melanobombus and most likely close to the European B. lapidarius.

This paper provides a generic diagnosis, a species list and taxonomy for the genus Symplocodes Hebard, 1929. The new species Symplocodes euryloba sp. nov. from China is described and illustrated. Symplocodes tsaii Bey-Bienko, 1958 is regarded as a subspecies of Symplocodes marmorata (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1893), i.e. S. marmorata tsaii comb. nov., and its differences from S. marmorata marmorata (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1893) are discussed. Two known species, Symplocodes ridleyi (Shelford, 1912) and Symplocodes manubria Feng et Guo, 1990, are redescribed and illustrated, whereas one new specific synonym, i.e. Symplocodes brachialis, is proposed. A key to species worldwide is provided. The tarsal claws of these four species as well as one species of Chorisoserrata Roth, 1998 are examined and photographed to compare the intergeneric differentiation of claw specialization and to discuss its function.

A recently published paper on some Helix species from the East Mediterranean basin is briefly reviewed. Parts of the results of the authors of that study are erroneous because they are based on a misinterpretation of some of the taxa involved. An analysis of the actually studied taxa is presented, and the essential consequences for nomenclature and phylogeny are discussed.

This paper presents both the description and the iconographic documentation of a mite species new to science: Orthadenella coulsoni sp. nov., recorded from Siberia, Russia. A key for determining females of all species within this genus is included.http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3B416529-A22D-43B3-96BD-3D5A8ED4F0F1

[EN] A new mite species of the family Phytoseiidae (Acari:Mesostigmata), Typhlodromus (Typhlodromus) thuriferus sp. nov. collected from the Cupressaceae Juniperus thurifera in Spain is described. Three species of the same subgenus, new records for Spain, are also included. A key to all the species of this subgenus is given., The authors wish to thank Drs. Jim McMurtry of Oregon State University, USA and Farid Faraji of MITOX, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, for their critical review of this paper. Part of this work was based upon research supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF), SouthAfrica. Any opinion, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in the material are those of the authors and therefore the NRF does not accept any liability in regard thereto.

A checklist of 63 species of tardigrades from the Tsinling Mountains is given in this paper. Thirty‐seven species of tardigrades that had never been found in the Tsinling Mountains were reported here. Twenty of them are new records for the mountains, 15 of them are new records for China, two of them are new to science. Pseudechiniscus pilatoi sp. n. is similar to Pseudechiniscus quadrilobatus Iharos, 1969. It differs from P. quadrilobatus in different cuticular sculpture, in the joints of paired‐plates, near the dorsal median line, uplifting but not protruding backward, and in lacking notches on terminal plate. Echiniscus marleyi sp. n. differs from E. canadensis Murray in having filaments D; it differs from E. mediantus Marcus in lacking filaments C but in having filaments D; it differs from E. spinulosus (Doyere) in lacking teeth B, C, E, and in having filaments D instead of teeth D.

In this paper we provide checklist of 26 species of Tetrigoidea ground grasshoppers (Scelimenidae, Metrodoridae and Tetrigidae) from the Zuojiang Area, a natural reserve located near Nanning City in the southwestern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of southwestern China. In addition, two new species: Coptotettix zaujiangensis sp. nov. and Euparatettix obliqucosta sp. nov. of Tetrigidae are described. Type specimens are deposited at the Institute of Zoology, Shaanxi Normal University, and College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University.

The pholcid spiders of Sri Lanka have never been revised in any detail. Most species previously known from the island are widespread synanthropics. However, recent collecting has revealed a rich native fauna, with new taxa at species and genus levels. In this paper we redescribe Pholcus ceylonicus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1869, present the first record of Modisimus culicinus (Simon, 1893) for Sri Lanka, and describe two new species of a new genus, Wanniyala agrabopath n. sp. and Wanniyala hakgala n. sp. Both new species appear to be restricted to relatively undisturbed forests, where they inhabit the leaf-litter. Several new Sri Lankan species tentatively assigned to Belisana Thorell will be described in a forthcoming revision of that genus. These studies suggest that a rich pholcid fauna may await discovery in Sri Lanka.

Loaches of the genus Niwaella, family Cobitidae, are distributed only in East Asia. At present only in Japan and South Korea have fishes of the genus Niwaella been found. Herein we revise the genus Niwaella in China. Son and He ( 2001) transferred the species Cobitis laterimaculata to the genus Niwaella, but their specimens were not N. laterimaculata, but a new species, N. longibarba sp. n., collected from Cao'ejiang River, Huangzezhen, Chengxian County, Zhejiang Province. The new species is distinguished from N. laterimaculata by its colour pattern of a row of slightly large, and long, scattered dark brown vertical bars on the dorsolateral surface, two or three striations on the caudal fin, and long barbels and undeveloped mental lobes. In this paper we also describe another new species, N. xinjiangensis sp. n., collected from Xinjiang River, Guangfeng County, Jiangxi Province, May 1990, with diagnostic colour pattern of 17 - 20 large and long, dark brown vertical bars on the dorsolateral surface, a dark stripe or rounded black spots along the lateral midline and some blotches below the lateral midline; it is a large-sized species, with shorter barbels, and longer caudal peduncle. Thus five species of the genus Niwaella are known, three are endemic to eastern China and two are endemic to either Japan or South Korea.

Plagiodontes patagonicus (d'Orbigny, 1835) is a quite variable species endemic to southern Buenos Aires province (Argentina). Its taxonomic characterization did not include any quantitative analysis of variability for an accurate discrimination, and the extremes of its variation were described as different subspecies or species. In this paper, shell measurements and angles, and quantitative data on the terminal male genitalia were studied by Principal Component Analysis and Varimax multivariate analysis. Typical Plagiodontes patagonicus and the largest form known as P. patagonicus magnus Hylton-Scott, 1951 showed an almost continuous pattern of shell variation, which is positively correlated with the altitude gradient over their geographical range, which in turn is correlated with a rainfall gradient, i.e. they constitute a size-form cline that does not allow objective delimitation of different morphospecies. Data from the genital system were also arranged as a geographical gradient within the P. patagonicus patagonicus-P. patagonicus magnus continuum. The variability of protoconch sculpture and apertural teeth also indicate recognition of them as a single taxon. Fil: Cazzaniga, Néstor Jorge. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia; Argentina Fil: Piza, Julia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia; Argentina Fil: Ghezzi, Natalia S.. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia; Argentina

The endemic freshwater planarian Dugesia hepta from Sardinia was described mainly by karyology and karyotype analysis and by geographic distribution. The present paper reports on the detailed morphological study of the copulatory apparatus and highlights the fact that the exclusive diagnostic characters of D. hepta are the shape of the penis papilla, the course and opening of the ejaculatory duct and the openings of the shell glands. A neotype is designated on the basis of a detailed description, and the geographic range of the species is better defined. The two phylogenetically important traits represented by the course and opening of the ejaculatory duct show an unknown condition in the genus Dugesia, diverging from the typical one displayed by the other 69 species. A comparative analysis of morphological traits of the 20 Mediterranean species of the genus Dugesia was made.

Walter George Ridewood (1867–1921), an English comparative anatomist, was influential for many reasons, including his methods for preparing anatomical specimens and the factual results of his studies, as well as through his approach toward systematic comparative anatomy. Ridewood was not limited to expertise in any particular taxonomic group, but rather researched and published on many groups and anatomical systems, most notably on the hyoid apparatus of basal anurans, the skull of basal teleostean fishes, the gill morphology of lamellibranch molluscs, and the morphology and taxonomy of the pterobranch Cephalodiscus. In this paper, we describe Ridewood's life, and discuss his influence, particularly in regards to the systematic osteology of teleostean fishes. We provide a partially annotated list of Ridewood's published works.

This paper provides a checklist and a key to the 22 Chinese species of the nirvanine leafhopper genus Sophonia Walker. Two new species, Sophonia transvittata sp. nov. and S. yunnanensis sp. nov., a...

An account is given of new distributional records and the taxonomy of nine species of marine triclad, including the description of two new species. After more than 100 years of uncertainty, the paper resolves the taxonomic status of the enigmatic nominal species Procerodes solowetzkianus Sabussow, 1900. The study concludes with a biogeographic analysis of all species of marine planarian by documenting patterns of species richness on an equal area grid map of the world.