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The Eastern Pacific Black Ghostshark Hydrolagus melanophasma (James et al. Zootaxa 2218:59–68, 2009) is a recently described deep water holocephalan found along the Eastern Pacific and so far known from a few records. Here we present new records for this species based on specimens collected as bycatch in the Chilean Seabass, Dissostichus eleginoides Smith, 1898 fishery at a depth of 1800 m off Taltal (25°S), northern Chile. This is the first record of Hydrolagus melanophasma in northern Chile, and its second occurrence in the southeastern Pacific, filling a gap in the distribution of the species and confirming its presence in the southeastern Pacific. We also report the first record of a Gyrocotyle species as parasite in this species.

The achatinellid Pacificella variabilis Odhner, 1922, is reported for the first time since its original description from its type locality, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), South Pacific Ocean, Chile. Specimens were found living on the bark of a lemon tree in Hanga Roa town and among the endemic grass Paspalum forsterianum on Motu Nui Islet. A redescription of the shell based on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is provided. This represents the first report of the habitat of the species on Easter Island.

The ecology of leeches worldwide has been scarcely studied, with the ecology of Neotropical leeches remaining highly unknown. Americobdella valdiviana, an endemic, carnivorous, and giant leech that inhabits the Valdivian evergreen forest in southern Chile, an ecosystem that has experienced an increase in its net loss from 3.6% to 12% in the last decades due to various human activities. Here, we combined citizen science with species distribution models (SDM) to analyze (i) the effect of habitat variables with the abundance A. valdiviana, (ii) the distribution range, (iii) the habitat loss and fragmentation of A. valdiviana, and (iv) their conservation status. First, we asked each user or scientist for the observed relative abundance and a series of environmental variables, which were then correlated by using Generalized Linear Models. Then, distribution ranges were estimated using SDM, which was combined with multiannual forest cover maps to identify habitat loss and fragmentation between 2000 and 2018. Finally, we used IUCN criteria to evaluate the conservation status of this species. Abundance was related mainly to the canopy coverage, while suitability was positively associated to temperature seasonality and canopy cover. Suitability was higher in forests with levels of primary productivity. We found that the north and center zones of the species range experienced high habitat loss and fragmentation. Under IUCN Red List criteria, we qualified this species as endangered. Our results support that the combination of citizen science, SDM, and spatial analysis at local and biogeographical scales can inform conservation actions of poorly known and threatened macroinvertebrate fauna.

Resumo: Este trabalho investigou os caenogastrópodes da família Columbellidae Swainson, 1840 pertencentes ao gênero Alia H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853 no litoral do Perú com base no estudo do material tipo depositado no “The Natural History Museum” e material coletado na zona infralitoral da costa do Perú e depositado na coleção malacológica “Carlos Alberto Arias Avila”. O gênero Alia está representado por sete espécies. Alia unifasciata (G. B. Sowerby I, 1832) é a única espécie registrada para a costa do Perú. Atualmente, Alia unicolor (G. B. Sowerby I, 1832) é reconhecida como um sinônimo de A. unifasciata. Neste estudo, o material tipo e espécimes representativos de cada táxon foram estudados e ilustrados. Tal análise possibilitou reconhecer A. unicolor como uma espécie de Columbellidae válida para o Oceano Pacífico com base no estudo da morfologia da concha. O estudo do material tipo e material adicional mostrou que as mais óbvias características que distinguem A. unicolor da sua congênere são a presença de existencia de voltas com um contorno mais convexo, sutura profunda, abertura alargada formando um ombro na região posterior e base columelar com uma visível curvature. Alia unifasciata possui voltas subachatadas, sutura levemente marcada, abertura estreitada sem a formação de um ombro abapical e base columelar reta a suavemente curvada. Alia unifasciata também difere de A. unicolor devido a presence de uma faixa espiral subsutural esbranquiçada.Palavras chave: Taxonomia, Mollusca, Neogastropoda, nomenclatura, Oceano Pacífico, águas rasas.

Terrestrial mollusks are one of the least studied groups of terrestrial invertebrates, especially in the Neotropics. In Chile, there is scarce biological and ecological information about many genera, even though the group is quite diverse and occupies different habitats along the country. Plectostylus araucanus is the most recently described species and one of the few arboreal species found only in the coastal native forest of central-south of Chile. In this study, we recorded a new locality for P. araucanus in the Maule region and described ecological and physiological characteristics. The new locality is placed 204 km northwards of the type locality. Based on different records, Plectostylus araucanus is proposed as an endangered (EN) species under the distribution criterion of IUCN. Most of the specimens of P. araucanus were found living in tree cavities and away from the edge of native forest fragments. Physiological measures showed monthly differences, especially between some months of summer and fall and between months of the same season (i.e., summer). We discuss the implications of our results in the microhabitat selection, thermoregulation and habitat use by this tree snail, and the importance of this data in management and conservation for other native malacofauna.

The two-lined sea pen Distichoptilum gracile Verrill, 1882, the type and only species that is considered valid in the genus Distichoptilum Verrill, 1882, is a rather large deep-water pennatulacean found in soft bottoms. Its deep red colonies are conspicuously long (1 m or more) and thin, with autozooids arranged alternately in simple rows on each side. This species has an almost cosmopolitan but fragmentary distribution, with sparse records from the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. In the Pacific Ocean, its occurrence has been scarcely reported: from off Mexico, the Galapagos Archipelago and off New Zealand. The present record of this rare species is based on a collected colony that was entangled in a longline used in the fisheries of the Patagonian toothfish Dissostichus eleginoides Smitt, 1898, off Chanaral (26°S), Region de Atacama, along the continental margin of northern Chile. Distichoptilum gracile is the third species of the entire order Pennatulacea to be recorded in Chile, being also the first record of the family Protoptilidae Kolliker, 1872, and of the genus Distichoptilum Verrill, 1882 for Chile. The presence of this species confirms the need not only for further studies of the bycatch of commercial fisheries, but also for inventories to document the diversity of deep-water anthozoans in the southeastern Pacific.

During summer 2017 an anomalous and unprecedented developing of warm water off the coast of Chile was presented, namely Coastal El Nino event. Coincidentally, a high amount of strandings of Portuguese Man-of-War (Physalia physalis) were present at that time. In this work we determine the latitudinal and seasonal distribution of the pleustonic siphonophore P. physalis in the southeastern Pacific, from January 2016 to December 2017. The northernmost and southernmost records for the southeastern Pacific were recorded in this study, from Arica (18 ∘ 26’S; 70 ∘ 18’W) to Quellon (43 ∘ 21’S; 74 ∘ 07’W) in Chile, respectively. During the surveyed period, the greatest strandings of this species were recorded both in the north (23 ∘ S) and south of Chile (36–38 ∘ S) during the austral summer months, coinciding when sea surface is relatively warmer. The number of strandings registered in 2017 was more than 4 times the number of strandings during 2016; this is 17339 colonies in 2017 and 3910 colonies in 2016. The association between the maximum observed strandings and the time of appearance of Coastal El Nino event during summer 2017 are also discussed. Our findings can be used as guidance in the monitoring of P. physalis, in order to prevent encounters and therefore possible accidents with humans in coastal waters and beaches by strandings.

Xenophyophores are a group of large foraminifera, confined to deep-sea habitats below ~500 m, whose often fragile agglutinated tests may attain sizes up to 10–15 cm or more; their agglutinated tests incorporate a variety of foreign particles (termed ‘xenophyae’), including mineral particles, foraminiferan and radiolarian tests, diatom frustules and sponge spicules, and form structures ranging from simple tubes, plates and rounded lumps to complex folded, branching or reticulated formations (Tendal, 1972). Xenophyophores are widely distributed around the world, particularly in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans with comparatively few records from the Indian Ocean and from Arctic and Antarctic seas; they occur at all depths in the oceans from ~500 m to >10,900 m (Tendal, 1972, 1996) and are particularly abundant in regions of high surface production, for example beneath upwelling zones, or on seamounts and sloped topography where particle flux is high (Levin and Gooday, 1992). There are scant records regarding xenophyophores in the SE Pacific. Species of the order Stannomida are recorded from the Ecuador and Peru margins (north of ~12°S) (Tendal 1972: Figs 18, 19), while species of the order Psamminida are common in the DISCOL experimental area of the Peru Basin (~7° 4ˈS, 88° 28’W; ~4150 m depth). Maybury and Evans (1994) illustrated two specimens of an undescribed Psammina species collected during the 1989 DISCOL campaign, but otherwise these collections remain largely unpublished.

Nuevas adiciones a la fauna de moluscos de tierra del Archipiélago de Juan Fernández (Chile) se presentan por primera vez desde o dhner (1922). Los ejemplares fueron colectados incidentales a especies de artrópodos obtenidas por el método Berlese en la Isla de Robinson Crusoe en 2011. Un nuevo género y especie de Charopidae es descrito: Neoparyphantopsis crusoeana gen. y sp. n.; se establece además un nuevo nombre para el achatinélido Tornatellina aperta o dhner 1922 (non Tornatellina aperta P eaSe 1864); se propone una nueva combinación para Punctum conicum o dhner 1922, transfiriendo esta especie desde el género Punctum MorSe 1864 de la familia Punctidae al género Sinployea S oleM 1983, de la familia Charopidae; y cinco especies pertenecientes a los géneros Amphidoxa a lberS 1850, Fernandezia h yatt & P ilSbry 1911, Sinployea S oleM 1983 y Tornatellina P FeiFFer 1842 son re-descritas. También se registra la primera ocurrencia de una espe - cie de molusco Vertiginidae en Chile. Todas las especies estudiadas son, hasta el momento, endémicas al Archipiélago de Juan Fernández. El presente trabajo confirma el status de la Isla Robinson Crusoe como la comuna con la mayor riqueza de moluscos terrestres en Chile relativa a su área. New additions to the land mollusk fauna of the Juan Fernández Archipelago (Chile) are presented for the first time since o dhner (1922). The specimens were collected incidental to arthropod species obtained by the Berlese method in Robinson Crusoe Island in 2011. A new Charopidae Neoparyphantopsis crusoeana gen. and sp. n. is described. A new name is established for the achatinellid Tornatellina aperta o dhner 1922 (non Tornatellina aperta P eaSe 1864). A new combination is proposed for Punctum conicum o dhner 1922, transferring this species from the genus Punctum MorSe 1864 of family Punctidae to the genus Sinployea SoleM 1983, of the family Charopidae; and five species belonging to the genera Amphidoxa a lberS 1850, Fernandezia h yatt & P ilSbry 1911, Sinployea S oleM 1983 and Tornatellina P FeiFFer 1842 are re-described. Also, the first occurrence of a Vertiginidae species in Chile is recorded. All of the studied taxa are so far endemic to the Juan Fernández Archipelago. The present paper confirms the status of Robinson Crusoe Island as the commune with the richest fauna of terrestrial snails in Chile relative to its area. Fil: Miquel, Sergio Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ; Argentina Fil: Araya, Juan Francisco. Universidad de Atacama; Chile

New distribution records of the pleustonic siphonophore Physalia physalis Linnaeus, 1758, are presented based on the record of several colonies washed ashore during January to June 2015 around the port of Caldera (27° S), Region de Atacama, northern Chile. The bright blue-purplish colonies of this species have unique morphological characteristics, which include a conspicuous sail-like, gas-filled pneumatophore, and thin, ribbon-like tentacles (cormidia). Although the colonies of this conspicuous “jellyfish” are widely known in the northern Chilean coasts associated with the El Nino Southern Oscillation Events, scientific records are scarce. This is the third and northernmost record of P. physalis in Chile, extending the previously known northern distribution record of this species in the country by about 890 km.

Deep waters of the South Pacific off northern Chile remain poorly studied, particularly in regard to invertebrate faunas. Some recent works include new records on deep-water species, mostly from the bycatch of benthic fisheries concentrated along the continental margin of the country. Among these, a few specimens of an unidentified bathylasmatine balanomorph were collected off Caldera, northern Chile, and they are described here as Bathylasma chilense sp. nov. While this is the second report of a bathylasmatid in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, the first being Tetrachaelasma southwardi Newman & Ross, 1971, it is not only the first but the deepest known (1800-2000 m) species of Bathylasma. Its discovery increases the number of described Bathylasma species to eight, four of which are extant. This is the third deep-water balanomorph cirriped recorded for the region where it may represent an isolate from a West Wind Drift fauna, an immigrant from the western Pacific, or a relict of a once cosmopolitan Paleocene-Eocene fauna now having an amphitropical component.

Se presentan nuevos registros para Bostryx holostoma (Pfeiffer, 1846), Pupoides minimus (Philippi, 1860), Stephacharopa calderaensis Miquel y Araya, 2013 y una especie no identificada de la familia Charopidae, basados en ejemplares recolectados cerca de la ciudad de Antofagasta, en el norte de Chile. Se presenta el primer registro de S. calderaensis desde su descripción, extendiendo su distribución conocida hacia el norte en cerca de 350 km. Se presentan además detalles de la protoconcha de B. holostoma que también extiende su intervalo de distribución 145 km al sur. El microhábitat de estas especies en litorrefugios podría explicar la presencia de estos pequeños moluscos terrestres en el hiperárido norte chileno, destacando asimismo la necesidad de estudios adicionales en esta fauna poca conocida. New records for Bostryx holostoma (Pfeiffer, 1846), Pupoides minimus (Philippi, 1860), Stephacharopa calderaensis Miquel & Araya, 2013 and an unidentified charopid species are presented on the basis of specimens collected near the city of Antofagasta, in northern Chile. This is the first record for S. calderaensis after its description, extending its known distribution about 350 km northwards. Details on the protoconch of B. holostoma are presented for the first time, and this species extends its distributional range 145 km southwards. The microhabitat of these species in litho-refugia may explain the presence of these minute terrestrial mollusks in hyper arid northern Chile, further highlighting the need of additional studies of this neglected fauna. Fil: Araya, Juan Francisco. Universidad de Atacama; Chile. Universidad de Concepción; Chile Fil: Miquel, Sergio Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ; Argentina Fil: Martínez, Edmundo. Antofagasta Minerals; Chile

The Molluscan species of the northern littoral of Chile have been sparsely studied. This work reviews for the first time the diversity of polyplacophoran molluscs around the port of Caldera, in the Region of Atacama (26°45'49"S; 70°45'17"W to 27°20'23"S; 70°56'46"W), northern Chile. Eleven species were found in this study: Acanthopleura echinata (Barnes, 1824); Callistochiton pulchellus (Gray, 1828); Calloplax vivipara (Plate, 1899), Chaetopleura peruviana (Lamarck, 1819); Chiton cumingsii Frembly, 1827; Chiton granosus Frembly, 1827; Chiton magnificus Deshayes, 1827; Enoplochiton niger (Barnes, 1824), Radsia barnesii (Gray, 1828), Tonicia atrata (G. B. Sowerby II, 1840) and Tonicia chilensis (Frembly, 1827). All of the species occurring in the area have distributions in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, from Ecuador to central Chile, and three of them are species endemic to the Chilean coasts (Calloplax vivipara, Radsia barnesii, and Tonicia atrata). This diversity of species is comparable to that of better surveyed faunas of central and southern Chile or Patagonia. Of the eleven species recorded, the geographic distribution records for Callistochiton pulchellus, Radsia barnesii and Tonicia atrata are extended, and Calloplax vivipara is found alive again after 40 years, filling a gap in its known distribution. Illustrations of living specimens in their habitat, distribution records and a taxonomic key for all the studied taxa are also provided.

A new species ofScutalusAlbers, 1850 (Gastropoda: Bulimulidae),Scutalus changosp. n., is described from a coastal area of northern Chile. Empty shells of this new species were found buried in sand and under boulders and rocks in the foothills of the Chilean Coastal Range at Paposo, Región de Antofagasta. This new species is distinguished from all other Chilean terrestrial snails by its slender shell with a flared and reflected aperture, and by the presence of a columellar fold. This is the first record ofScutalusin Chile, and the southernmost record for this endemic South American bulimulid genus. The presence of this species in Paposo highlights the need for further research and for conservation guidelines in coastal areas of northern Chile, which have comparatively high levels of biodiversity and endemism.

Terrestrial mollusca are sparsely studied in Chile and, for the first time, a formal record of the diversity of land snails in northern Chile is reported. Coastal and desertic areas in the Region of Atacama, in the border of the Atacama desert and the Pacific Ocean, were surveyed with the aim to describe the presence and distribution of this poorly known fauna. Of the fourteen species recorded, the geographic distribution records for nine species are extended, and some taxa are recorded for the first time since their original descriptions. All, except one, of the fourteen terrestrial molluscan species occurring in the area are endemic to Chile; they are all terrestrial species, most of them have a restricted geographic distribution, and none of them is currently protected by law. The results reveal that the region of Atacama has one of the most diverse terrestrial snail biodiversity in Chile, ranking only after the Juan Fernandez Archipelago. Distribution records of all the studied species and a taxonomic key are also provided.

The bulimulid genusBostryxTroschel, 1847 is the most species-rich genus of land snails found in Chile, with the majority of its species found only in the northern part of the country, usually in arid coastal zones. This genus has been sparsely studied in Chile and there is little information on their distribution, diversity or ecology. Here, for the first time, a formal analysis of the diversity of bulimulids in the Región de Atacama, northern Chile, is reported. Of the seventeen species recorded for the area, most of them were efectively found in the field collections and one record was based on literature. Five taxa are described as new:Bostryx ancavilorumsp. nov.,Bostryx breureisp. nov.,Bostryx calderaensissp. nov.,Bostryx ireneaesp. nov. andBostryx valdovinosisp. nov., and the known geographic distribution of seven species is extended. Results reveal that the Región de Atacama is the richest region in terrestrial snails in Chile, after the Juan Fernández Archipelago. All of the terrestrial molluscan species occurring in the area are endemic to Chile, most of them with restricted geographic distributions along the coastal zones, and none of them are currently protected by law. Further sampling in northern Chile will probably reveal more snail species to be discovered and described.

All records of the 15 hexactinellid sponge species known to occur off Chile are reviewed, including the first record in the Southeastern Pacific of the genus Caulophacus Schulze, 1885, with the new species Caulophacus chilense sp. n. collected as bycatch in the deep water fisheries of the Patagonian toothfish Dissostichus eleginoides Smitt, 1898 off Caldera (27oS), Region of Atacama, northern Chile. All Chilean hexactinellid species occur in bathyal to abyssal depths (from 256 up to 4142 m); nine of them are reported for the Sala y Gomez and Nazca Ridges, with one species each in the Juan Fernandez Archipelago and Easter Island. The Chilean hexactinellid fauna is still largely unknown, consisting of only 2.5 % of the known hexactinellid extant species. Further studies and deep water sampling are essential to assess their ecology and distribution, particularly in northern Chile.