Three members of Opisthomonorcheides Parukhin, 1966 (Digenea: Monorchiidae) from carangid fishes (Perciformes) from Indonesia, with a review of the genus

Three species of Opisthomonorcheides Parukhin, 1966 are reported for the first time from Indonesian waters: O. pampi (Wang, 1982) Liu, Peng, Gao, Fu, Wu, Lu, Gao & Xiao, 2010 and O. ovacutus (Mamaev, 1970) Machida, 2011 from Parastromateus niger (Bloch), and O. decapteri Parukhin, 1966 from Atule mate (Cuvier). Both O. pampi and O. ovacutus can now be considered widespread in the Indo-Pacific region, with earlier records of these species being from Fujian Province, China and Penang, Malaysia, respectively. We redescribe O. decapteri from one of its original hosts, Atule mate, off New Caledonia, and report this species from Jakarta Bay, Indonesia, extending its range throughout the Indian Ocean into the south-western Pacific. All three species possess a genital atrium that is long, sometimes very long, and a genital pore that is located in the forebody. This validates the interpretation that the original description was erroneous in reporting the genital pore in the hindbody, well posterior to the ventral sucker. These observations verify the synonymy of Retractomonorchis Madhavi, 1977 with Opisthomonorcheides. A major discrepancy between the species of Opisthomonorcheides is that some are described with the uterus entering the terminal organ laterally and some with it entering terminally; this feature needs further analysis. Based on the length of the genital atrium and the posterior extent of the vitellarium, the 27 species of Opisthomonorcheides considered valid can be divided into four groups. Among the 53 host records analysed, the families Carangidae (53% of records), Stromateidae (17%) and Serranidae (5.7%) are the most common; the reports are overwhelmingly from members of the Perciformes (91%), with further records in the Clupeiformes (5.7%), Gadiformes (1.9%) and Pleuronectiformes (1.9%). Two fish genera (Parastromateus Bleeker and Pampus Bonaparte) dominate the recorded hosts, with the black pomfret Parastromateus niger harbouring six species, the silver pomfret Pampus argenteus (Euphrasen) harbouring six, and the Chinese silver pomfret P. chinensis (Euphrasen) two. A host-parasite checklist is presented. We discuss the host-specificity of members of the genus, questioning some records such as that of O. decapteri in a deep-sea macrourid. We also comment on the morphological similarity, but phylogenetic distance, between the various Pomfret species, advancing the possibility that a series of host misidentifications has occurred. Sequences of the ITS2 rDNA gene generated for O. pampi and O. ovacutus are briefly discussed and molecular data are lodged in the GenBank database

Three new species of blood flukes (Digenea: Aporocotylidae) infecting pufferfishes (Teleostei: Tetraodontidae) from off Bali, Indonesia

We describe three new species of blood flukes (Aporocotylidae) and propose their classification within the genus Psettarium Goto & Ozaki, 1929. All three species were collected from the circulatory systems of pufferfishes caught off Bali, central Indonesia. Psettarium pulchellum n. sp. was found in the gills of both the narrow-lined puffer (Arothron manilensis de Procé) and the spiny blaasop (Tylerius spinosissimus Regan), while P. ogawai n. sp. and P. jimbaranense n. sp. were found in the gills of the reticulated puffer (Arothron reticularis Bloch & Schneider). The morphological characteristics of these taxa necessitated emendation of the diagnosis for the genus Psettarium, to accommodate the presence of an oral sucker, multiple or entirely post-caecal testes and a degenerate posterior testis. Features such as proportion of body length occupied by the oesophagus, and posterior caeca being ≥. 7. × the length of anterior caeca, are no longer regarded as useful genus-level characters. Additionally, Sasala nolani is reassigned to this genus as Psettarium nolani n. comb. In phylogenetic analyses of the 28S and ITS2 rDNA regions, all three new taxa form a well-supported clade, together with Psettarium sinense and Psettarium nolani n. comb., the two other species of tetraodontid-infecting aporocotylids for which comparative rDNA data were available. The short branch lengths within this clade, despite dramatic morphological differences between the five species, suggest that rapid morphological diversification has occurred among the tetraodontid-infecting aporocotylids. The genus Psettarium has long been considered problematic. Further commentary is given on the history of this genus and how the issues presented might be resolved

A Window Into Eastern Mediterranean Productivity Conditions Over Three Pliocene Precession-Forced Climate Cycles

Here, we explore the importance of export productivity versus anoxia in the formation of sedimentary layers with enhanced total organic carbon (TOC) content. We use geochemical, sedimentological and micropaleontological records from two SW Sicily outcropping successions, Lido Rossello (LR) and Punta di Maiata (PM), over three Early Pliocene precession-forced climate cycles (4.7–4.6 million years ago [Ma]). Gray marls, deposited during precession minima, show enhanced TOC in both records. We suggest that basin-wide, low-oxygenated bottom-waters, resulting from freshwater-induced stratification during precession minimum, was integral to preserving gray marl TOC. Furthermore, prolonged eastern Mediterranean stratification may have produced a deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM), leading to “shade-flora” dominated productivity. The LR succession displays two unique laminated layers containing enhanced TOC. These laminations do not occur at specific times in the precession cycle or in time-equivalent PM samples. They are likely to have been produced by an intermittent dysoxic/anoxic pool at LR, caused by a local depression, which enhanced TOC preservation. Consequently, the laminations provide a rare window into “true” eastern Mediterranean productivity conditions during precession maxima, as organic matter is typically poorly preserved during these period due to enhanced ventilation. The laminated “windows” indicate that eastern Mediterranean export productivity may not have been significantly lower during precession maxima compared to precession minima, as previously thought. During these periods, productivity conditions are likely to have been comparable to the modern eastern Mediterranean, with a spring-bloom caused by enhanced winter/spring deep-water mixing preceding a summer “shade-flora” bloom caused by a summer-stratification induced DCM

Genetic characterisation of Echinocephalus spp. (Nematoda: Gnathostomatidae) from marine hosts in Australia

We genetically characterised larval and adult specimens of species of Echinocephalus Molin, 1858 (Gnathostomatidae) collected from various hosts found within Australian waters. Adult specimens of Echinocephalus were collected from a dasyatid stingray [Pastinachus ater (Macleay); n = 2] from Moreton Bay, Queensland and larvae from a hydrophiine sea snake [Hydrophis peronii (Duméril); n = 3] from Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, from an octopus (Octopus djinda Amor & Hart; n = 3) from Fremantle, Western Australia and from a lucinid bivalve [Codakia paytenorum (Iredale); n = 5] from Heron Island, Queensland Australia. All nematode samples were identified morphologically and genetically characterised using the small subunit nuclear ribosomal DNA (SSU). Some morphological differences were identified between previous studies of Echinocephalus spp. and those observed herein but the significance of these differences remains unresolved. Molecular phylogenetic analyses revealed that larval Echinocephalus sp. from H. peronii and C. paytenorum in Australia were very similar (with strong nodal support) to larval Echinocephalus sp. infecting two fish species from Egypt, Saurida undosquamis (Richardson) (Synodontidae) and Pagrus pagrus (Linnaeus) (Sparidae). The SSU sequences of larval Echinocephalus sp. from O. djinda and adults from P. ater formed a well-supported clade with that of adult E. overstreeti Deardorff and Ko, 1983 from the Port Jackson shark, Heterodontus portusjacksoni (Meyer), as well as that of the larval Echinocephalus sp., from the common carp (Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus) from Egypt. This study extends the intermediate host range of Echinocephalus larvae by including a sea snake for the first time. Findings of this study highlight the importance of genetic characterisation of larval and adult specimens of Echinocephalus spp. to resolve the current difficulties in the taxonomy of this genus

Abrupt intrinsic and extrinsic responses of southwestern Iberian vegetation to millennial-scale variability over the past 28 ka

We present new high-resolution pollen records combined with palaeoceanographic proxies from the same samples in deep-sea cores SHAK06-5K and MD01-2444 on the southwestern Iberian Margin, documenting regional vegetation responses to orbital and millennial-scale climate changes over the last 28 ka. The chronology of these records is based on high-resolution radiocarbon dates of monospecific samples of the planktonic foraminifera Globigerina bulloides, measured from SHAK06-5K and MD01-2444 and aligned using an automated stratigraphical alignment method. Changes in temperate and steppe vegetation during Marine Isotope Stage 2 are closely coupled with sea surface temperature (SST) and global ice-volume changes. The peak expansion of thermophilous woodland between ~10.1 and 8.4 cal ka bp lags behind the boreal summer insolation maximum by ~2 ka, possibly arising from residual high-latitude ice-sheets into the Holocene. Rapid changes in pollen percentages are coeval with abrupt transitions in SSTs, precipitation and winter temperature at the onset and end of Heinrich Stadial 2, the ice-rafted debris event and end of Heinrich Stadial 1, and the onset of the Younger Dryas, suggesting extrinsically forced southwestern Iberian ecosystem changes by abrupt North Atlantic climate events. In contrast, the abrupt decline in thermophilous elements at ~7.8 cal ka bp indicates an intrinsically mediated abrupt vegetation response to the gradually declining boreal insolation, potentially resulting from the crossing of a seasonality of precipitation threshold

Two known and one new species of Proctoeces from Australian teleosts: variable host-specificity for closely related species identified through multi-locus molecular data

Species of Proctoeces Odhner, 1911 (Trematoda: Fellodistomidae) have been reported from a wide range of marine animals globally. Members of the genus tend to lack strongly distinguishing morphological features for diagnosis, making identification difficult and the true number of species in the genus contentious. Combined morphological and molecular analyses were used to characterise three species of Proctoeces from Moreton Bay and the southern Great Barrier Reef. Data for two ribosomal regions and one mitochondrial region were generated for specimens collected from Australia. Three unique 18S-genotypes were identified which corresponded to subtle, but reliable, morphological differences. Two species of Proctoeces were identified from fishes of Moreton Bay, Proctoeces insolitus (Nicoll, 1915) Yamaguti, 1953 and P. major Yamaguti, 1934, and a third, P. choerodoni n. sp. from off Heron Island on the southern Great Barrier Reef. Phylogenetic analyses of partial 18S and partial 28S rDNA indicated that these three species differ from the four species reported outside of Australia for which sequence data are available. Phylogenetically, Proctoeces proved to be a reliable concept, with all species of Proctoeces that have been characterised genetically forming a well-supported clade in all analyses. Dramatically different patterns of host-specificity were identified for each of the three Australian species; P. insolitus apparently infects a single species of fish, P. choerodoni n. sp. infects multiple species of a single genus of fish, and P. major infects multiple species of two teleost orders

A complex of the blood fluke genus Psettarium (Digenea: Aporocotylidae) infecting tetraodontiform fishes of east Queensland waters

Seven species of Psettarium (Digenea: Aporocotylidae), including four new species, are reported from tetraodontiform fishes from off coastal east Queensland. Psettarium pandora n. sp. infects the yellow boxfish, Ostracion cubicus (Ostraciidae), the first known aporocotylid to infect this family of fishes. Three new species are reported from pufferfishes of the genus Arothron (Tetraodontidae): Psettarium yoshidai n. sp. infects the map puffer (Arothron mappa), Psettarium hustoni n. sp. infects the black-spotted puffer (A. nigropunctatus) and Psettarium martini n. sp. infects the starry puffer (A. stellatus). We also report three species of Psettarium from Australian waters for the first time. Paracardicola hawaiensis Martin, 1960, the sole species of Paracardicola, is redescribed based on specimens collected from the type-host, the stars-and-stripes puffer, Arothron hispidus. Paracardicola is synonymised with Psettarium and P. hawaiensis is recombined as Psettarium hawaiiense (Martin, 1960) n. comb. Psettarium pulchellum Yong, Cutmore, Bray, Miller, Semarariana, Palm & Cribb, 2016, described from the narrow-lined puffer (Arothron manilensis) from off Bali, Indonesia, is reported from the same fish species at two locations on the Queensland coast, significantly extending the range of this species. Psettarium nolani (Bray, Cribb & Littlewood, 2013), originally described from French Polynesia, is reported from A. hispidus, A. manilensis and A. stellatus, representing both new host and locality records for this species. Molecular phylogenetic analysis shows these species to all be closely related, such that they cannot be considered to represent separate genera despite their differing morphology. Analysis of 28S sequence data for Psettarium anthicum Bullard & Overstreet, 2006, a non-tetraodontiform-infecting species, shows it to be distantly related to all other species of Psettarium for which sequence data are available. The species is re-assigned to a new genus, Cardallagium n. gen., as Cardallagium anthicum (Bullard & Overstreet, 2006) n. comb. We think it likely that the host range of species of Psettarium is limited to tetraodontiform fishes. We assessed the infection biology of two species, P. nolani and P. hawaiiense n. comb. infecting A. hispidus, using histology to assess the pathways of egg release for these species. Eggs of both species were observed in both circulatory and visceral organs of infected hosts, often in high numbers. Eggs were seen trapped in the mucosal layer of the intestine and, in rare instances, causing lesions in the laminar epithelium, providing the strongest evidence yet that they pass through the gut wall and escape the host via the faeces. Lastly, we discuss the biogeographical implications of our findings, noting that some Psettarium species now show very wide geographical distributions

The force of events: the 'Brexit interval' and popular aspirations for Gibraltarian diplomacy

This paper highlights both an overreliance on legal perspectives in the study of paradiplomacy at the expense of more dynamic understandings of agency, and also the affective force of waiting and other temporal states on political subject formation. Empirically, it reports the results of a longitudinal study on Gibraltarians’ concerns over the Gibraltar–Spain frontier. By comparing data from two identical surveys conducted a year apart during the period between the Brexit referendum and the (as yet incomplete) legal withdrawal, we trace the force of the incomplete event on political subjectivities. Conceptualizing our findings through assemblage theory and paradiplomacy, we highlight that the intensity of the event has heightened Gibraltarians’ dissatisfaction with their constitutional reliance on the UK to resolve Brexit in a way advantageous for Gibraltar. A minor shift occurred in the year studied towards more agentic proscriptions of what the Government of Gibraltar ought to do to resolve Brexit. Quantitative analysis reveals that younger respondents tend to emphasize this more agentic view, while older respondents tend to advocate further lobbying of the UK or feel Gibraltar has a complete lack of agency. Qualitative analysis of the respondents’ policy proscriptions reveals a complex set of views within each perspective on agency

Abrupt intrinsic and extrinsic responses of southwestern Iberian vegetation to millennial-scale variability over the past 28 ka

ABSTRACT: We present new high‐resolution pollen records combined with palaeoceanographic proxies from the same samples in deep‐sea cores SHAK06‐5K and MD01‐2444 on the southwestern Iberian Margin, documenting regional vegetation responses to orbital and millennial‐scale climate changes over the last 28 ka. The chronology of these records is based on high‐resolution radiocarbon dates of monospecific samples of the planktonic foraminifera Globigerina bulloides, measured from SHAK06‐5K and MD01‐2444 and aligned using an automated stratigraphical alignment method. Changes in temperate and steppe vegetation during Marine Isotope Stage 2 are closely coupled with sea surface temperature (SST) and global ice‐volume changes. The peak expansion of thermophilous woodland between ~10.1 and 8.4 cal ka bp lags behind the boreal summer insolation maximum by ~2 ka, possibly arising from residual high‐latitude ice‐sheets into the Holocene. Rapid changes in pollen percentages are coeval with abrupt transitions in SSTs, precipitation and winter temperature at the onset and end of Heinrich Stadial 2, the ice‐rafted debris event and end of Heinrich Stadial 1, and the onset of the Younger Dryas, suggesting extrinsically forced southwestern Iberian ecosystem changes by abrupt North Atlantic climate events. In contrast, the abrupt decline in thermophilous elements at ~7.8 cal ka bp indicates an intrinsically mediated abrupt vegetation response to the gradually declining boreal insolation, potentially resulting from the crossing of a seasonality of precipitation threshold

Molecular approaches to trematode systematics: 'best practice' and implications for future study

To date, morphological analysis has been the cornerstone to trematode systematics. However, since the late-1980s we have seen an increased integration of genetic data to overcome problems encountered when morphological data are considered in isolation. Here, we provide advice regarding the ‘best molecular practice’ for trematode taxonomy and systematic studies, in an attempt to help unify the field and provide a solid foundation to underpin future work. Emphasis is placed on defining the study goals and recommendations are made regarding sample preservation, extraction methods, and the submission of molecular vouchers. We advocate generating sequence data from all parasite species/host species/geographic location combinations and stress the importance of selecting two independently evolving loci (one ribosomal and one mitochondrial marker). We recommend that loci should be chosen to provide genetic variation suitable to address the question at hand and for which sufficient ‘useful’ comparative sequence data already exist. Quality control of the molecular data via using proof-reading Taq polymerase, sequencing PCR amplicons using both forward and reverse primers, ensuring that a minimum of 85% overlap exists when constructing consensus sequences, and checking electropherograms by eye is stressed. We advise that all genetic results are best interpreted using a holistic biological approach, which considers morphology, host identity, collection locality, and ecology. Finally, we consider what advances next-generation sequencing holds for trematode taxonomy and systematics