New Species and Host Associations of Commensal Leucothoid Amphipods from Coral Reefs in Florida and Belize (Crustacea:Amphipoda)

Six new amphipod species in the genus Leucothoe from the tropical western Atlantic Ocean are described and illustrated. Extensive field collecting and specialized underwater collecting techniques have documented 43 new invertebrate host records for these new taxa. Four of these new species inhabit interior canals of sponges; Leucothoe barana n.sp., Leucothoe garifunae n.sp., Leucothoe saron n.sp., and Leucothoe ubouhu n.sp. A remarkable new species, Leucothoe flammosa n.sp., nestles in the gills of seven species of bivalve mollusks. A single species, Leucothoe wuriti n.sp., appears restricted to the branchial chamber of two species of solitary ascidians. Detailed illustrations and scanning electron microscopy enables comparison of ultrastructure details. More precise taxonomic character morphologies are also presented thus allowing improved taxonomic precision within the family Leucothoidae

Global Civil Procedure Trends in the Twenty-First Century

Recent scholarship in comparative civil procedure has identified “American exceptionalism” as a way to describe practices which set the United States apart from most of the world, particularly the civil law world. This Article focuses on two areas of “exceptionalism”: pleading standards and the role of judges. Specifically, pleading requirements are considerably less strict in the United States compared to other countries. Additionally, U.S. judges are less active in conducting litigation than their counterparts elsewhere, especially judges in the civil law tradition. This Article traces some modern trends toward convergence between the United States and the rest of the world. With regard to pleading standards, two recent Supreme Court cases, Bell Atlantic v. Twombly and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, have moved U.S. pleading standards closer to the rest of the world. With regard to judicial roles, convergence has been bilateral, with U.S. judges becoming more “managerial” and European judges becoming less so. Additionally, civil law judges have begun to enjoy broader discretion, increasing their prestige and visibility in a manner similar to the U.S. judge. The final focus of the Article is whether these recent trends represent opportunities for improvement or an unwelcome disruption for the U.S. procedural system

Concerted loop motion triggers induced fit of FepA to ferric enterobactin

Spectroscopic analyses of fluorophore-labeled Escherichia coli FepA described dynamic actions of its surface loops during binding and transport of ferric enterobactin (FeEnt). When FeEnt bound to fluoresceinated FepA, in living cells or outer membrane fragments, quenching of fluorophore emissions reflected conformational motion of the external vestibular loops. We reacted Cys sulfhydryls in seven surface loops (L2, L3, L4, L5, L7 L8, and L11) with fluorophore maleimides. The target residues had different accessibilities, and the labeled loops themselves showed variable extents of quenching and rates of motion during ligand binding. The vestibular loops closed around FeEnt in about a second, in the order L3 > L11 > L7 > L2 > L5 > L8 > L4. This sequence suggested that the loops bind the metal complex like the fingers of two hands closing on an object, by individually adsorbing to the iron chelate. Fluorescence from L3 followed a biphasic exponential decay as FeEnt bound, but fluorescence from all the other loops followed single exponential decay processes. After binding, the restoration of fluorescence intensity (from any of the labeled loops) mirrored cellular uptake that depleted FeEnt from solution. Fluorescence microscopic images also showed FeEnt transport, and demonstrated that ferric siderophore uptake uniformly occurs throughout outer membrane, including at the poles of the cells, despite the fact that TonB, its inner membrane transport partner, was not detectable at the poles

Studies of Commensal Leucothoid Amphipods: Two New Sponge-Inhabiting Species from South Florida and the Western Caribbean

Two new species of commensal leucothoid amphipods, Leucothoe ashleyae and Leucothoe kensleyi, are described with detailed host and ecological data. Although leucothoid amphipods are common endocommensals in sponges, tunicates, and bivalve mollusks, few authors have detailed specific host associations. Information on specific leucothoid host associations will further refine taxonomic and ecological studies within Leucothoidae. The convoluted taxonomic history of leucothoids necessitates the development and application of more precise taxonomic methodologies to enable comparative analyses among taxa. Persistent taxonomic constraints within Leucothoidae [sensu lato] include numerous cryptic species groups, most notably the problematic Leucothoe spinicarpa complex

FIGURE 17. Leucothoe ubouhu n in New species and host associations of commensal leucothoid amphipods from coral reefs in Florida and Belize (Crustacea: Amphipoda)

FIGURE 17. Leucothoe ubouhu n. sp. male holotype " A, " 9.03 mm; female paratype " B, " 7.78 mm