Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

Ultrastructure of spermatophoral sperm in the freshwater gastropod Thiara amarula (Linnaeus, 1758) (Gerithioidea: Thiaridae): potential taxonomic features including eusperm nuclear content differentiation

The ultrastructure of spermatophoral sperm is investigated for the first time in a cerithioidean gastropod. Thiara amarula (Linnaeus, 1758), a widespread Indo-West Pacific species of the Thiaridae, produces uniaxonemal euspermatozoa and multiaxonemal paraspermatozoa. Euspermatozoa possess a laterally-flattened acrosomal vesicle (with eccentrically positioned invagination and subacrosomal material), a tubular, laterally-compressed nucleus, an elongate midpiece (with four, straight, equal-sized mitochondria each with parallel cristae), an elongate glycogen piece and an end piece. The eusperm nucleus exhibits or is associated with a number of unusual features including: (1) nuclear contents differentiated into two components (fibrous, highly electron-dense material, enclosing a pair of less-dense, finely granular tracts); (2) nuclear invagination with two elongate grooves aligned at 90 degrees to the axonemal central microtubules and parallel with the 1 and 5 axonemal doublets; (3) a periodically-banded rootiet associated with the centriolar complex near the nuclear apex; (4) an electron-dense structure attaching the nucleus to the axoneme at the nucleus-midpiece junction. Feature (1) has been reported elsewhere in Melanoides tuberculata (Thiaridae), but in no other examined gastropods (or other molluscs) and its purpose is unknown. Paraspermatozoa of T. amarula possess an elongate head region (up to 14 axonemes and large, irregular mitochondria enclosed by sheath of spherical, dense vesicles), a short 'glycogen' region and a posterior tuft of glycogen tails. The two sperm types do not form spermatozeugmata and observations suggest that neither type undergoes any noticeable structural change while inside the spermatophore. Sperm features suggest a close relationship between T. amurula and M. tuberculata and more broadly with other 'Group T cerithioidean families exhibiting four equal-sized eusperm mitochondria, including Potamididae, Modulidae, Scaliolidae, Melanopsidae, Semisulcospiridae and Pleuroceridae

Adding the West-African riverine component: Revision of the Recent freshwater snails belonging to Pseudocleopatra Thiele, 1928 (Caenogastropoda, Cerithioidea, Paludomidae)

Neiber, Marco T., Kahl, Sandra M., Wiggering, Benedikt, Glaubrecht, Matthias (2019): Adding the West-African riverine component: Revision of the Recent freshwater snails belonging to Pseudocleopatra Thiele, 1928 (Caenogastropoda, Cerithioidea, Paludomidae). Zootaxa 4674 (3): 301-328, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4674.3.

Extreme habitats as refuge from parasite infections? Evidence from an extremophile fish

Living in extreme habitats typically requires costly adaptations of any organism tolerating these conditions, but very little is known about potential benefits that trade off these costs. We suggest that extreme habitats may function as refuge from parasite infections, since parasites can become locally extinct either directly, through selection by an extreme environmental parameter on free-living parasite stages, or indirectly, through selection on other host species involved in its life cycle. We tested this hypothesis in a small freshwater fish, the Atlantic molly (Poecilia mexicana) that inhabits normal freshwaters as well as extreme habitats containing high concentrations of toxic hydrogen sulfide. Populations from such extreme habitats are significantly less parasitized by the trematode Uvulifer sp. than a population from a non-sulfidic habitat. We suggest that reduced parasite prevalence may be a benefit of living in sulfidic habitats

A Snail Perspective on the Biogeography of Sulawesi, Indonesia: Origin and Intra-Island Dispersal of the Viviparous Freshwater Gastropod Tylomelania

The complex geological history of the Indonesian island Sulawesi has shaped the origin and subsequent diversification of its taxa. For the endemic freshwater snail Tylomelania a vicariant origin from the Australian margin has been hypothesized. Divergence time estimates from a mtDNA phylogeny based on a comprehensive island-wide sampling of Tylomelania fit regional tectonic constraints and support the ‘out-of-Australia’ vicariance hypothesis. The Banggai-Sula region of the Sula Spur, the Australian promontory colliding with West Sulawesi during the Miocene, is identified as a possible source area for the colonization of Sulawesi by the ancestor of Tylomelania. The molecular phylogeny also shows a rapid diversification of Tylomelania into eight major lineages with very little overlap in their distribution on the island. Haplotype networks provide further evidence for a strong spatial structure of genetic diversity in Tylomelania. Distribution boundaries of the major lineages do at best partially coincide with previously identified contact zones for other endemic species groups on Sulawesi. This pattern has likely been influenced by the poor dispersal capabilities and altitudinal distribution limits of this strict freshwater inhabitant. We suggest that late Miocene and Pliocene orogeny in large parts of Sulawesi has been the vicariant event driving primary diversification in Tylomelania

Osteo-pathological analysis provides evidence for a survived historical ship strike in a Southern Hemisphere fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus)

The life history of a fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) caught during whaling operations in the 1950s was partly reconstructed. 3D surface models of the bones of the skeleton curated at the Zoological Museum of Hamburg were used for an osteopathological analysis. The skeleton revealed multiple healed fractures of ribs and a scapula. Moreover, the processus spinosi of several vertebrae were deformed and arthrosis was found. Together, the pathological findings provide evidence for large blunt trauma and secondary effects arising from it. Reconstruction of the likely cause of events suggests collision with a ship inflicting the fractures and leading to post traumatic posture damage as indicated by skeletal deformations. The injured bones had fully healed before the fin whale was killed by a whaler in the South Atlantic in 1952. This study is the first in-detail reconstruction of a historical whale—ship collision in the Southern Hemisphere, dating back to the 1940s, and the first documentation of a healed scapula fracture in a fin whale. The skeleton provides evidence for survival of a ship strike by a fin whale with severe injuries causing long-term impairment

Osteo-pathological analysis provides evidence for a survived historical ship strike in a Southern Hemisphere fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus).

The life history of a fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) caught during whaling operations in the 1950s was partly reconstructed. 3D surface models of the bones of the skeleton curated at the Zoological Museum of Hamburg were used for an osteopathological analysis. The skeleton revealed multiple healed fractures of ribs and a scapula. Moreover, the processus spinosi of several vertebrae were deformed and arthrosis was found. Together, the pathological findings provide evidence for large blunt trauma and secondary effects arising from it. Reconstruction of the likely cause of events suggests collision with a ship inflicting the fractures and leading to post traumatic posture damage as indicated by skeletal deformations. The injured bones had fully healed before the fin whale was killed by a whaler in the South Atlantic in 1952. This study is the first in-detail reconstruction of a historical whale-ship collision in the Southern Hemisphere, dating back to the 1940s, and the first documentation of a healed scapula fracture in a fin whale. The skeleton provides evidence for survival of a ship strike by a fin whale with severe injuries causing long-term impairment

A molecular phylogeography approach to biological invasions of the New World by parthenogenetic Thiarid snails

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