Report of the training course on seagrass conservation and monitoring in Myanmar Coastal Zone, Mawlamyine University, Myanmar, 26 April-3 May, 2013

A training course on seagrass conservation and monitoring was conducted at Mawlamyine University and Ngapali Beach government department and Non-Government Organizations (NGO) trainees

Supporting evidence-based decision-making: Capacity Building through Research

Lack of data inhibits informed decision-making and is a critical challenge in developing countries, many of which are under-resourced in financial, technical and institutional capacity to collect and analyse the required data. This limits the countries’ ability to achieve development goals and keeps them dependent on the provision of external resources. Development initiatives often treat capacity building and research as two separate tracks of development. While efforts have been made in the health sector to combine these through project-based learning, this approach is relatively unexplored in the water sector which by its inter-sectoral nature stands to benefit significantly from a more collaborative and solution-oriented development strategy. Capacity Building through Research (CBtR) facilitates data collection and analysis by local researchers, mentored by international experts, strengthening local capacity to produce credible evidence able to inform sustainability-related decision-making. Five case studies piloting CBtR are discussed here and evaluated through criteria of the Dutch Strategy Evaluation Protocol framework. CBtR is shown to be a long-term strategy that requires the strengthening of cross-disciplinary networks to enhance the capacity of water management institutions, which likely contributes to more efficient evidence collection and analysis suitable for decision-makers, leading to greater national resilience and reduced need for external support

Bioerosion of siliceous rocks driven by rock-boring freshwater insects

Macrobioerosion of mineral substrates in fresh water is a little-known geological process. Two examples of rock-boring bivalve molluscs were recently described from freshwater environments. To the best of our knowledge, rock-boring freshwater insects were previously unknown. Here, we report on the discovery of insect larvae boring into submerged siltstone (aleurolite) rocks in tropical Asia. These larvae belong to a new mayfly species and perform their borings using enlarged mandibles. Their traces represent a horizontally oriented, tunnel-like macroboring with two apertures. To date, only three rock-boring animals are known to occur in fresh water globally: a mayfly, a piddock, and a shipworm. All the three species originated within primarily wood-boring clades, indicating a simplified evolutionary shift from wood to hardground substrate based on a set of morphological and anatomical preadaptations evolved in wood borers (e.g., massive larval mandibular tusks in mayflies and specific body, shell, and muscle structure in bivalves)

Assessment of the Status of the Fishery of Indwagyi Lake, Myanmar Using Traditional Ecological Knowledge

Aims: Indawgyi Lake, in northern Myanmar, is the country’s largest lake and among the largest in Southeast Asia. Although the lake’s fishery provides an important source of food and livelihoods, relatively little is known about the status of its fishery and how human actions are affecting it. Further, some basic information on fish populations has not been documented, such as the extent to which fish migrate, either downstream toward the Ayeyarwady River or into the lake’s tributaries. Similar to other lakes in the region (e.g., Inle Lake in central Myanmar), the fishing practices of Indawgyi Lake appear to be intensifying. Thus, improved understanding of the lake’s fishery and fish-migration patterns can inform future management. Study Design:  To gather preliminary information, we surveyed 6 villages around Indawgyi Lake collecting Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) about the migratory behavior of fish and current state of the fishery. Place and Duration of Study: Hepa, Hepu, Lone Ton, Lonsant, Mamon Kaing, and Nyaung Bin along Indawgyi Lake in Myanmar Methodology: We interviewed in large groups at 6 villages (approximately 60 fishermen overall), aggregating results into the six village groups due to the consensus style of interviews. We performed subsequent analyses using Google Earth Engine. Results: Fishermen reported that nearly all the fish they commonly catch are migratory, with most using upstream tributaries for spawning during the wet season. Fishermen also reported that, although most tributaries remained in good condition, several have been severely impacted by land-use changes, including gold mining. Fishermen consistently reported that harvest levels have declined dramatically in the past two decades even as they deploy more nets. Across the villages interviewed, the top recommendation to combat declines was to increase/strengthen enforcement of regulations. Conclusion: This research demonstrates the utility of TEK to provide preliminary information on poorly studied systems that can inform conservation and management

Indonaia rectangularis (Tapparone-Canefri, 1889), comb. nov., a forgotten freshwater mussel species from Myanmar (Bivalvia, Unionidae)

Volume: 852Start Page: 23End Page: 3

Barbronia gwalagwalensis Westergren & Siddall 2004

Barbronia gwalagwalensis Westergren & Siddall, 2004 Figures 3-6 Type. Holotype, AMNH Annelida 5261, fixed in 10% buffered formalin and stored in 70% ethanol (American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA). Type locality. “ Maia’s Dam, Gwalagwala, a tented-camp near Hoedspruit, South Africa ” (Westergren & Siddall 2004). Material examined. MYANMAR: Salween River drainage, Lake Inle basin, Kyee Phyu Lake, 20.8142°N, 96.9690°E, 23.ii.2018, 2 specimens, fixed in 96% ethanol [voucher RMBH Hir_58_3; one specimen sequenced: COI acc. no. MN 295405]. The sample is deposited in the RMBH — Russian Museum of Biodiversity Hotspots, N. Laverov Federal Center for Integrated Arctic Research of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Arkhangelsk, Russia. Morphology of Myanmar’s sample. Small leeches, 10–15 mm long (ethanol-preserved specimens). Body subcylindrical, vermiform, tapering anteriorly and posteriorly. Dorsum light brown. Three pairs of eyespots: first dorsal, on II; second and third pairs dorsolateral on IV, and separated from anterior pair by four complete annuli. Caudal sucker directed ventrally. Clitellum indistinct (juveniles), with male and female gonopores separated by seven and one-half annuli, and with two accessory copulatory pores ventrally: one anterior of the male gonopore at X/XI, and second posterior of the female gonopore at XIII/XIV. Three pairs of pharyngeal stylets. These features correspond well to the protologue of the species, although the type series comprised full-grown adults up to 25 mm long with pronounced clitellum and distinct accessory copulatory pores (Westergren & Siddall 2004). Habitat. The specimens were collected on a submerged bamboo stick and an empty shell of the freshwater mussel species Lamellidens ferrugineus (Annandale) found near the shore of a shallow eutrophic lake with silty bottom and rich aquatic plant assemblages. They co-occurred with the freshwater glossiphonid species Alboglossiphonia sp. (Hirudinida: Glossiphoniidae) [voucher no. RMBH 58_2; COI acc. no. MN 295404] and the triclad species Dugesia sp. (Tricladida: Dugesiidae) [voucher no. RMBH 58_1]. The Dugesia species was very abundant. Distribution. This species appears to be widespread throughout the Paleotropical Region as it was found in South Africa, Southeast Asia (Myanmar), and East Asia (Korea). The occurrence from the Durance River (Rhône Basin) in southeastern France (Corse et al. 2017) most likely reflects a recent human-mediated or native dispersal event towards southern Europe. Comments. The nominal taxon Trocheta quadrioculata Oka, 1922 was described from the Inle Lake in Myanmar (Oka 1922). The type locality of this species is close to our finding of B. gwalagwalensis (ca. 25-30 km SSW). Currently, Inle Lake’s taxon is placed within Salifidae as Odontobdella quadrioculata (see Nesemann & Sharma 2012). Based on the protologue (Oka 1922), it does not have accessory copulatory pores and, hence, cannot be linked to the genus Barbronia (see Westergren & Siddall 2004). The fauna of the family Salifidae in Myanmar seems to be largely underestimated, and comprises only two species, i.e. B. gwalagwalensis and O. quadrioculata.Published as part of Klass, Anna L., Kondakov, Alexander V., Vikhrev, Ilya V., Bespalaya, Yulia V., Lunn, Zau, Chan, Nyein, Gofarov, Mikhail Y. & Bolotov, Ivan N., 2021, Is the South African leech Barbronia gwalagwalensis Westergren & Siddall, 2004 (Hirudinida: Erpobdelliformes: Salifidae) a Paleotropical species?, pp. 585-595 in Zootaxa 4974 (3) on pages 589-591, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4974.3.7, http://zenodo.org/record/477812

Unio sula Simpson 1900

Unio sula Simpson, 1900 Unio sula Simpson, 1900: 678; Haas, 1912: 122; Simpson, 1914: 521; Brandt, 1974: 260. Taxonomic status. Nomen nudum, probably an incorrect spelling of the name Unio sella Prashad, 1922 (see Fig. 4D and Discussion).Published as part of Bolotov, Ivan N., Vikhrev, Ilya V., Lopes-Lima, Manuel, Gofarov, Mikhail Y., Konopleva, Ekaterina S., Lyubas, Artem A., Lunn, Zau, Chan, Nyein & Bogan, Arthur E., 2019, Unio sella and U. sula: A review of enigmatic taxonomic names linked to Gibbosula laosensis (Lea, 1863) (Bivalvia: Margaritiferidae: Gibbosulinae), pp. 440-447 in Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 67 on page 446, DOI: 10.26107/RBZ-2019-0035, http://zenodo.org/record/457711

New Molecular-Based Phylogeny of Mussel-Associated Mites Reveals a New Subgenus and Three New Species Representing an Example of a Host-Driven Radiation in Indochina and Confirms the Concept of Division of the Genus Unionicola Haldeman, 1842 (Acari: Unionicolidae) into Numerous Subgenera

Here we describe a new subgenus and three new species of parasitic water mites in the genus Unionicola (Acari: Hydrachnidia) from Myanmar: Myanmaratax subgen. nov., Unionicola (Myanmaratax) savadiensis subgen. and sp. nov. (hosts: Lamellidens savadiensis and L. generosus), U. (My.) generosa sp. nov. (the same hosts), and U. (My.) trapezidenssp. nov. (hosts: Trapezidens dolichorhynchus and T. angustior). These taxa were identified based on a two-gene phylogenetic analysis (COI + 28S), which also confirms the division of the genus Unionicola into numerous subgenera. The new species are cryptic species, which are morphologically indistinguishable but strongly resemble U. (Prasadatax) brandti Vidrine, 1985 described from Thailand (hosts: Lens spp. and Ensidens spp.). We also transfer the latter taxon from Prasadatax to Myanmaratax based on a set of morphological evidence and propose U. (My.) brandti comb. nov. The new subgenus contains a total of five species, one of which needs future sampling efforts and will be described elsewhere. Additionally, 56 valid subgenera, which were placed in the synonymy of the genus and in one case raised to the genus level, are restored here until robust phylogenetic evidence on their taxonomic status is available. Our results also confirm that Unionicola mites are narrow host specialists that are associated with either one or a few closely related freshwater mussel species belonging to one or two sister genera