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Three new species of hyporheic Parastenocarididae from Turkey and Thailand are described in this paper, based on their morphological features. Kinnecaris xanthi sp. nov. and Kinnecaris draconis sp. nov. were collected in Anatolic Turkey, respectively from one and two rivers; Kinnecaris iulianae sp. nov. was collected from several streams on Pha-Ngan Island (Thailand). The two new species from Turkey both lack the typical pitted integument and their P5 fused with the intercoxal sclerite in both sexes; they share a similar shape of the caudal rami in both sexes and of P4 in male. They differ in the ornamentation of the genital double-somite and the armature of A1 in females; in the ornamentation of the anal operculum; in the shape of P2 endopod of both sexes, and P3 endopod of females; in the ornamentation of the first exopodal segment of P3 in males, and in the armature of P4 endopod in females. Kinnecaris iulianae sp. nov. shares with the other species from the Oriental and Australian Region the p...

A compilation of our present knowledge of the water mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia) adapted to life in standing waters on the three large islands in the western Mediterranean (Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily) is provided. In addition to published data, this study deals with a rich volume of new material from recent field work, mostly deriving from intermittent ponds and pools, an extremely poorly investigated yet peculiar habitat type in the Mediterranean area. Species richness of water mites reported for the standing waters of the three islands amounts to 91 species. Out of the 47 species for which we present new distributional data, Hydrachna incisa Halbert, 1903, Hydrachna leegei Koenike, 1895, Piersigia limophila Protz, 1896, Hydryphantes crassipalpis Koenike, 1914 and Piona laminata (Thor, 1900) have not been recorded previously from the Mediterranean area. Most of these species were believed to have typical North European distributions. In addition to these, a further 13 species are recorded for the first time from the area covered. In total, 11 species are new for Italy, seven more are new for Sicily, three for Sardinia and seven for Corsica. Redescriptions are given of Axonopsis complanata (Müller, 1776) (A. graeca, nov. syn), Brachypoda baderi (reported for the first time after the original description from Abruzzo, Italy, synonymization with B. mutila rejected) and B. mutila (recorded for the first time outside Algeria with certainty). For each species, information is given on habitat preference and geographical distribution; the significance of the data is discussed under perspectives of zoogeography and nature protection. The completeness of our knowledge for the three investigated island is assessed using rarefaction curves and non-parametric estimators of species richness; while Sicily can be considered fairly well known, Corsica and Sardinia require further sampling to assess their water mite diversity.

The Italian endemic genus Salamandrina was recently determined to be polytypic since two species, Salamandrina perspicillata and S. terdigitata, were recognized using both mitochondrial and nuclear genetic markers. However, data on their range is very scanty and no morphological traits are available to distinguish between these two taxa. A thorough field survey was carried out to detect and to sample new sites in areas in which Salamandrina remained unrecorded and to sample populations expected to occur in the documented range. Specimens were analyzed for variation of three mitochondrial DNA partial sequences of 12S and 16S ribosomal RNAs and cytochrome b genes. Attribution of individuals to either of the two species was therefore made on the basis of their haplotypes. Here we provide relevant information on the distribution of the two species, which were also found in areas where Salamandrina had previously been unrecorded, i.e. in the eastern Basilicata, in the region of Apulia and within the wide area ...

Faunistic data concerning rotifer species not previously cited for the Italian fauna are reported. They are all found in the northwestern part of the country and belong to 24 genera, seven of which are new for Italy: Cyrtonia, Didymodactylos, Eosphora, Mikrocodides, Pleuretra, Proalinopsis, and Taphrocampa. For some of these species, data on rearing in laboratory cultures, dimensions, and SEM pictures of trophi or whole animals are given.

In the sessile marine tunicates, the selection of a suitable substratum by the larvae is an important and critical factor determining the distribution of species. The present paper investigated, under laboratory conditions, the role played by mineral content of the substratum in settlement of the ascidian Phallusia mammillata, using siliceous and carbonaceous stones. Individuals that attached to the different substrata and metamorphosed were scored. The data indicate that larvae could discriminate between the substrata on the basis of their silica content. Under the same laboratory conditions, the larvae that attached to siliceous stones grew faster and had a wider area of contact with the substratum than those that grew on carbonaceous stones. The present study concludes that silica is a mineral factor that can be discriminated by chemosensory palps of ascidian larvae during the choice of substratum. It is suggested that the mineral composition of the habitat can contribute, with other environme...

Spermatogenesis, spermatozoa, seminal receptacles and the transformations of sperm after mating were examined for the first time in the polychaete annelid Aeolosoma singulare from Lake Baikal. The structure of the spermatozoon in the coelomic cavity is very similar to that already described for A. litorale, in particular in the presence of a cytoplasmic droplet containing lysosome‐like vesicles around the nuclear basis. However, comparison of coelomic spermatozoa with those stored in the sperm receptacles revealed a progressive reduction of the cytoplasmic droplet. The cytoplasmic droplet can thus be considered as a sort of remnant of the spermiogenetic process in the mature spermatozoon. The seminal receptacles of A. singulare, like those of the other aeolo‐somatids, are epidermal formations; but in this species they have a multicellular organisation and penetrate the muscular layers to end deep inside the coelomic cavity. The spermatozoon of A. singulare was compared with those of polychaetes c...

Random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis of blood samples from eight African parrot species was performed to study the genetic relationship within the genus Poicephalus and among Poi-cephalus and the two other main African parrot genuses, Agapornis and Psittacus. To this end, DNA from six Poicephalus species, one species, of the Agapornis group and the single Psittacus species was analysed. The amplification pattern was then converted into a binary matrix and scored by the unweighted pair-group method algorithm. The resulting dendrogram showed a neat separation of all the Poicephalus on one side, from Psittacus-Agapornis on the other side. Among the six analysed species of Poicephalus, two larger clusters occurred, one containing four species belonging to the P. meyeri superspecies and the other one containing the two species pertaining to the P. robustus superspecies. The larger one of these is further subdivided in two smaller clusters, each one containing two species, that is P. meyeri-P. cryptoxanthus and P. senegalus-P. rufiventris, respectively. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the genus Poicephalus is a natural assemblage that, after undergoing a very early separation from Psittacus and Agapornis, was subsequently affected by a number of discrete speciation events, especially during episodes of aridity resulting in fragmentation of forest habitats. © 2000 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

The Miramare Reserve, in the Gulf of Trieste (North Adriatic‐Italy), is a small marine protected area (121 hectares) for research, education and conservation and is managed by WWF Italy. Different techniques for taking a qualitative and quantitative census of the fish species, for mapping the nests of Gobius cruentatus, Tripterygion delaisi and Cbromis chromis, for studying the reproductive behaviour of C. cbromis and for measuring the sea ambient noise were used. Visual census techniques were applied in the comparison of two areas which were similar from a morphological point of view, but differed in human activity.