Resumen en Inglés:

Abstract A new species of the genus Melita Leach, 1814 is described with material from the Marapendi Lagoon, Rio de Janeiro City, collected in association with the invasive estuarine bivalve Mytilopsis leucophaeata (Conrad, 1831). Melita georginae sp. nov. is characterized by the following characters: antenna 1, accessory flagellum 5-articulate; gnathopod 1, propodus anterodistal projection round; epimeral plate 3, ventral margin with 10 submarginal stout setae; urosomite 1 without dorsal spines; urosomite 2 with 2 sets of dorsal stout setae; uropod 3, outer ramus 1-articulate; and telson with 3 subapical stout setae. This is the fifth species of Melita recorded from Brazil. An identification key to Neotropical species is provided.

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Abstract A new species of freshwater crab, Ghatiana dhritiarum sp. nov., is described from the central Western Ghats of India in the Uttara Kannada District of the Karnataka State. The new species inhabits water-filled holes of tree trunks and laterite boulders in evergreen forests, with an omnivorous diet. Characterized mainly by a proportionately broad carapace, slender eyestalks, and a medially distinctly curved male first gonopod with a relatively long ultimate article, G. dhritiarum sp. nov. also exhibits other unique morphological features and a distinct coloration in life. This new species can be distinguished from its morphologically closest congener, Ghatiana dvivarna Pati, Thackeray, Bajantri and Hegde, 2022, by differences in the distance between the frontal margin and the anterior margin of the epistome, the relative size of the eyes, the shape of the male first gonopod, and the size of the vulvae, as well as live coloration. This discovery raises the total number of known species in Ghatiana Pati and Sharma, 2014, to 14, including seven species from Karnataka, emphasizing the need for continued exploration, especially in the central Western Ghats region.

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Abstract The leucosiid crab species Lyphira ngankee Rahayu and Ng, 2024 [type locality: Nanao Island, Guangdong, China], is reported for the first time in Indian waters based on one male and three female specimens collected from trawler bycatch at the Bahabalpur Fish Landing Centre of the Odisha state, and which likely originated from the Bay of Bengal. This is also the first record of the species since its description and a significant range extension from the South China Sea to the eastern Indian Ocean. Lyphira ngankee is distinguished by having a pair of endostomial spines, larger tubercles on the hepatic, branchial and intestinal regions and the slender, distally dilated tip of first male gonopod. Three species of the genus Lyphira were previously reported from India; the record of this species increases the number to four.

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Abstract Two extant species of Indo-West Pacific ghost shrimps of the genus Karumballichirus Poore, Dworschak, Robles, Mantelatto and Felder, 2019 that had been previously synonymized, are distinguished on the basis of molecular and morphological criteria. Karumballichirus karumba (Poore and Griffin, 1979) from northern Australia, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, and Thailand differs from Karumballichirus kempi (Sakai, 1999) from India, Indonesia and Taiwan in the shape of the adult cheliped, telson, and uropods, and in reaching little over half the length of K. kempi. Ten fossil species of Karumballichirus, six in new combinations, dating from the Paleocene (Danian) to Holocene are listed: Karumballichirus birmanica (Noetling, 1901) n. comb., Miocene; Karumballichirus dijki (Martin, 1883) n. comb., Miocene; Karumballichirus lakhraensis (Hyžný and Charbonnier in Hyžný, Charbonnier, Merle, Lashari, Bartolini and Métais, 2016), early Eocene (Ypresian); Karumballichirus khadroensis (Hyžný and Charbonnier in Hyžný, Charbonnier, Merle, Lashari, Bartolini and Métais, 2016), Paleocene (Danian); Karumballichirus pseudoniloticus (Lőrenthey in Lőrenthey and Beurlen, 1929) n. comb., middle Eocene; Karumballichirus pustulatus (Withers, 1926) n. comb., ?Eocene-Oligocene; Karumballichirus trechmanni (Withers, 1924) n. comb., Eocene; Karumballichirus tuberculatus (Lőrenthey in Lőrenthey and Beurlen, 1929), middle Eocene; Karumballichirus vidali (Vía Boada, 1959) n. comb., early Eocene, including the subfossil Karumballichirus maximus (A. Milne-Edwards, 1870) which is not a senior synonym of any modern species.

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Abstract Xeruca formosensis is the sole species in the genus and is endemic to Taiwan. It inhabits the high intertidal zone of open mudflats with clay sediment along the western coast of Taiwan. While previous studies have highlighted its extraordinary mating behaviors, there has been no detailed research into other behaviors, especially social behaviors, such as waving and agonistic behaviors. Understanding the comprehensive behavioral repertoire is crucial for ecological research and conservation efforts. In this study, we recorded the behaviors of X. formosensis in their natural habitat, noting the reactions of other fiddler crabs and the surrounding circumstances. We performed frame-by-frame analyses of the footage using software. Twenty distinct behaviors were identified and used to establish an ethogram. We observed two types of waving in X. formosensis: Type I, characterized by stronger, faster actions, and Type II, typified by more continuous and complex movements. It is suggested that Type I is used for territorial display, while Type II is used as a courting signal. The contingency of agonistic behavior in X. formosensis was also analyzed. Based on correlations between the observed behaviors, we were able to conclude the sequences of behaviors. This study provides a comprehensive ethogram with a focus on social behaviors, offering a valuable framework for assessing behavioral completeness and informing future ecological and conservation research on intertidal crab populations.

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Abstract To investigate the effects of methyl farnesoate hormone (MF) on the hepatosomatic index, protein, amino acid (AA) and fatty acid (FA) composition of hepatopancreas in male P. leptodactylus two controls (G1 and G2) and three experimental groups (G3, G4, G5) were prepared. Hormone injection was administered 5 times in three different doses (G3: 250 ng/g; G4: 500 ng/g; G5: 1000 ng/g body weight). The results revealed that, the amount of protein determined in the hepatopancreas increased statistically significantly in the G5 (37.8 ± 6.41) group compared to the control (P < 0.05). In crayfish, a total of 18 amino acids and 19 fatty acids were identified in the hepatopancreas and there was no statistically significant difference between the control group and the experimental groups injected with MF. Among the amino acids, arginine and proline were found to be higher in all groups while alanine was found at the lowest levels and there was no difference between the groups (P > 0.05). The findings showed that the hepatosomatic index was significantly increased by MF injection (P < 0.05). In conclusion, it was determined that MF injection had a positive effect on the protein and hepatosomatic index values in the hepatopancreas of P. leptodactylus, but did not cause any difference in the amino acid and fatty acid composition.

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Abstract Systematics within the Chirocephalidae (Branchiopoda) remain confused at the genus level and in several groups within Chirocephalus. We redescribe Chirocephalus bobrinskii (Alcock, 1898), an endemic of Central Asia, based on material from several localities in Tajik Pamir, Tajikistan. The studied populations displayed significant variability of the second antenna distal antennomere, shape and size of the antennal appendage, and thoracopods, but only slight interpopulation genetic variation of the Folmer’s COI gene fragment. With such high morphological plasticity, no clear quantifiable differences were observed between C. bobrinskii and the closely related Central Asian taxa, C. altaicus Daday, 1910 and C. turkestanicus Daday, 1910, which we treat as junior synonyms. Based on morphological and genetic evidence, C. bobrinskii likely belongs to the C. spinicaudatus group, but further integrative revision of that group is needed. We also discuss the structure and location of somatic sensillae in C. bobrinskii, which differ between sexes. As these sensory structures are present in many anostracans and may have specific patterns in different groups, they may be useful in systematics. Unfortunately, the somatic sensillae are rarely included in species descriptions due to their small size. Thus, more studies are needed to clarify the significance of sensillar morphology to anostracan taxonomy.

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ABSTRACT The Macaronesia region, in the east Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of Africa, consists of five oceanic archipelagos and is known for its high levels of endemism. However, its terrestrial isopod fauna has received very uneven attention. In this study, we document five species newly recorded from the Macaronesia archipelagos: Ctenorillo atlanticus and Littorophiloscia culebrae in Cabo Verde; Porcellionides cingendus and Styloniscus spinosus in both the Azores and Madeira, and Trichorhina tomentosa in Madeira. Additionally, three new species are described: Miktoniscus atlanticus Cifuentes and Da Silva n. sp., and Trichoniscus furnaensis Cifuentes and Da Silva n. sp. from the Azores, and Soteriscus caboverdiensis Cifuentes and Da Silva n. sp. from Cabo Verde. This study also reports the first record of Armadilloniscus candidus on mainland Portugal. We compiled and updated the list of terrestrial isopod species recorded from the Macaronesia region to 120, with 60 endemic species, of which 71 belong to genera of Atlantic origin, including 46 endemic species. Furthermore, 34 species belong to genera of Mediterranean origin, of which eight are endemic, 14 species of tropical origin, of which six are endemic, and one species is of alpine origin. These patterns suggest this fauna shares a closer affinity with the Atlantic and Mediterranean faunas of Europe and North Africa than with the tropical fauna of Africa. The terrestrial isopod fauna of the Macaronesia region currently comprises 37 species in the Azores (three endemic), 16 species in Cabo Verde (four endemic), 63 species in the Canary Islands (28 endemic), 63 species in Madeira (25 endemic), and only three species are known from the Selvagens Islands.

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Abstract We present an overview on the identification of a reported fossil from Cyprus which had been classified as Artemia salina. There is no taxonomic evidence to support the determination that the material is an anostracan, let alone a species of Artemia. The report reviewed here may be right about the identity of the fossil, but the published evidence does not support such a specific identification. Overly specific determinations like this can be cited in other studies (molecular clock analyses or biogeography for example) and cause cascading errors.

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Abstract The Neotropical Copepoda Database project (NEOCOP) aims at documenting and cataloguing the species of copepods in the Neotropics in a readily accessible form. The database is based on a generic conceptual scheme for taxonomic databases using a standard set of biological data classes. This scheme assures the integrity of stored data and efficiency in its storage and retrieval of basic checklist data, including accepted scientific name, synonyms, name status, original acceptance and synonymic literature citations, position within a genus and higher taxa, structured notes, user-defined morphological descriptors, genomic/proteomic, and geographical distribution records, with every fact in the database linked to bibliographic references. Data entry and editing is made possible by means of a Web-based specialized client interface. It is also possible to export user-selected sets of data to the DELTA format, to permit data exchange with other software for constructing dichotomous keys, interactive identification, and production of data matrices for phylogenetic analyses. The current version of the NEOCOP database is available at http://neocop.biotupe.org.

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Abstract The aim of the present study is to document a morphological abnormality in specimens of Macrobrachium amazonicum (Heller, 1862) based on specimens sampled in Jequitinhonha River, Bahia State, Brazil. Samples were collected at Itapebi Hydroelectric Power Plant using a cylindrical trap and a hand-drawn seine net. The morphologically altered telson was measured, characterized, and compared among specimens. Symmetrical or asymmetrical bifurcations were observed in the telson of four female specimens. Morphological abnormalities in decapod crustaceans can happen due to several reasons, and in M. amazonicum, it is mainly polluted rivers or failed wound healing; perhaps caused by excess fishing pressure in stocks bred in the dam reservoir. The present results add information about abnormalities in decapod crustaceans, besides being the second report on such features in this species.