Category Archives: taxonomy

by | August 31, 2020 · 11:53 pm

New Species: August 2020

by Piter Kehoma Boll

Here is a list of species described this month. It certainly does not include all described species. You can see the list of Journals used in the survey of new species here.

Tichowtungia aerotolerans is a new bacterium of the small phylum Kiritimatiellaeota. Credits to Mu et al. (2020).*

Bacteria

Nonomuraea nitratireducens is a new actinobacterium isolated from the rhizosphere of the plant Suaeda sutralis in China. Credits to Ou et al. (2020).*
Trebonia kvetii is a new genus of actinobacteria foun in the Czech Republic. Credits to Rapoport et al. (2020).*

Archaeans

Excavates

SARs

Sonerila cardamomensis is a new melastomatacean from Cambodia. Credits to Shin et al. (2020).*

Plants

Schizanthus carlomunozii is a new solanacean from Chile. Credits to Morales-Fierro et al. (2020).*

Fungi

Scheffersomyces jinghongensis is a new yeast from rotten wood in China. Credits to Jia et al. (2020).*
Junghuhnia subcollabens is a new crust fungus from China. Credits to Du et al. (2020).*

Poriferans

Cnidarians

Flatworms

Paraba tata is a new land planarian from Brazil. Credits to Oliveira et al. (2020).*

Mollusks

Nemerteans

Annelids

Bryozoans

Kinorhynchs

Nematodes

Tardigrades

Arachnids

Crustaceans

Holocerus devriesei is a new grasshopper from Madagascar. Credits to Skejo et al. (2020).*

Hexapods

Trioza turouguei is a new jumping plant louse from Taiwan. Credits to Tung et al. (2020).*

Echinoderms

Agnathans

Actinopterygians

Pristimantis chamezensis is a new frog from Colombia. Credits to Acosta-Galvis et al. (2020).*

Amphibians

Acanthosauria liui is a new agamid lizard from China. Credits to Liu et al. (2020).*

Reptiles

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by | August 2, 2020 · 1:26 am

New Species: July 2020

by Piter Kehoma Boll

Here is a list of species described this month. It certainly does not include all described species. You can see the list of Journals used in the survey of new species here.

Bacteria

Gordonia mangrovi is a new actinobacterium from mangrove soil in China. Credits to Xie et al. (2020).*
Craterlacuibacter sinensis is a new proteobacterium from a crater lake in China. Credits to Liu et al. (2020).*

SARs

Cryptists

Chondria tumulosa is a new red alga from Hawaii. Credits to Sherwood et al. (2020).*

Plants

Bredia hispida is a new melastome from China. Credits to Dai et al. (2020).*
Beautiful conidia of Spegazzinia musae, a new didymospheriacean fungus from Thailand. Credits to Samarakoon et al. (2020).*

Amoebozoans

Fungi

Sidera parallela is a new crust fungus from China. Photo by Bao-Kai Cui.*

Poriferans

Advhena magnifica is a new hexactinellid from the North Pacific. Credits to Castello-Branco et al. (2020).*

Cnidarians

Enteromyxum caesio is a new myxosporean parasitizing the fish Caesio cuning. Credits to Freeman et al. (2020).*

Rotiferans

Flatworms

Nemerteans

Eggs (A), juvenile (B) and adult (C) of Auriculella gagneorum, a new land snail from Hawaii. Credits to Yeung et al. (2020).*

Mollusks

Loimia borealis is a new terebellid from Chinese waters. Credits to Wang et al. (2020).*

Annelids

Bryozoans

Nematomorphs

Nematodes

Tardigrades

Chelicerates

Myriapods

Crustaceans

Heterochelamon huidongense is a new freshwater crab from southern China. Credits to Wang et al. (2020).*

Hexapods

Atrococcus rushuiensis is a new scale insect from China. Credits to Zhang et al. (2020).*
Teleopsis neglecta is a new stalk-eyed fly from Sri Lanka. Photo by Amila P Sumanapala.**

Echinoderms

Tunicates

Chondrichthyans

Lucifuga gibarensis is a new cave fish from Cuba. Credits to Hernández et al. (2020).*

Actinopterygians

Amphibians

Mammals

Lycodon cathaya is a new snake from China. Credits to Wang et al. (2020).*

Reptiles

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**Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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by | July 1, 2020 · 10:57 am

New Species: June 2020

by Piter Kehoma Boll

Here is a list of species described this month. It certainly does not include all described species. You can see the list of Journals used in the survey of new species here.

Terrilactibacillus tamarindi is a new lactic acid bacteria isolated from the bark of tamarind trees in Thailand. Credits to Kingkaew et al. (2020).*
Phytoactinopolyspora mesophila is a new actinobacterium isolated from a saline-alkaline soil in China. Credits to Feng et al. (2020).*

Bacteria

Cupriavidus agavae is a new proteobacterium isolated from the rhizosphere of agave plants in Mexico. Credits to Arroyo-Herrera et al. (2020).*

Archaeans

Halobacterium bonnevillei (a), Halobaculum saliterrae (b) and Halovenus carboxidivorans (c) are three new archaeans from saline crusts and soils. Credits to Myers and King (2020).*

SARs

Actinostachys minuta is a new grass fern from the Philippines, Credits to Amoroso et al. (2020).*

Plants

Argyreia pseudosolanum is a convolvulacean from Thailand whose flowers resemble a species of Solanum. Credits to Traiperm & Suddee (2020).*
Senecio festucoides is a new composite from Chile. Credits to Calvo & Moreira-Muñoz (2020).*

Amoebozoans

Curvularia paraverruculosa is a new Pleosporalean isolated from soil samples in Mexico. Credits to Iturrieta-González et al. (2020).*

Fungi

Hygrophorus fuscopapillatus is a new mushroom from Southern China. Credits to Wang et al. (2020).*

Poriferans

Cnidarians

Flatworms

Dugesia umbonata is a new planarian from China. Credits to Song et al. (2020).*

Mollusks

Annelids

Bryozoans

Nematomorphs

Gordius chiashanus is a new millipede-parasitizing horsehair worm from Taiwan. Credits to Chiu et al. (2020).*

Nematodes

Chelicerates

Myriapods

Plusioglyphiulus biserratus (top) and Plusioglyphiulus khmer (bottom) are two new millipedes from Cambodia. Credits to Likhitrakarn et al. (2020).*
Fredius ibiapaba is a new freshwater crab from northeastern Brazil. Credits to Chávez et al. (2020).*

Crustaceans

Cycladiacampa irakleiae is a new cave-dwelling dipluran from Irakleia Island, Cyclades Islands. Credits to Sendra et al. (2020).*
Tachycines trapezialis is a new cave cricket from China. Credits to Zhou & Yang (2020) .*

Hexapods

Dolichomitus mariajosae is a new parasitoid wasp from Colombia, Credits to Araujo et al. (2020).*
Oromia orahan is a new subterranean beetle from La Gomera, Canary Islands. Credits to García et al. (2020).*

Echinoderms

Chondrichthyans

Actinopterygians

Plectranthias hinano is a new perchlet from the Pacific. Credits to Shepherd et al. (2020).*

Amphibians

Dendropsophus bilobatus is a new tree frog from the Amazon Forest in Brazil. Credits to Ferrão et al. (2020).*
Platypelis laetus is a new narrow-mouthed frog from Madagascar. Credits to Rakotoarison et al. (2020).*

Reptiles

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by | May 31, 2020 · 11:58 pm

New Species: May 2020

by Piter Kehoma Boll

Here is a list of species described this month. It certainly does not include all described species. You can see the list of Journals used in the survey of new species here.

Bacteria

Archaeans

Hacrobes

SARs

Athyrium bipinnatum is a new fern from Japan. Credits to Hori (2020).*

Plants

Rhododendron pudingense is a new azalea from China. Credits to Dai et al. (2020).*
Jasminum parceflorum is a new jasmine from China. Credits to Zhang et al. (2020).*

Amoebozoans

Fungi

 Retiboletus sinogriseus is a new mushroom from China. Credits to Liu et al. (2020).*

Poriferans

The spicules of the new sponge Haliclona (Flagellia) xenomorpha have a strange (xenos) shape (morphe) that resembles the derelict spacecraft from the 1979 film Alien in which the xenomorphs were found. Extracted from Dinn (2020).

Ctenophorans

Cnidarians

Rotifers

Flatworms

Bryozoans

Mollusks

Pincerna vallis is a new snail from China. Credits to Chen & Wu (2020).*

Annelids

Peinaleopolynoe orphanae (A), Peinaleopolynoe elvisi (B), Peinaleopolynoe goffrediae (C) and Peinaleopolynoe mineoi (D) are four new scale worms from the Pacific Ocean. Credits to Hatch et al. (2020).*

Nematodes

Tardigrades

Arachnids

Myriapods

Pereinotus tinggiensis is a new amphipod from Malaysia. Credits to Feirulsha & Rahim (2020).*

Crustaceans

Hendersonida parvirostris is a new lobster from Papua New Guinea. Credits to Rodríguez-Flores et al. (2020).*
Acheroxemylla lipsae is a new springtail from Peru. Credits to Palacios-Vargas (2020).*

Hexapods

Podonychus gyobu is a new beetle from Japan. Credits to Yoshitomi & Hayashi (2020).*

Echinoderms

A new sponge-associated starfish was named Astrolirus patricki and I think the reason for that name is evident enough, right? Credits to Zhang et al. (2020).*

Tunicates

Actinopterygians

Epinephelus tankahkeei is a new grouper from the South China Sea. Credits to Wu et al. (2020).*
Hippocampus nalu is a new seahorse from South Africa. Credits to Short et al. (2020).*

Amphibians

Stumpffia froschaueri is a new frog from Madagascar. Credits to Crottini et al. (2020).*
Tylototriton sparreboomi is a new salamander from Vietnam. Credits to Bernardes et al. (2020).*

Reptiles

Cnemaspis lineatubercularis is a new gecko from Thailand. Credits to Ampai et al. (2020).*
Acanthosaura aurantiacrista is a new lizard from Thailand. Credits to Trivalairat et al. (2020).*

Mammals

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by | May 2, 2020 · 1:26 am

New Species: April 2020

by Piter Kehoma Boll

Here is a list of species described this month. It certainly does not include all described species. You can see the list of Journals used in the survey of new species here.

Bacteria

Rhodococcus oryzae is a new actinobacterium isolated from the rhizosphere soil of rice. Credits to Li et al. (2020).*

Archaeans

Phycophthorum isakeiti is a new parasite of diatoms. Credits to Hassett (2020).*

SARs

Poa magellensis is a new grass from Italy. Credits to Conti et al. (2020).*

Plants

Flowers of Hanceola suffruticosa, a new species of the family Lamiaceae from China and Vietnam. Credits to Chen et al. (2020).*

Amoebozoans

Fungi

Sarcodon coactus is a new mushroom from China. Credits to Mu et al. (2020)..*

Poriferans

Cnidaria

Rotifers

Flatworms

Mollusks

Annelids

Kinorhynchs

Nematodes

Tardigrades

Onychophorans

Arachnids

Myriapods

Trachyjulus magnus is a new millipede from Thailand. Credits to Likhitrakarn et al. (2020).*

Crustaceans

Jujiroa inexpectata is a new cave beetle from China. Credits to Fang et al. (2020).*

Hexapods

Stamnodes fergusoni is a new geometrid moth from the USA, Credits to Matson & Wagner (2020).*
Head of Telothyria alexanderi, a new fly from Costa Rica. Credits to. Fleming et al. (2020)*

Echinoderms

Agnathans

Eptatretus wandoensis is a new hagfish from Korea. Credits to Song & Kim (2020).*

Actinopterygians

Amphibians

Leptobrachella suiyangensis is a new frog from China. Credits to Luo et al. (2020).*

Reptiles

Iguana melanoderma is a new iguana from the Lesser Antilles. Credits to Breuil et al. (2020).*
Trimeresurus salazar, a new snake from India. Credits to Mirza et al. (2020).*

Mammals

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by | April 5, 2020 · 2:03 am

What is a coronavirus? A brief introduction to viruses, RNA-viruses and coronaviruses

by Piter Kehoma Boll

So we are going through a kind of apocalypse as everyone knows. An aggressive and contagious virus has spread all over the world and is causing a major impact in our society, killing thousands of people and crashing the economy.

But I’m not here to talk about how to protect against the virus and who is more vulnerable to it. You can find such information virtually everywhere (but don’t trust the bullshit that Karen the anti-vaxxer or your uncle Donald the boomer is spreading through Whatsapp. That is worse than the virus). Likewise, I will not point out how this pandemic is a direct outcome of our flawed capitalist society and how the fucking rich should be beheaded once and for all. No. I will make a more biological approach and explain a little bit of what this virus is from a structural, functional and taxonomic point of view.

So let’s start with what is a virus.

A virus is basically a parasitic piece of sh… genetic material that infects cells in order to reproduce. Viruses are not quite living beings as they neither have cells nor metabolism. However, they need cells to reproduce. All viruses consists of a strand of nucleic acid (either DNA or RNA) and a capsid, a “box” that protects the nucleic acid. The capsid is usually formed by many copies of one or two proteins that are encoded in the virus’ genetic material. Each individual protein molecule of the capsid is called a capsomere.

Scheme of a helical virus showing the helical capsid in green and the genetic material in blue. Credits to Anderson Brito.*
The Tobacco mosaic virus, that infects tobacco plants and others, has a typical helical capsid.

Most viruses have either a helical or an icosahedral capsid. In a helical capsid, the capsomeres are helically arranged and form an elongate and hollow tube inside of which the genetical material is located. In icosahedral capsids, the capsomeres are arranged to form a icosahedron, i.e., a polyhedron with 20 faces that surrounds the genetic material.

Scheme of an icosahedral virus with an icosahedral capsid (green) surrounding the genetic material (red). Credits to Anderson Brito.*
Adenoviruses are an example of virus with icosahedral capsids. Photo by Graham Beards.**

Many viruses have an additional coat, the envelope, that surrounds the capsid. The envelope is a bi-lipid layer crossed by glycoproteins, like the cell membrane of living organisms, and is formed by the cell membrane or an internal membrane of the cell in which the virus was born. It is, therefore, very similar to the cell membrane of the virus’ host.

Scheme of an enveloped icosahedral virus. The bi-lipid layer is shown in gray and the glycoproteins in orange. Credits to Anderson Brito.*
Zika virus (digitally colored blue in this electron microphotograph) is an envoloped icosahedral virus.

Regarding the type of nucleic acid found in viruses, they can be classified into three main groups: DNA viruses, RNA viruses and retroviruses.

DNA viruses have DNA as their nucleic acid. When they infect a cell, they are delivered into the cell’s nucleus, where they depend entirely on the cell’s machinery to reproduce, i.e., they use the hosts DNA-polymerase to produce new DNA strands and the host’s RNA-polymerase to build a viral RNA that will, in turn, be converted into the capsid proteins using the cell’s ribosomes. DNA viruses suffer little mutation because DNA-polymerase enzymes have a proofreading ability, i.e., they can detect errors during replication and fix them. Viruses such as Herpesvirus (which cause herpes and chicken pox), Poxvirus (which include the now extinct Variola virus that caused smallpox) and Adenovirus are all DNA viruses.

The Human alphaherpesvirus 3 (HHV-3) is an enveloped icosahedral DNA virus that causes chickenpox and shingles in humans.

RNA viruses, also called riboviruses, on the other hand, have RNA as their nucleic acid. When they infect a cell, they usually remain in the cell’s cytoplasm. Different from DNA viruses, RNA viruses often have their own RNA-polymerase enzyme and use it to produce new copies but still depend on the host’s ribosomes to translate their RNA into proteins to build the capsid and make new copies of their RNA polymerase. Since RNA-polymerase enzymes lack the proofreading ability of DNA-polymerase, RNA viruses mutate rapidly. A lot of human diseases are caused by RNA viruses, incluing the common cold, influenza, ebola, yellow fever, dengue fever, Zika fever, hepatitis C, rabies, polio, measles, as well as COVID-19, caused by the current apocalypse-driving coronavirus.

The Yellow fever virus is an enveloped icosahedral RNA virus.

Retroviruses, the last virus type, also have RNA as their nucleic acid. However, different from RNA viruses, retroviruses do not produce new copies directly from their RNA using a RNA-polymerase. Instead of that, they have another type of enzyme, called reverse transcriptase, that builds a DNA strain from their RNA. This viral DNA is then incorporated into the DNA of the host cell by an integrase enzyme. Retroviruses, therefore, change the host’s genome, i.e., they create a “hybrid” of themselves and the host. The infected cell then transcribes the viral DNA back into RNA, making several copies that allow to virus to reproduce. The most famous retroviruses to infect humans are Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Hepatitis B virus.

Human Imunodeficiency Virus 1 is an enveloped icosahedral retrovirus that causes AIDS in humans.

But now let’s focus on our current celebrity, SARS-CoV-2, colloquially known as the coronavirus. This virus, which is causing the current apocalypse, is a new strain, discovered in late 2019, of the Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARSr-CoV). The previous SARS outbreak between 2002-2004 was caused by another strain of this same species, SARS-CoV, or now often referred to as SARS-CoV-1. This virus belongs to the genus Betacoronavirus and the family Coronaviridae. All members of the family Coronaviridae are often called “coronavirus” and the currently known species infect birds and mammals.

SARS-CoV-2 with artificial colors showing the “corona” (in orange) formed by the club-shaped glycoproteins of its envelope.

Coronaviruses are RNA-viruses, as mentioned above, and have a helical capsid, as well as an envelope. This envelope contains large club-shaped proteins that appear as projections on the virus surface and, in electron micrographs, resemble the solar corona, hence the name coronavirus. The envelope is built from the membrane of the host’s endoplasmic reticulum but includes glycoproteins of viral origin, including the club-shaped glycoproteins that characterize these viruses.

The presence of this envelope around the capsid has some advantages and some disadvantages to coronaviruses and any other enveloped virus. Since this envelope is basically a piece of the host’s cell, enveloped viruses can sneak into new hosts more easily because the immune system takes some time to recognize them as invaders since they are wearing a host’s “clothing”. On the other hand, this envelope is very fragile when exposed to the outer environment and degrades very quickly, so that the virus needs close contact of an infect host with a new host in order to spread. This is also why washing your hands with soap kills the virus so easily. If the virus were not enveloped, i.e., had only its capsid, it would be much more resistant.

The club-like glycoproteins of the viral envelope are also the responsible for the virus ability to infect. These glycoproteins connect to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), an enzyme that is found on the surface of many human cells. ACE2 is especially abundant in the lungs, which is the reason why this is the organ that suffers the most during SARS-CoV infections.

The main genera inside the family Coronaviridae are Alphacoronavirus, Betacoronavirus, Gammacoronavirus and Deltacoronavirus. Most known species of Alpha- and Betacoronavirus infect bats, so it is likely that the ancestor of these genera was originally a bat-specific virus that later mutated and acquired the ability to infect other species. All coronaviruses that infect humans belong to this two genera and include, besides SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV (which causes the Midle East Respiratory Syndrome) and several viruses that cause mild cold-like symptoms, such as HCoV-HKU1, HCoV-NL63 and HCoV-229E. Species of Gammacoronavirus infect mainly birds, although at least one species, Coronavirus HKU15, causes diarrhea in pigs. The genus Deltacoronavirus includes the Avian coronavirus (IBV), which causes infectious bronchitis in birds, and the Beluga whale coronavirus SW1, the only coronavirus known to infect a marine mammal.

Avian coronavirus. The club-shaped glycoproteins are clearly visible on the envelopes.

The genome of coronaviruses has about 30 thousand nucleotides, being some of the largest genomes among RNA viruses. The only known RNA virus with a larger genome, with about 41 thousand nucleotides, was discovered in 2018 and infects, guess what, planarians! Named Planarian secretory cell nidovirus (PSCNV), it belongs to the order Nidovirales, which includes coronaviruses and many other RNA-viruses, but seems to have diverged from most members of Nidovirales a long long time ago. Maybe I’ll talk more about this particular virus and the implications of its discovery in a future post.

Let’s conclude this post with a quick review of what we have learned about SARS-CoV-2, the “coronavirus”:

  • It is an RNA-virus, meaning that it has a great mutation potential and is able to create copies of itself in the host’s cytoplasm, being an almost self-suficient virus;
  • It has a helical capsid surrounding its RNA;
  • It has an envelope derived from the membrane of the host’s endoplasmic reticulum, which is the reason why it can be so easily killed by water and soap;
  • This envelope includes large clube-like glycoproteins that make it appear as a solar corona in electron micrographs, hence the name coronavirus;
  • It is a member of the genus Betacoronavirus, which includes a lot of species known to infect bats and that’s the reason why its origin in a Chinese bat soup is very likely.

I hope that this post helped you see more about this new virus than its ability to collapse human societies.

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References and further reading:

Saberi A, Gulyaeva AA, Brubacher JL, Newmark PA, Gorbalenya AE (2018) A planarian nidovirus expands the limits of RNA genome size. PLoS Pathogens 14(11):e1007314. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1007314

Wikipedia. DNA virus. Available at < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_virus >. Access on 4 April 2020.

Wikipedia. Retrovirus. Available at < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrovirus >. Access on 4 April 2020.

Wikipedia. RNA virus. Available at < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RNA_virus >. Access on 4 April 2020.

Wikipedia. Virus. Available at < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virus >. Access on 4 April 2020.

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by | March 31, 2020 · 12:15 pm

New Species: March 2020

by Piter Kehoma Boll

Here is a list of species described this month. It certainly does not include all described species. You can see the list of Journals used in the survey of new species here.

Bacteria

Archaeans

SARs

Phoebe hekouensis is a new magnoliid from China. Credits to Liu et al. (2020).*

Plants

Pinguicula rosmariae is a new butterwort from Peru. Credits to Casper et al. (2020).*

Fungi

Ochraceocephala foeniculi is a new fungus that attacks fennel plants in Italy. Credits to Aiello et al. (2020).*
Lyomyces cremeus is a new wood-inhabiting fungus from China. Credits to Chen & Zhao (2020).*

Sponges

Chrysogorgia gracilis is a new coral from the Pacific. Credits to Xu et al. (2020).*

Cnidarians

Flatworms

Temnocephala ivandarioi is a new temnocephalan from the freshwater crab Valdivia serrata from Colombia. Credits to Lenis et al. (2020).*

Gastrotrichs

Rotiferans

Mollusks

Annelids

Bryozoans

Nematodes

Tardigrades

Echiniscus masculinus is a new water bear from Borneo. Credits to Gąsiorek et al. (2020).*

Chelicerates

Parobisium motianense is a new pseudoscorpion from China. Credits to Feng et al. (2020).*

Myriapods

Epimeria liui is a new amphipod from the Pacific. Credits to Wang et al. (2020).*

Crustaceans

Chlidopnoptera roxanae is a new mantis from the Central African Republic. Credits to Moulin (2020).*
Rustitermes boteroi is a new termite from South America. Credits to Castro et al. (2020).*

Hexapods

Didymocorypha libaii is a new mantis from China. Credits to Wu & Liu (2020).*

Echinoderms

Cirripectes matatakaro is a new blenny from the Central Pacific. Credits to Hoban & Williams (2020).*

Actinopterygians

Phrynobatrachus arcanus is a new critically endangered frog from Cameroon. Credits to Gvoždík et al. (2020).*

Amphibians

Smaug swazicus is a new lizard from southern Africa. Credits to Bates & Stantley (2020).*

Reptiles

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by | March 4, 2020 · 1:05 am

New Species: February 2020

by Piter Kehoma Boll

Here is a list of species described this month. It certainly does not include all described species. You can see the list of Journals used in the survey of new species here.

Bacteria

Teredinibacter waterburyi is a new endosymbiotic bacterium from the gills of the mollusk Bankia setacea. Extracted from Altamia et al. (2020).

SARs

Dilochia deleoniae is a new orchid from the Philippines. Credits to Tandang et al. (2020).*

Plants

Flower of Solanum hydroides a new solanum species from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Credits to Gouvêa et al. (2020).*

Fungi

Curvularia nanningensis is a new pathogenic fungus from the lemon grass in China. Credits to Zhang et al. (2020).*

Cnidarians

Rotiferans

Flatworms

Annelids

Craspedotropis gretathunbergae is a new snail from Brunei. Credits to Schilthuizen et al. (2020).*

Mollusks

Haliella seisuimaruae is a new snail that lives as a parasite on sea urchins in Japan. Credits to Takano et al. (2020).*

Bryozoans

Nematodes

Tardigrades

Male (left) and female (right) of Asianopis zhuanghaoyuni, a new spider from China. Credits to Lin et al. (2020).*

Arachnids

Eocuma orbiculatum is a new cumacean from the South Sea of Korea. Credits to Kim et al. (2020).*

Crustaceans

Lebbeus sokhobio is a new abyssal shrimp from the Sea of Okhotsk, between Russia and Japan. Credits to Marin (2020).*
Phyllium nisus (left) and Phyllium gardabagusi (right) are two new leaf insects from Indonesia. Credits to Cumming et al. (2020).*

Hexapods

Sporades jaechi is a new beetle from New Caledonia. Credits to Liebherr (2020).*
Oenopia shirkuhensis is a new lady beetle from Iran. Credits to Khormizi & Nedvěd (2020)*.

Echinoderms

Actinopterygians

Ammoglanis obliquus is a new catfish from northern Brazil. Credits to Henschel et al. (2020).*

Amphibians

Female (left) and male (right) of Nidirana guangdongensis, a new frog from China. Credits to Lyu et al. (2020).*

Reptiles

Opisthotropis hungtai is a new snake from China. Credits to Wang et al. (2020).*

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*Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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by | January 31, 2020 · 11:46 pm

New Species: January 2020

by Piter Kehoma Boll

Here is a list of species described this month. It certainly does not include all described species. You can see the list of Journals used in the survey of new species here.

Bacteria

Campylobacter portucalensis is a new proteobacterium isolated from the preputial mucosa of a bull in Portugal. Credits to Silva et al. (2020).*

Archaeans

SARs

Alseodaphnopsis maguanensis is a new lauracean tree from China. Credits to Li et al. (2020).*
Colocasia kachinensis is a new aroid from Myanmar. Credits to Zhou et al. (2020).*

Plants

Bulbophyllum papuaense is a new orchid from Papua. Credits to Lin et al. (2020).*
Begonia chenii is a new begonia from Myanmar. Credits to Maw et al. (2020).*

Fungi

Poriferans

Cnidarians

Rotiferans

Flatworms

Annelids

Mollusks

Bryozoans

Nematodes

Tardigrades

Arachnids

Myriapods

Crustaceans

Deuteraphorura muranensis is a new cave-dwelling springtail from Slovakia. Credits to Parimuchová et al. (2020).*
Vates phenix is a new mantis from Brazil. Credits to Rivera et al. (2020).*

Hexapods

Pseudolebinthus lunipterus is a new cricket from Malawi. Credits to Salazar et al. (2020).*

Actinopterygians

Enteromius yardiensis is a new fish from Ethiopia. Credits to Englmaier et al. (2020).*

Amphibians

Nidirana yeae is a new Music frog from China. Credits to Wei et al. (2020).*

Reptiles

Gehyra arnhemica (left) and Gehyra gemina (right) are two new geckos from Australia. Credits to Oliver et al. (2020).*

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by | January 1, 2020 · 2:16 am

New Species: December 2019

by Piter Kehoma Boll

Here is a list of species described this month. It certainly does not include all described species. You can see the list of Journals used in the survey of new species here.

Bacteria

Rhodopirellula heiligendammensis (Poly21), Rhodopirellula pilleata (Pla100), and Rhodopirellula solitaria (CA85) are three new plancomycetes. Credits to Kallscheuer et al. (2019).

SARs

Linum aksehirense is a new flax species from Turkey. Credits to Tugay & Ulukuş (2019).*

Plants

Zahora ait-atta is a new cabbage cousin from Morocco. Credits to Koch & Lemmel (2019).*

Fungi

Aureoboletus glutinosus is a new mushroom from China. Credits to Zhang et al. (2019).*

Cnidarians

Flatworms

Mollusks

Sinorachis baihu is a new snail from China. Credits to Wu et al. (2019).*

Annelids

Sigambra olivai is a new polychaete from the Caribbean. Credits to Salazar-Vallejo et al. (2019).*

Nematodes

Arachnids

Myriapods

Crustaceans

Nebalia tagiri is a new leptostracan from Japan. Credits to Hirata et al. (2019).*

Hexapods

Head of Amblycheila katzi, a new tiger beetle from the USA. Credits to Duran & Roman (2019).*

Echinoderms

Holothuria viridiaurantia is a new sea cucumber from the Pacific. Credits to Borrero-Pérez & Vanegas-González (2019).*

Actinopterygians

Amphibians

Reptiles

Liolaemus tajzara is a new lizard from Bolivia. Credits to Abdala et al. (2019).*

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