Discoveries of the week

Mugilogobius hitam

A new species of Mugilogobius is described from Lake Towuti, central Sulawesi, diagnosed by its possession of a distinct transverse sensory papilla pattern on the cheek, overall blackish colour on head, body and fins and relatively large adult size for the genus. Although it may superficially resemble the black goby Mugilogobius amadi from Lake Poso, M. hitam, new species, lacks the numerous predorsal scales (22–36 in M. amadi versus 17–19), high second dorsal fin ray count (I,9, usually I,10, versus I,7–8) and narrow head and protruding chin of M. amadi. Cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) data provide clear support for the species status of M. hitam, new species, indicate that all the Malili Lakes Mugilogobius may well represent a species flock and place M. sarasinorum from Lake Poso as its most likely sister taxon. In addition to the tectonic lake species, we report the occurrence of M. latifrons in streams of the Malili Lakes drainage.

Another new species of the huge fish family Gobiidae. This new species is so far known only from a single site in Lake Towuti, Central Sulawesi. The species name, hitam, is the Bahasa Indonesia word for black.
DNA Barcodes available


Pseudobarbus verloreni

Pseudobarbus verloreni, a new species, is described from material collected in the Verlorenvlei River system on the west coast of South Africa. It differs from its congeners (except P. skeltoni, P. burchelli, and P. burgi) by the presence of two pairs of oral barbels. Pseudobarbus verloreni sp. n. can be distinguished from the three currently described double barbeled Pseudobarbus species by the following combination of characters: pigment pattern, generally deeper body relative to standard length, a longer intestine associated with the deeper body form, shorter snout relative to head length, and much shorter anterior barbels relative to head length. The new species is distinguished from P. burgi in the neighbouring Berg River system by its longer head and longer pre-dorsal length. It seems as if Pseudobarbus verloreni sp. n. has been extirpated from the Langvlei River system and face several threats to its survival in the Verlorenvlei River system.

And another new fish species. This one was discovered in the Verlorenvlei River system in South Africa after which the species was also named.
no DNA Barcodes available (it totally eludes me why cyt b was used)


Cyphomyia baoruco

A new species of Cyphomyia Wiedemann, C. baoruco sp. n., is described from the Dominican Republic. A key to the species of Cyphomyia known from the Caribbean islands is provided.

This paper should get a prize for the shortest abstract. The author doesn't waste any space and provides what is needed to understand what the paper is about. Great. This new fly species is named after a mountain range, Sierra de Baoruco in the Dominican Republic, where the holotype specimen was collected.
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Parapinnanema hawaiiensis
A new species from the family Chromadoridae is described from samples collected during Dr Mortensen’s Pacific Expedition 1914–16 to Honolulu, Hawaii. Parapinnanema hawaiiensis sp. nov. is characterized by a low c’ ratio and especially by a peculiar complex morphology of the median part of the gubernaculum. An updated and modified key to all the valid species of Parapinnanema is proposed.

This species was actually collected during a Pacific Expedition from 1914–1916 by Dr Theodor Mortensen  in an unspecified coastal area of Honolulu, Hawaii. About 100 years later researchers dug out this nematode specimen mounted for light microscopy and deposited at the Natural History Museum of Denmark. The species name refers to the geographical origin.
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Chironius diamantina

We describe a new species of Chironius Fitzinger, 1826 from the highlands of Chapada Diamantina, state of Bahia, Brazil. The new species is distinguished from all currently recognized congeners by a unique combination of states of characters on coloration, scale counts, scale ornamentation, and hemipenis. The new species closely resembles Chironius flavolineatus (Jan, 1863) in color pattern, but differs from the later taxon by the presence of two to four posterior temporal scales; cloacal shield entire; six to ten rows of keeled dorsal scales at midbody; ventral scales with posterior dark edges forming conspicuous transverse bars along almost the entire venter; conspicuous dark longitudinal stripes (in “zigzag”) in the midventral portion of subcaudals; region of medial constriction of hemipenis slightly covered with spinules separating calyces of apex from spines below region of constriction; and sulcus spermaticus situated on convex face of hemipenis in lateral view. The new species is apparently restricted to Chapada Diamantina, corroborating the biological importance of this region from a conservational perspective.

A new member of the largest family of snakes, the Colubridae. Most colubrids are nonvenomous or have venom that is not harmful to humans. This new species was found in the Chapada Diamantina, central region of the state of Bahia in Brazil, hence the species name.
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Aulacoseira veraluciae

Aulacoseira lirata

Examination of samples from different aquatic environments from Brazil revealed the presence of a new Aulacoseira species. Aulacoseira veraluciae Tremarin, Torgan & T. Ludwig is described and illustrated with light and scanning electron microscopy, and its morphology compared with that of similar species, such as A. muzzanensis (Meister) Krammer, A. granulata (Ehrenberg) Simonsen and A. agassizii (Ostenfeld) Simonsen. The new species is characterized mainly by the straight pervalvar rows of areolae, morphology of the linking spines, shape and position of the rimoportulae on the valve mantle, deepness and thickness of the ringleiste.

A new diatom species found in the Rio Grande do Sul, Patos lake, Brazil. No image of the original species but a relative as the original paper is hiding behind a paywall.
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