ABSTRACT. Remote sensing is an invaluable tool to objectively illustrate the rapid decline in habitat extents worldwide. The many operational Earth Observation platforms provide options for the generation of land cover maps, each with unique characteristics and considerable semantic differences in the definition of classes. As a result, differences in baseline estimates are inevitable. Here we compare

A hypothesis of phylogenetic relationships is presented for species of the South American catfish subfamily Centromochlinae (Auchenipteridae) based on parsimony analysis of 133 morphological characters in 47 potential ingroup taxa and one outgroup taxon. Of the 48 species previously considered valid in the subfamily, only one, Centromochlus steindachneri, was not evaluated in the present study. The

Long-term sediment accretion and nutrient concentrations were investigated in tidal marsh sediments of the Murderkill River, Delaware. Radionuclides (210Pb and 137Cs), stable isotopes (13C and 15N), organic matter concentrations and nutrient concentrations were measured. Tidal marsh sediment accumulation rates ranged from 0.10 to 0.20 g cm-2 yr-1, and accretion rates ranged from 0.31 to 0.74 cm yr-1

A capybara jaw (Rodentia, Caviidae, Hydrochoerinae) and an isolated lower tooth fragment were recovered from dredge spoils on Pelican Island in Galveston Bay, Gulf Coast of Texas. The attached matrix on the jaw and most of the dredged material is clay, indicative of the latest Pleistocene Beaumont Formation which underlies the Holocene deposits. In the latest Pleistocene (Rancholabrean) of the United

—A new species of peacock bass, Cichla cataractae, is distinguished from all congeners by molecular evidence and unique patterns of adult and juvenile pigmentation. Juveniles (<150 mm SL) have sides of body dominated by a series of three (sometimes four) dark blotches with the one below soft dorsal fin largest, attenuated posteriorly (long teardrop shape) but distinctly separated from elliptical caudal

ABSTRACT. We discuss new applications of baited remote underwater video (BRUV) systems based on recordings of Amazonian freshwater fauna during a long-term fish monitoring program in the Xingu River, Brazil. BRUVs facilitated estimates of relative abundance and frequency of occurrence for species of river turtles (Podocnemis unifilis, P. expansa, Rhinoclemmys punctularia), river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis)

Our understanding of pathological conditions is usually centered on human and domesticated species. Thus, a vast array of pathologies within vertebrates are unknown, especially those that occur in exotics and those that lack external characters, such as conditions that affect the skeleton. Exotics represent a majority of the vertebrates housed in zoos and other wildlife centers, and in the larger picture

Abstract. Herbivorous fishes feed on stems, leaves, flowers, seeds, fruits, and nuts of diverse aquatic plants, as well as algae. Pacus are the herbivorous cousins of piranhas and consume a myriad of diets comprised of these plant products, but a few species are phytophages, herbivores that feed almost exclusively on rapids-dwelling (rheophilic) riverweed plants from the family Podostemaceae. The degree

ABSTRACT. A new species of Bryconops is described from the rio Xingu Basin, Brazil, that differs from all congeners by the following combination of characters: predorsal scales 8–9, perforated scales in the lateral line 43–45, and pigmentation pattern composed of wide silvery midlateral band on body, hyaline dorsal and anal fins (in alcohol), and dark blotch on distal half of dorsal caudal-fin lobe

ABSTRACT. New material from the Upper Devonian (Famennian) Catskill Formation of Pennsylvania, USA, reveals anatomical details previously lacking from the enigmatic fossil species that Newberry (1889, U.S. Geological Survey Monograph 16:1–228) named Holoptychius ? radiatus. The original material (scales and lepidotrichia) was attributed to Holoptychius (Sarcopterygii, Porolepiformes) according to the

ABSTRACT. Thomas Say (1787–1834) based his description of the ammonite species Baculites ovata (= B. ovatus) on a single specimen in the collection of his childhood friend, the Quaker naturalist Reuben Haines III (1786–1831). However, the specimen's whereabouts faded from memory after Haines and Say both died unexpectedly in the early 1830s. The holotype specimen has been missing for more than 180

ABSTRACT. A new species of Creagrutus is described from the upper rio Xingu basin, Mato Grosso state, Brazil. The new species can be distinguished from its congeners by a combination of characters that includes dorsal fin mostly black, a dark oblique blotch on middle and upper-inferior caudal-fin rays, and presence of only two rows of premaxillary teeth. Creagrutus mucipu, formerly known only from

ABSTRACT. During a pilot survey, sponges and mollusks were sampled from the bottom of the middle Xingu River (rapids) and lower Xingu River (ria) via hand-picking in shallows and trawling and surface-supplied dives in deeper waters. The survey revealed a benthic community composed of eight sponge species in four genera and three families, and added six species to the Xingu Basin fauna. Sponges exhibited

ABSTRACT. Rheodreissena Geda et al. 2018, a recently described genus of Dreissenidae, is represented by living species that inhabit inland freshwaters of Brazil and Venezuela. The type species of Rheodreissena is R. hoeblichi (Schütt 1991a) described from the lower Orinoco basin, Venezuela. Three species are added in this study: R. lopesi (Alvarenga & Ricci, 1989) from the Tocantins and Xingu basins;

Abstract. A new species of Platydoras is described from the rio Xingu Basin, Brazil. Platydoras birindellii is distinguished from congeners by having gas bladder simple (vs. with posterior secondary chamber) and dorsal and caudal fins uniformly dusky (vs. with distinct marks composed of dark broad band or blotch on central portion of dorsal fin and pair of dark broad stripes on caudal fin, one central

ABSTRACT. Results are presented on species richness and distribution of the crustacean fauna obtained by iXingu Project expeditions along the middle and lower Xingu River during low and high water seasons primarily from 2013–2014, prior to the completion of the Belo Monte dam complex. The checklist includes the parasitic and decapod crustacean species surveyed in the Xingu River from the mouth of its

ABSTRACT. Crenicichla dandara, new species, is endemic to the rio Xingu above the Belo Monte narrows, and its major left bank tributary the rio Iriri. The new species is distinguished from all congeners by the following combination of characters: body uniformly black (live fishes) or dark brown (preserved specimens) in adults and 74–86 scales in the E1 row. Crenicichla dandara is considered herein

ABSTRACT. A new species of Hyphessobrycon is described from the middle and lower rio Xingu Basin, Pará state, Brazil. The new species can be distinguished from all congeners by the combination of a large caudal peduncle blotch (largest in mature males), absence of humeral blotch, and largest teeth on dentary, inner premaxillary and maxillary relatively compressed with 6–9 cusps. The new species is

ABSTRACT. Trachydoras is a genus of Doradidae (thorny catfishes) with five nominal valid species distributed in lowland areas of the Amazon, Orinoco, Paraná-Paraguay and Essequibo river basins of South America. A sixth species is described here as Trachydoras gepharti and diagnosed by five characteristics unique among congeners: mental barbels thick, tapered and profusely ornamented with many elongate

Abstract A new species of Platydoras is described from the rio Xingu Basin, Brazil. Platydoras birindellii is distinguished from congeners by having gas bladder simple (vs. with posterior secondary chamber) and dorsal and caudal fins uniformly dusky (vs. with distinct marks composed of dark broad band or blotch on central portion of dorsal fin and pair of dark broad stripes on caudal fin, one central

ABSTRACT A new species of Hyphessobrycon is described from the middle and lower rio Xingu Basin, Pará state, Brazil. The new species can be distinguished from all congeners by the combination of a large caudal peduncle blotch (largest in mature males), absence of humeral blotch, and largest teeth on dentary, inner premaxillary and maxillary relatively compressed with 6-9 cusps. The new species is compared

ABSTRACT. Results are presented on species richness and distribution of the crustacean fauna obtained by iXingu Project expeditions along the middle and lower Xingu River during low and high water seasons primarily from 2013-2014, prior to the completion of the Belo Monte dam complex. The checklist includes the parasitic and decapod crustacean species surveyed in the Xingu River from the mouth of its

ABSTRACT. Trachydoras is a genus of Doradidae (thorny catfishes) with five nominal valid species distributed in lowland areas of the Amazon, Orinoco, Paraná-Paraguay and Essequibo river basins of South America. A sixth species is described here as Trachydoras gepharti and diagnosed by five characteristics unique among congeners: mental barbels thick, tapered and profusely ornamented with many elongate

ABSTRACT. A recent survey of the aquatic fauna in the rio Xingu, Pará State, Brazil, revealed a new species of Drulia Gray 1867, an extraordinary genus of freshwater sponge endemic to South America. Drulia cristinae n. sp. is distinguished in part by having gemmoscleres typically with elliptical outline and outer face with small, central crest or irregular bulge (exceptionally nude), oscules set atop

ABSTRACT. Some fasciolariid species of the eastern Pacific Ocean from western Mexico to Alaska are discussed, with the description of the new genus Araiofusus gen. nov. and nine new species: Fusinus edjanssi sp. nov. from Cedros Island, Pacific coast of Baja California to San Hipolito Point, Pacific coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico; Fusinus laticlavius sp. nov. from deep water off Danzante Island

ABSTRACT. Fasciolaria guyanensis n. sp. is described and differentiated from its nearest congeners F. hollisteri Weisbord, 1962 and F. tulipa Linnaeus, 1758 and from other congeners by its enlarged protoconch lacking axial riblets. The new species is known from Guyana, Suriname, Guyane and northeastern Brazil. A lectotype is designated for F. tulipa concolor Kobelt, 1876, which is considered a junior

ABSTRACT. The heteromorphic ammonite Chesapeakiceras nodatum Kennedy and Cobban, 1993, has been known only from the late Santonian to early Campanian Merchantville Formation of the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the United States. Prior to this report, only three fragmentary specimens have been recovered from the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal in the state of Delaware, U.S.A. Here we describe a fourth specimen

ABSTRACT A new species of the aspredinid catfish tribe Hoplomyzontini Micromyzon is described from two specimens collected with trawl nets in two localities, at 10 and 18 m depth, in the main channel of the lower Orinoco River in Venezuela almost 40 years ago. The new species is distinguished from its only congener, Micromyzon akamai, by the: straight anterior margin of the mesethmoid; open posterior

ABSTRACT. A method for visualizing previously pigmented areas of the body with the employment of black-light spectrum bulbs is described. Under ultraviolet (UV) light, fish musculature fluoresces, whereas melanophores absorb incident light, revealing nearly lost contrast between once strongly and poorly pigmented areas of the body that has faded over time. Although a yet unknown extent of melanophore

ABSTRACT. The Widemouth Blindcat, Satan eurystomus Hubbs and Bailey 1947, was the second of four stygobitic species of Ictaluridae discovered in the subterranean waters of southern Texas and northeastern Mexico. The skeletal anatomy of Satan has been scarcely known from a few, dated radiographs. Using additional radiographs and high resolution CT-datasets for two well-ossified specimens, we applied

ABSTRACT. James Bond (1900–1989), an ornithologist at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (ANSP), authored 150 publications dealing with the ornithology of the West Indies and the Americas. His “Field Guide to the Birds of the West Indies” was published beginning in 1947, with many subsequent editions. Between 1927 and 1977 he scientifically described 63 bird taxa, the types of which are

ABSTRACT. Microsternarchus bilineatus Fernández-Yépez, 1968 is a small, inconspicuous electric fish distributed in the Orinoco, Amazon and Tocantins basins. Its holotype and paratypes from Río San José, a tributary of Río Guariquito, Orinoco basin, Venezuela, are apparently lost. We examined 14 specimens collected in Río San Bartolo, also a tributary of Río Guariquito, 110 km by river from Río San

ABSTRACT. Teleostean otoliths have been recovered from the upper portion of the Woodbury Formation (early-middle Campanian) at the Stone Bridge locality in southern New Jersey, and their occurrence is highly significant for several reasons. First, otoliths are virtually unknown in the New Jersey Cretaceous since most of the formations have been extensively leached, which destroys the aragonitic otoliths

ABSTRACT. The Ampullariidae Gray, 1824 constitute a family of freshwater caenogastropods predominantly distributed in humid tropical and subtropical habitats in Africa, South and Central America and Asia. They include the largest of all freshwater snails and frequently comprise a major portion of the native freshwater mollusc faunas of these regions. Ampullariid taxonomy is confused, primarily because

ABSTRACT. “Apteronotus” bonapartii (Castelnau 1855) was described based on a single specimen caught in a lake draining into the Río Ucayali, Perú, and is now reported from several rivers in South America. Because the generic placement of this species is currently uncertain, in this paper we use the genus name “Apteronotus” within quotes for reference to “Apteronotus” bonapartii (Castelnau, 1855) and

ABSTRACT. New fossils of “Gyracanthus” sherwoodi Newberry, 1889 are described primarily from the Late Devonian Red Hill site and Metzger's Quarry (Catskill Formation, late Famennian) of Clinton and Sullivan Counties in central Pennsylvania. The fossils include ornamented prepectoral ventral plates, pectoral, pelvic, and dorsal fin spines, elements of the endoskeletal shoulder girdle (procoracoid and