The following acanthocolpid species are reported from New Caledonia. Acaenodera nautili sp. n. from Conger cinereus Rüppel differs from other Acaenodera species in details of the body-spination, the sucker-ratio and the bipartite seminal vesicle; Stephanostomum murielae sp. n. from Carangoides hedlandensis (Whitley) differs from most species of Stephanostomum in the average of 36 circum-oral spines, the circum-oral spine rows with a ventral hiatus and the anterior extent of the vitellarium being >10% of the hindbody length from ventral sucker. The species is distinguished from the three other species with these characters in a detailed review. The other species reported are: Stephanostomum aaravi Bray et Cribb, 2003 from Lethrinus miniatus and L. rubrioperculatus; Stephanostomum ditrematis (Yamaguti, 1939) from Gnathanodon speciosus; Stephanostomum japonocasum Durio et Manter, 1969 from Cephalopholis urodeta, Epinephelus areolatus, E. chlorostigma, E. maculatus, E. retouti, Lethrinus miniatus and Variola louti; Stephanostomum uku Yamaguti, 1970 and Pleorchis uku Yamaguti, 1970 from Aprion virescens.
Over a 7-year period, parasites have been collected from 28 species of groupers (Serranidae, Epinephelinae) in the waters off New Caledonia. Host-parasite and parasite-host lists are provided, with a total of 337 host-parasite combinations, including 146 parasite identifications at the species level. Results are included for isopods (5 species), copepods (19), monogeneans (56), digeneans (28), cestodes (12), and nematodes (12). When results are restricted to those 14 fish species for which more than five specimens were examined and to parasites identified at the species level, 109 host-parasite combinations were recorded, with 63 different species, of which monogeneans account for half (32 species), and an average of 4.5 parasite species per fish species. Digenean records were compared for 16 fish species shared with the study of Cribb et al. (2002); based on a total of 90 parasite records identified at the species level, New Caledonia has 17 new records and only seven species were already known from other locations. We hypothesize that the present results represent only a small part of the actual biodiversity, and we predict a biodiversity of 10 different parasite species and 30 host-parasite combinations per serranid. A comparison with a study on Heron Island (Queensland, Australia) by Lester and Sewell (1989) was attempted: of the four species of fish in common and in a total of 91 host-parasite combinations, only six parasites identified at the species level were shared. This suggests strongly that insufficient sampling impairs proper biogeographical or ecological comparisons. Probably only 3% of the parasite species of coral reef fish are already known in New Caledonia.
A pathogenic Asian nematode species of Camallanus, C. cotti Fujita, 1927, was found in New Caledonia, South Pacific, for the first time; it was recorded from two native fishes, Awaous guamensis (Valenciennes) (Gobiidae) (prevalence 51%, intensity 1-25) and Kuhlia marginata (Cuvier) (Kuhliidae) (a single specimen found), of the La Foa River, about 100 km north of Nouméa; the latter represents a new host record. Morphological data on C. cotti based on New Caledonian specimens and those previously collected from aquarium-kept Misgurnus anguillicaudatus (Cantor) in Canada have been provided. The SEM examination of C. cotti, applied for the first time in this species, made it possible to study some of its morphological details; first-stage larvae from the female's uterus were found to possess several digit-like processes on the tail tip, not previously reported for any species of the Camallanidae. Camallanus moraveci Petter, Cassone et France, 1974 is considered a junior synonym of C. cotti. A list of hitherto recorded hosts of C. cotti is provided. Camallanus cotti is assumed to be introduced into New Caledonia along with the introduction of the exotic poeciliid fishes, which are known to be among the most common hosts of C. cotti in aquarium cultures worldwide.
Sixteen labrid species, including four Bodianus spp., were examined in New Caledonia (South Pacific) and monogeneans were found only on Bodianus perditio (Quoy et Gaimard). This species, Haliotrema banana sp. n., is the second Haliotrema species to be described from the labrids, the first being Haliotrema bodiani Yamaguti, 1968 from Bodianus albotaeniatus (Valenciennes), previously designated as B. bilunulatus (Lacépède). The new species is similar to H. bodiani in soft reproductive parts but differs from it in the morphologies of the hard haptoral parts, mainly in the shape of the dorsal bar (bar-shaped vs V-shaped in H. bodiani) and ventral bar. It is similar to Haliotrema spirale Yamaguti, 1968 and Haliotrema minutospirale Yamaguti, 1968 in the shape of the anchors and bars but differs from them in the detailed structures of the copulatory organ and vaginal system.
Second to fifth instars of nine New Caledonian species of Tingidae are described. A key to fifth instars is provided. The comparison of immature stages among the known larvae shows that translocation of marginal tubercles in larvae, considered as the general rule, is absent in New Caledonian larvae. Also, external morphology of larvae becomes more complex through development, by the addition and ramification of tubercles, as it does also through evolution. Such a tendency is reminiscent of a heterochronous phenomenon, like peramorphosis. Translocation phenomenon could be an intermediate stage of evolution in terms of aquiring more tubercles.
All else being equal, more isolated islands should be more susceptible to invasion because their native species are derived from a smaller pool of colonists, and isolated islands may be missing key functional groups. Although some analyses seem to support this hypothesis, previous studies have not taken into account differences in the number of plant introductions made to different islands, which will affect invasibility estimates. Furthermore, previous studies have not assessed invasibility in terms of the rates at which introduced plant species attain different degrees invasion or naturalization. I compared the naturalization status of introduced plants on two pairs of Pacific island groups that are similar in most respects but that differ in their distances from a mainland. Then, to factor out differences in propagule pressure due to differing numbers of introductions, I compared the naturalization status only among shared introductions. In the first comparison, Hawai‘i (3700 km from a mainland) had three times more casual/weakly naturalized, naturalized and pest species than Taiwan (160 km from a mainland); however, roughly half (54%) of this difference can be attributed to a larger number of plant introductions to Hawai‘i. In the second comparison, Fiji (2500 km from a mainland) did not differ in susceptibility to invasion in comparison to New Caledonia (1000 km from a mainland); the latter two island groups appear to have experienced roughly similar propagule pressure, and they have similar invasibility. The rate at which naturalized species have become pests is similar for Hawai‘i and other island groups. The higher susceptibility of Hawai‘i to invasion is related to more species entering the earliest stages in the invasion process (more casual and weakly naturalized species), and these higher numbers are then maintained in the naturalized and pest pools. The number of indigenous (not endemic) species was significantly correlated with susceptibility to invasion across all four island groups. When islands share similar climates and habitat diversity, the number of indigenous species may be a better predictor of invasibility than indices of physical isolation because it is a composite measure of biological isolation.
Recent examinations of newly obtained materials of dracunculoid nematodes (Dracunculoidea) parasitizing marine fishes off New Caledonia, South Pacific, revealed the presence of several nematodes of the genera Philometra Costa, 1845 (Philometridae) and Ichthyofilaria Yamaguti, 1935 (Guyanemidae), including the following four new species: Philometra priacanthi sp. n. (males) from the gonads of Priacanthus hamrur (Forsskål) (Priacanthidae), Philometra tenuicauda sp. n. (male and mature and gravid females) from the gonads of Lagocephalus sceleratus (Gmelin) (Tetraodontidae), Philometra dentigubernaculata sp. n. (males) from the oculo-orbit of Tylosurus crocodilus (Péron et Lesueur) (Belonidae), and Ichthyofilaria novaecaledoniensis sp. n. (subgravid female) from the musculature of Hoplichthys citrinus Gilbert (Hoplichthyidae). The new species are characterized mainly by the length and structure of spicules and the gubernaculum, body size, location in the host and by the type of hosts. In addition, the findings of Philometra lethrini Moravec et Justine, 2008 from the gonads of Lethrinus miniatus (Forster) and L. variegatus Valenciennes (both Lethrinidae) represent new host records for this parasite; for the first time, its subgravid females were found to be up to 350 mm long. The occurrence of Philometra ocularis Moravec, Ogawa, Suzuki, Miyazaki et Donai, 2002 in the oculo-orbit of Epinephelus areolatus (Forsskål) (Serranidae) off New Caledonia was confirmed.
A new genus and new species of Cantacaderinae (Heteroptera: Tingidae) is described, Caledoderus monteithi. A key to genera is provided. The phylogenetic relationships among the Cantacaderinae, including this new genus and species, are revisited. The results are congruent with previous studies. However, the Ceratocaderini is a sister group of Carldrakeaninae and not Cantacaderini, even if only weakly supported by the analysis. Therefore, the status of Ceratocaderini and Cantacaderini is maintained, whereas Carldrakeanini stat. nov. is reduced to tribal level and they are all included in the Cantacaderinae., Eric Guilbert., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
A new species, Prosorhynchus maternus sp. n., is described from the serranid fish Epinephelus malabaricus (Bloch et Schneider) in the waters off New Caledonia. It belongs to a group of Prosorhynchus species from serranids in which the uterus is restricted to the postovarian region. Its distinguishing features include the vitellarium relatively distant from the rhynchus, the cirrus-sac relatively distant from the posterior testis, the distinctly pre-equatorial mouth and several other somatic ratios. New records of Prosorhynchus longisaccatus Durio et Manter, 1968 from Epinephelus cyanopodus (Richardson) and Prosorhynchoides lamprelli Bott et Cribb, 2005 from Caranx papuensis Alleyne et Macleay off New Caledonia are also included.
The cystidicolid nematode Metabronema magnum (Taylor, 1925) is redescribed from specimens collected from the swimbladder of the fish (golden trevally) Gnathanodon speciosus (Forsskål) (Carangidae, Perciformes) off New Caledonia, South Pacific (a new geographical record). The light and scanning electron microscopical examination made it possible to study in detail the morphology of this so far little-known species. Its pseudolabia were found to possess distinct anterior protrusions (protuberances), sublabia are absent, only four cephalic papillae are present, deirids are bifurcated, and the male possesses six pairs of postanal papillae. By its morphology, M. magnum seems to be most similar to species of Salvelinema Trofimenko, 1962, also from the swimbladder of fishes, differing from them mainly in the presence of median wedge-shaped outgrowths in the mouth, lateral alae, the longer spicule on the right side, and a fewer number of pairs of preanal papillae in the male. Since the morphology of M. magnum considerably differs from that of other representatives of the Cystidicolidae, Metabronema in Rasheed's (1966) conception is considered a valid genus.