[Crustacea • 2017] Heteromysis cancelli, H. fosteri & H. octopodis • Three New Species of Heteromysis (Mysida: Mysidae: Heteromysini) from the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, with first documentation of a mysid-cephalopod association

Heteromysis octopodis 

Wittmann & Griffiths, 2017

 DOI:  10.3897/zookeys.685.13890

Abstract

Faunistic studies in sublittoral and littoral marine habitats on the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, have yielded three new species belonging to the genus Heteromysis, subgenus Heteromysis: H. cancelli sp. n. associated with the diogenid hermit crab Cancellus macrothrix Stebbing, 1924, and H. fosteri sp. n. extracted from ‘empty’ urchin and gastropod shells. The first documented mysid-cephalopod association is reported for H. octopodis sp. n. which was found in dens occupied by Octopus vulgaris Cuvier, 1797, but was also captured from tide pools. The three new species differ from previously known E. Atlantic species, among other characters, by a single spine on the endopods of uropods in combination with large cornea and absence of median sternal processes on thoracic somites. They are also characterized by a white stripe along the dorso-lateral terminal margin of the eyestalks in living specimens. The new species appear quite similar to each other, but are distinguished by different depths of the telson cleft, different distributions of spines on the lateral margins of the telson, different numbers of segments on thoracic endopod 4, and by differently modified setae on the carpus of the third thoracic endopod, as well as on the carpopropodus of the fourth endopod. An updated key to the species of Heteromysis known from the E. Atlantic is given.

Keywords: Crustacea, hermit crab association, octopus association, ectocommensals, taxonomy, key to species, SE. Atlantic

 A subadult female of Heteromysis octopodis sp. n. with 11 mm body length from tide pool
B multi-species association inside den in 3 m depth, occupied by Octopus vulgaris, to the right with the crab Guinusia chabrus; upper arrow points to a mysid school of what we assume to be H. octopodis sp. n., lower arrow to a different but undetermined mysid species.

A, B from Miller’s Point, Cape Peninsula, South Africa; in situ images by Craig Foster B image is taken of the same octopus den from which the samples were collected, but on a different date. 

 Karl J. Wittmann and Charles L. Griffiths. 2017. Three New Species of Heteromysis (Mysida, Mysidae, Heteromysini) from the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, with first documentation of a mysid-cephalopod association. ZooKeys. 685; 15-47.  DOI:  10.3897/zookeys.685.13890

[Herpetology • 2021] Philautus nepenthophilus • Out of the Trap: A New Phytothelm‐breeding Species of Philautus (Anura: Rhacophoridae) and An Updated Phylogeny of Bornean Bush Frogs

Philautus nepenthophilus 

Etter, Haas, Lee, Pui, Das & Hertwig, 2021

 DOI: 10.1111/jzs.12465 

photo: Chien C. Lee facebook.com/ChienLeePhotography 

 

Abstract 

Bush frogs of the genus Philautus are a species‐rich group of the Asian tree frogs Rhacophoridae, which are known for their diverse reproductive biology. Within Philautus, reproduction has been described via endotrophic tadpoles and by direct terrestrial development. Here, we provide results of phylogenetic analyses based on the most comprehensive sampling of Bornean Philautus to date. As a result of an integrative taxonomic study using mitochondrial and nuclear markers, along with morphological and bioacoustic data, we describe a spectacular new species of this genus from the island of Borneo. The ecology of the new species of Philautus is closely associated with the carnivorous pitcher plant, Nepenthes mollis. The unusually large eggs are laid in the fluid of the pitcher and the endotrophic tadpoles, characterized by reduced mouthparts, small oral orifice and large intestinal yolk mass, complete their development in this environment. Molecular data and synapomorphic larval characters support the sister group relationship of the new species to P. macroscelis: both belong to the early diverged lineages in the Philautus tree, whose phylogenetic relationships could not be fully resolved. The new record of endotrophic tadpoles challenges again the hypothesis that terrestrial direct development is the plesiomorphic mode in this genus. Further, we discuss the nature of the frog‐plant interaction that could represent a new case of mutualism. The frog provides the plant with a source of nitrogen by depositing yolk‐rich eggs in the liquid of the pitcher. The plant, on the other hand, offers an exclusively protected space for the development of tadpoles in a habitat that otherwise has few permanent bodies of water and many competing frog species.

Keywords: direct development, endotrophy, evolution, mutualism, Nepenthes

Philautus nepenthophilus sp. nov. 

Etymology: The name nepenthophilus is composed of two words which refer to the close ecological relationship of this species to the carnivorous plant Nepenthes mollis. “Nepentho” stands for Nepenthes and “philus” is derived from the ancient Greek word “φίλος” [phílos] that means “which is loved or important.” The name is masculine.

 Type locality: ...., at 2,115 m a.s.l., about 3.7 km straight line north‐east of the summit of Gunung Murud, within the Pulong Tau National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo).

 

 

Laurence Etter, Alexander Haas, Chien C. Lee, Pui Yong Min, Indraneil Das and Stefan T. Hertwig. 2021. Out of the Trap: A New Phytothelm‐breeding Species of Philautus and An Updated Phylogeny of Bornean Bush Frogs (Anura: Rhacophoridae). Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research. DOI: 10.1111/jzs.12465

  facebook.com/ChienLeePhotography/posts/307111504104722

This phylogenetic study of Bush frogs of the genus Philautus (Anura, Rhacophoridae) is based on the most comprehensive sampling from Borneo examined so far. As an important outcome of our integrative taxonomic analysis using genetic, morphological, and bioacoustic data, we describe a new phytothelm‐breeding species of Philautus and discuss its mutualistic relationship with the pitcher plants Nepenthes mollis.

[Botany • 2019] A Taxonomic Revision of the Myrmecophilous Species of the Rattan Genus Korthalsia (Arecaceae)

the leaf bases of six species of Korthalsia with different ocrea types. 
Korthalsia echinometra, inflated ocrea; K. rostrata, inflated ocrea; K. robusta, divergent ocrea; 
K. debilis, tightly sheathing ocrea; K. rigida, tightly sheathing ocrea; K. jala, fibrous net-like ocrea.

  in Shahimi, Conejero,  Prychid, et al., 2019.

 DOI: 10.1007/s12225-019-9854-x

Photos: William Baker, Salwa Shahimi & John Dransfield. 

Summary

The rattan genus Korthalsia Blume (Arecaceae: Calamoideae: Calameae) is widespread in the Malesian region. Among the 28 accepted species are 10 species that form intimate associations with ants. The ants inhabit the conspicuous ocreas that are produced by these species, using them as domatia to care for their young and aphids. As a foundation for future work, we present here a taxonomic treatment of the myrmecophilous Korthalsia species, based on extensive research pursued both in the herbarium and the field. In addition, we conduct detailed morphological characterisation of the structure and development of ocrea using light and scanning electron microscopy. Descriptions, illustrations, keys and distribution maps are presented for all 10 species, along with microscopic images of ocrea morphology and development for selected species.

Keywords: Ant-plant mutualism, Calamoideae, domatia, Malesia, morphology, myrmecophily, ocrea

taxonomy

Distribution map of the genus Korthalsia in the Malesian region (black line).
 The distribution of the myrmecophilous species is shown with a red line.

Fig. 1: Images taken in the field of the leaf bases of six species of Korthalsia with different ocrea types.
A Korthalsia echinometra, inflated ocrea; B K. rostrata, inflated ocrea; C K. robusta, divergent ocrea; D K. debilis, tightly sheathing ocrea; E K. rigida, tightly sheathing ocrea; F K. jala, fibrous net-like ocrea.

 Photos: A, B William Baker, C – E Salwa Shahimi, F John Dransfield.

Salwa Shahimi, Maria Conejero, Christina J. Prychid, Paula J. Rudall, Julie A. Hawkins and William J. Baker. 2019. A Taxonomic Revision of the Myrmecophilous Species of the Rattan Genus Korthalsia (Arecaceae). Kew Bulletin. 74, 69. DOI: 10.1007/s12225-019-9854-x

[Crustacea • 2017] Diogenes heteropsammicola • A New Species of Hermit Crab (Decapoda, Anomura, Diogenidae) Replaces A Mutualistic Sipunculan in A Walking Coral Symbiosis

 Diogenes heteropsammicola 

 Igawa & Kato, 2017

 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0184311 

Abstract

Symbiont shift is rare in obligate mutualisms because both the partners are reciprocally dependent on and specialized to each other. In the obligate accommodation–transportation mutualism between walking corals and sipunculans, however, an unusual saltatory symbiont shift was discovered. In shallow waters of southern Japan, an undescribed hermit crab species was found living in corallums of solitary scleractinian corals of the genera Heterocyathus and Heteropsammia, replacing the usual sipunculan symbiont. We described the hermit crab as a new species Diogenes heteropsammicola (Decapoda, Anomura, Diogenidae), and explored its association with the walking corals. This hermit crab species obligately inhabits the coiled cavity of the corals, and was easily distinguished from other congeneric species by the exceedingly slender chelipeds and ambulatory legs, and the symmetrical telson. Observations of behavior in aquaria showed that the new hermit crab, like the sipunculan, carries the host coral and prevents the coral from being buried. This is an interesting case in which an organism phylogenetically distant from Sipuncula takes over the symbiotic role in association with a walking coral. The hermit crab species is unique in that its lodging is a living solitary coral that grows with the hermit crab in an accommodation–transportation mutualism.

Fig 6. Diogenes heteropsammicola sp. nov. in life. A, an individual in an aquarium, carrying the coral. 

Fig 6. Diogenes heteropsammicola sp. nov. in life. B, an individual removed from its host coral. Scale bar: 1 mm.

Taxonomic account

Genus Diogenes Dana, 1851

Diogenes heteropsammicola sp. nov.

Fig 7. Behavior of Diogenes heteropsammicola sp. nov.
A–C, sequence of behaviors to recover from an overturned to upright position in which the hermit crab leans out of the overturned coral (A), grasps the bottom with its ambulatory legs and left cheliped (B), and turns the coral upright using the pleon (C); D–F, sequence of behaviors to overcome burial in sediment, whereby the buried hermit crab (D) pushes away the sediment using its chelipeds and ambulatory legs (E), and then crawls away (F). 

Remarks: Diogenes heteropsammicola sp. nov. belongs to the D. edwardsii species group because of the intercalary rostriform process being smooth on the lateral margins, the antennal peduncle distinctly overreaching the distal corneal margin, and the antennal flagellum bearing a pair of long setae on the distal margin of each article ventrally. The new species is readily distinguished from all other species in this group by its exceedingly slender chelipeds and ambulatory legs, its symmetrical telson, red and white coloration, and the unique symbiotic habit with solitary corals.

Etymology: The new species is named after its mutualistic relationship with the solitary scleractinian corals of the genera Heteropsammia, keeping in mind that this hermit crab is also associated with Heterocyathus corals.

Distribution: At present, known only from Oshima Strait, between Kakeroma Island and Amami-Oshima Island, Kagoshima, Japan, depths of 60–80 m, and Ikomo Bay, western coast of Kakeroma Island, depth of 31 m.

Momoko Igawa and Makoto Kato. 2017. A New Species of Hermit Crab, Diogenes heteropsammicola (Crustacea, Decapoda, Anomura, Diogenidae), Replaces A Mutualistic Sipunculan in A Walking Coral Symbiosis. PLoS ONE. 12(9); e0184311.  DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0184311

New hermit crab uses live coral as its home

phys.org/news/2017-09-hermit-crab-coral-home.html

   

[Ecology • 2017] A Possible Mutualistic Interaction Between Vertebrates: Frogs (Pelophylax ridibundus) Use Water Buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) As A Foraging Place

foraging frogs (Pelophylax ridibundus) and flies on buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) fur.

 Zduniak, Erciyas-Yavuz & Tryjanowski, 2017.

DOI: 10.13128/Acta_Herpetol-20574 

Abstract

Mutualisms shape biodiversity by influencing the ecology and the evolution of populations and communities. For example, among many others, birds commonly forage in association with large mammals, including livestock, but so far no similar relationship has been described for amphibians. In this note we describe the association between the Marsh Frog (Pelophylax ridibundus) and the Anatolian Water Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) in Turkey and provide possible explanations for the existence of direct relations between these representatives of two vertebrate classes. We hope that our note stimulates future research on this subject.

Keywords: Bubalus bubalis, interaction, Pelophylax ridibundus.

Fig. 1. Photographs of the interaction between frogs and buffaloes; sitting buffaloes with many frogs on the fur. 

Fig. 1. Photographs of the interaction between frogs and buffaloes; foraging frogs and flies on buffalo fur.  

Piotr Zduniak, Kiraz Erciyas-Yavuz and Piotr Tryjanowski. 2017. A Possible Mutualistic Interaction Between Vertebrates: Frogs Use Water Buffaloes As A Foraging Place.
 Acta Herpetologica. 12(1); 113-116. DOI: 10.13128/Acta_Herpetol-20574

ResearchGate.net/publication/318239693_A_possible_mutualistic_interaction_between_vertebrates_Frogs_use_water_buffaloes_as_a_foraging_place

Frogs Hitch Ride on Water Buffalo—Never Before Seen
 on.natgeo.com/2vKJqd9  @NatGeo

[Ecology • 2017] A Novel, Enigmatic Basal Leafflower Moth Lineage Pollinating A Derived Leafflower Host Illustrates the Dynamics of Host Shifts, Partner Replacement, and Apparent Coadaptation in Intimate Mutualisms

Flowers, fruit, and pollinator of Glochidion lanceolarium. 

 biotech.org.cn   DOI: 10.1086/690623

Abstract

Leafflower plant/leafflower moth brood pollination mutualisms are widespread in the Paleotropics. Leafflower moths pollinate leafflower plants, but their larvae consume a subset of the hosts’ seeds. These interactions are highly phylogenetically constrained: six clades of leafflower plants are each associated with a unique clade of leafflower moths (Epicephala). Here, we report a previously unrecognized basal seventh pollinating Epicephala lineage—associated with the highly derived leafflower clade Glochidion—in Asia. Epicephala lanceolaria is a pollinator and seed predator of Glochidion lanceolarium. Phylogenetic inference indicates that the ancestor of E. lanceolaria most likely shifted onto the ancestor of G. lanceolarium and displaced the ancestral allospecific Epicephala pollinator in at least some host populations. The unusual and apparently coadapted aspects of the G. lanceolarium/E. lanceolaria reproductive cycles suggest that plant-pollinator coevolution may have played a role in this displacement and provide insights into the dynamics of host shifts and trait coevolution in this specialized mutualism.

Keywords: Epicephala, Glochidion, host shift, intimate mutualism, specialized pollination, coadaptation.

Figure 1: Flowers, fruit, and pollinator of Glochidion lanceolarium.
 A, Glochidion lanceolarium individual bearing many fruits and flower buds. B, Male flower. C, Female flowers. D, Female Epicephala lanceolaria moth visiting a male flower. E, Epicephala lanceolaria actively pollinating a female flower. F, Ovipositing E. lanceolaria. G, Pollinated stigma, showing the pollen grains on the stigma. H, Cross section of a female flower with three eggs (arrows). I, Proboscis of a female E. lanceolaria moth bearing pollen. J, Epicephala lanceolaria pupa in a carpel chamber without cocoon. K, Epicephala lanceolaria cocoon in a carpel chamber with a pupa inside. L, Cross section of a mature fruit with two eclosed E. lanceolaria in the carpel chamber.

DOI:  10.1086/690623 

Shi-Xiao Luo, Gang Yao, Ziwei Wang, Dianxiang Zhang and David H. Hembry. 2017. A Novel, Enigmatic Basal Leafflower Moth Lineage Pollinating A Derived Leafflower Host Illustrates the Dynamics of Host Shifts, Partner Replacement, and Apparent Coadaptation in Intimate Mutualisms. The American Naturalist.   DOI:  10.1086/690623

ResearchGate.net/publication/312343182_A_Novel_Enigmatic_Basal_Leafflower_Moth_Lineage_Pollinating_a_Derived_Leafflower_Host_Illustrates_the_Dynamics_of_Host_Shifts_Partner_Replacement_and_Apparent_Coadaptation_in_Intimate_Mutualisms

https://davidhembry.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/luo-et-al-2017.pdf

Plant keeps moths captive inside its fruits for almost a year
newscientist.com/article/2119346-plant-keeps-moths-captive-inside-its-fruits-for-almost-a-year/

http://www.biotech.org.cn/information/145518

http://www.amnat.org/an/newpapers/AprLuo.html

The Pollination Mutualism between Epicephala moths of Gracillariidae and Glochidion plants of Euphorbiaceae

       

[Botany / Mutualism • 2011] A Unique Resource Mutualism between the Giant Bornean Pitcher Plant, Nepenthes rajah, and Members of a Small Mammal Community

Rattus baluensis visiting a Nepenthes rajah pitcher at night.
 : We found that in addition to Tupaia montana, the summit rat, Rattus baluensis, habitually visits N. rajah pitchers to feed on nectar produced by glands on the pitcher lids. Like T. montana, R. baluensis frequently deposits scats into N. rajah pitchers. Despite an intensive monitoring effort, no other vertebrates were observed to exploit nectar resources nor defecate in pitchers during this study.

photo: Ch'ien Lee en.wikipedia.org

Abstract

The carnivorous pitcher plant genus Nepenthes grows in nutrient-deficient substrates and produce jug-shaped leaf organs (pitchers) that trap arthropods as a source of N and P. A number of Bornean Nepenthes demonstrate novel nutrient acquisition strategies. Notably, three giant montane species are engaged in a mutualistic association with the mountain treeshrew, Tupaia montana, in which the treeshrew defecates into the pitchers while visiting them to feed on nectar secretions on the pitchers' lids.

Although the basis of this resource mutualism has been elucidated, many aspects are yet to be investigated. We sought to provide insights into the value of the mutualism to each participant. During initial observations we discovered that the summit rat, R. baluensis, also feeds on sugary exudates of N. rajah pitchers and defecates into them, and that this behavior appears to be habitual. The scope of the study was therefore expanded to assess to what degree N. rajah interacts with the small mammal community.

We found that both T. montana and R. baluensis are engaged in a mutualistic interaction with N. rajah. T .montana visit pitchers more frequently than R. baluensis, but daily scat deposition rates within pitchers do not differ, suggesting that the mutualistic relationships are of a similar strength. This study is the first to demonstrate that a mutualism exists between a carnivorous plant species and multiple members of a small mammal community. Further, the newly discovered mutualism between R. baluensis and N. rajah represents only the second ever example of a multidirectional resource-based mutualism between a mammal and a carnivorous plant.

Greenwood M, Clarke C, Lee CC, Gunsalam A, Clarke RH. 2011. A Unique Resource Mutualism between the Giant Bornean Pitcher Plant, Nepenthes rajah, and Members of a Small Mammal Community. PLoS ONE. 6(6): e21114. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0021114

  Rattus baluensis visiting a Nepenthes rajah pitcher at night.: http://openi.nlm.nih.gov/detailedresult.php?img=3114855_pone.0021114.g001&req=4

[Botany / Mutualism • 2011] Pitchers of Nepenthes rajah collect faecal droppings from both diurnal and nocturnal small mammals [;Tupaia montana & Rattus baluensis] and emit fruity odour | Small mammals use Borneo pitcher plant as toilet in exchange for nectar

Abstract

The pitchers of Nepenthes rajah, a montane carnivorous plant species from Borneo, are large enough to capture small vertebrates such as rats or lizards, which occasionally drown therein. The interactions of N. rajah with vertebrates, however, are poorly understood, and the potential mechanisms that lure vertebrates to the pitchers are largely unknown. We observed frequent visits (average: one visit per 4.2 h) of both the diurnal tree shrew Tupaia montana and the nocturnal rat Rattus baluensis to pitchers by infrared sensor camera and video recording. Both mammalian species often licked the inner surface of the pitcher lid, which harbours numerous exudate-producing glands. Analysis of volatiles extracted from the secretions of the pitcher lids by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS) revealed 44 volatile compounds, including hydrocarbons, alcohols, esters, ketones and sulphur-containing compounds, which are commonly present in sweet fruit and flower odours. The faeces of small mammals were repeatedly observed inside the pitcher, whereas we found the body of only one Tupaia montana drowned in the 42, vital and reasonably large, surveyed pitchers. Our findings suggest that the N. rajah pitcher makes use of the perceptual biases of rats and tree shrews by emitting volatiles known from fruits. The profits that the plant obtains from the repeated visits of two small mammals, together with the provision of exudates for the mammals, comprise an exceptional case of plant–vertebrate interaction.

Key Words: carnivorous plants; extrafloral nectaries; plant–animal interaction; Rattus baluensis; Tupaia montana

Small mammals use Borneo pitcher plant as toilet in exchange for nectar 

http://news.mongabay.com/2011/1108-ucsc_fessenden_pitcher_plants.html

Wells K, Lakim MB, Schulz S and Ayasse M. 2011. Pitchers of Nepenthes rajah collect faecal droppings from both diurnal and nocturnal small mammals and emit fruity odour. Journal of Tropical Ecology. 27 (4). 347-353. DOI: 10.1017/S0266467411000162

http://facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=317768361609862