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1. The Nucras (Squamata: Lacertidae) of the eastern Zambezi River Basin, with the description of a new species from Zambia

   https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5632.3.3  

   BAUER, AARON M; CHILDERS, JACKIE L; BURGER, MARIUS (May 2025, Zootaxa)

   The Nucras of the eastern Zambezi River basin region, comprising Zambia, Malawi and central Mozambique have been poorly studied. We re-evaluated the type specimens of Lacerta cameranoi Bedriaga, 1886 and L. tessellata pseudotessellata Bedriaga, 1886, both collected at Tete, Mozambique by Wilhelm Peters in the 1840s. Both are assignable to N. ornata, the most widespread Nucras in the region. However, an additional specimen collected from Tete is referrable to N. holubi, filling a collecting gap for this species between central Zimbabwe and southern Malawi. Nucras records from northeastern Zambia include several N. boulengeri, two photo-vouchered records, one unidentifiable and the other an enigmatic form not consistent with any known species, and a new species from Senga Hill, Northern Province. The new species, Nucras margaritae sp. nov., is known only from its holotype. It is morphologically similar to N. ornata, from which it is separated by 620 airline km, but is deeply genetically divergent from all congeners and is sister to the clade comprising N. holubi, N. ornata, N. damarana and N. intertexta. At least five species of Nucras, four currently named, inhabit the greater eastern Zambezi River basin.   

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2. Think globally, barcode locally: nine years of macrofungi sampling reveals extensive biodiversity at the ordway-swisher biological station, a subtropical site in Florida

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.funbio.2025.101643  

   Caiafa, Marcos V; Kaminsky, Laurel; Healy, Rosanne; Sheffer, Leanne P; Willis, C Benton; Deitz, Katy; Richter, Brantlee S; Lemmond, Benjamin R; Borland, David; Roy, Bitty A; et al (November 2025, Fungal Biology)

   Skrede, I (Ed.)

   The Ordway-Swisher Biological Station (OSBS) is a 38-km2 reserve owned by the University of Florida and is part of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). The reserve contains several iconic Florida habitats, such as sandhill, mesic hammock, and scrubby flatwoods. While plants and animals have been extensively studied at OSBS, the fungi remain poorly known. Fungal inventories are critical to increase knowledge of both fungal diversity and species ranges, and thus to provide foundational data for a wide array of applications in ecology and resource management. Here, we present the results of a nine-year effort to collect, preserve, and DNA barcode the macrofungi at OSBS. This effort generated >1200 vouchered specimens and 984 ITS rDNA sequences, representing more than 546 species. Our sampling was dominated by Basidiomycota and revealed a high diversity of symbiotic ectomycorrhizal fungi, particularly species of Amanita, Cortinarius, and Russula. Sampling curves and both Chao1 and Jacknife1 richness estimators suggest that our DNA barcoding efforts captured only about half of the macrofungi species and that a more complete inventory would detect 897–1177 macrofungi species at OSBS. Our sampling found more species of macrofungi at OSBS than the known number of vertebrate animal species at the reserve and our estimates also suggest that there are likely more macrofungi species than plant species at OSBS. This study is the first comprehensive macrofungi inventory within a NEON site and highlights the importance of long-term monitoring to provide novel data on fungal diversity, community structure, conservation, biogeography, and taxonomy. 

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3. On the troglobitic velvet worm Speleoperipatus spelaeus Peck, 1975 (Onychophora, Peripatidae): assessing the status of a Critically Endangered Jamaican invertebrate

   https://doi.org/10.3897/subtbiol.51.151034  

   Giribet, Gonzalo; Anilkumar, Pooja A; Goodwin, Abbio; Stewart, Ronald S; Watkis, Claud A; Whyte, Damion; Hormiga, Gustavo (March 2025, Subterranean Biology)

   The velvet wormSpeleoperipatus spelaeusPeck, 1975 is one of the rarest velvet worm species reported, as it is only known from its type locality, Pedro Great Cave, Clarendon Parish, Jamaica. The type material of the species, the only four specimens available in known scientific collections, was obtained in the early 1970’s, and since then, no additional specimens have been available for research. More recently, observations of three probably conspecific specimens by the Jamaican Caves Organisation, not collected, have been made in a different location, Swansea Cave, Saint Catherine Parish. Here we report and document five specimens of this rare species from the type locality, Pedro Great Cave, as well as some observations about their behavior. Placing this species in a phylogenetic context should be attempted in the future, to better understand the significance ofSpeleoperipatus spelaeusand its evolutionary origins, its relationship to the Swansea Cave specimens, and to determine what are its closest relatives and whether those are other Jamaican species or velvet worms from other geographical areas. 

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4. Mantle earthquakes in the Himalayan collision zone

   https://doi.org/10.1130/G46378.1  

   Schulte-Pelkum, Vera; Monsalve, Gaspar; Sheehan, Anne F.; Shearer, Peter; Wu, Francis; Rajaure, Sudhir (June 2019, Geology)

   Abstract Earthquakes are known to occur beneath southern Tibet at depths up to ∼95 km. Whether these earthquakes occur within the lower crust thickened in the Himalayan collision or in the mantle is a matter of current debate. Here we compare vertical travel paths expressed as delay times between S and P arrivals for local events to delay times of P-to-S conversions from the Moho in receiver functions. The method removes most of the uncertainty introduced in standard analysis from using velocity models for depth location and migration. We show that deep seismicity in southern Tibet is unequivocally located beneath the Moho in the mantle. Deep seismicity in continental lithosphere occurs under normally ductile conditions and has therefore garnered interest in whether its occurrence is due to particularly cold temperatures or whether other factors are causing embrittlement of ductile material. Eclogitization in the subducting Indian crust has been proposed as a cause for the deep seismicity in this area. Our observation of seismicity in the mantle, falling below rather than within the crustal layer with proposed eclogitization, requires revisiting this concept and favors other embrittlement mechanisms that operate within mantle material. 

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5. Halichoeres sanchezi n. sp., a new wrasse from the Revillagigedo Archipelago of Mexico, tropical eastern Pacific Ocean (Teleostei: Labridae)

   https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.16828  

   Victor, Benjamin C; Frable, Benjamin W; Ludt, William B (January 2024, PeerJ)

   A new labrid fish species,Halichoeres sanchezin. sp., is described from eight specimens collected in the Revillagigedo Archipelago in the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Mexico. The new species belongs to theHalichoeres melanotisspecies complex that is found throughout the region, differing by 2.4% in the mtDNA cytochrome c oxidase I sequence from its nearest relative,H. melanotisfrom Panama, and 2.9% fromHalichoeres salmofasciatusfrom Cocos Island, off Costa Rica. The complex is distinguished from others in the region by having a black spot on the opercular flap and a prominent black area on the caudal fin of males. The juveniles and initial phase of the new species closely resemble those ofH. salmofasciatusandHalichoeres malpelofrom Malpelo Island of Colombia, differing in having an oblong black spot with a yellow dorsal margin on the mid-dorsal fin of initial-phase adults as well as on juveniles. In contrast, the terminal-phase male color pattern is distinct from other relatives, being vermilion to orangish brown with dark scale outlines, a white patch on the upper abdomen, and a prominent black band covering the posterior caudal peduncle and base of the caudal fin. The new species adds to the list of endemic fish species for the isolated archipelago and is an interesting case of island endemism in the region. The discovery was made during the joint 2022 collecting expedition to the archipelago, which featured a pioneering collaborative approach to an inventory of an island ichthyofauna, specifically including expert underwater photographers systematically documenting specimensin situ, before hand-collection, and then photographed fresh, tissue-sampled, and subsequently vouchered in museum collections. 

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