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1. Phylogenomics of peacock spiders and their kin (Salticidae: Maratus ), with implications for the evolution of male courtship displays

   https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blaa165  

   Girard, Madeline B; Elias, Damian O; Azevedo, Guilherme; Bi, Ke; Kasumovic, Michael M; Waldock, Julianne M; Rosenblum, Erica Bree; Hedin, Marshal (February 2021, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract Understanding diversity has been a pursuit in evolutionary biology since its inception. A challenge arises when sexual selection has played a role in diversification. Questions of what constitutes a ‘species’, homoplasy vs. synapomorphy, and whether sexually selected traits show phylogenetic signal have hampered work on many systems. Peacock spiders are famous for sexually selected male courtship dances and peacock-like abdominal ornamentation. This lineage of jumping spiders currently includes over 90 species classified into two genera, Maratus and Saratus. Most Maratus species have been placed into groups based on secondary sexual characters, but evolutionary relationships remain unresolved. Here we assess relationships in peacock spiders using phylogenomic data (ultraconserved elements and RAD-sequencing). Analyses reveal that Maratus and the related genus Saitis are paraphyletic. Many, but not all, morphological groups within a ‘core Maratus’ clade are recovered as genetic clades but we find evidence for undocumented speciation. Based on original observations of male courtship, our comparative analyses suggest that courtship behaviour and peacock-like abdominal ornamentation have evolved sequentially, with some traits inherited from ancestors and others evolving repeatedly and independently from ‘simple’ forms. Our results have important implications for the taxonomy of these spiders, and provide a much-needed evolutionary framework for comparative studies of the evolution of sexual signal characters. 

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2. A new genus and two new species of miniature clingfishes from temperate southern Australia (Teleostei, Gobiesocidae)

   https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.864.34521  

   Conway, Kevin W.; Moore, Glenn I.; Summers, Adam P. (July 2019, ZooKeys)

   A new genus and two new species of miniature clingfishes are described based on specimens collected from dense stands of macroalgae in intertidal and shallow subtidal areas along the coast of southern Australia. The new genus, Barryichthys , is distinguished from other genera of the Gobiesocidae by unique features of the adhesive disc, including elongate papillae in adhesive disc regions A and B, the reduction and/or loss of several elements of the cephalic lateral line canals, the lower gill arch skeleton, and the neurocranium, and by having two distinct types of pectoral-fin rays. Barryichthyshutchinsi is described based on 19 specimens (12.4–18.7 mm SL) from Western Australia and South Australia. Barryichthysalgicola is described based on 22 specimens (9.0–21.0 mm SL) from Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania. The new species are distinguished from each other by characters of body and head shape, vertebral counts, and aspects of live colour pattern. The new genus shares several characters in common with Parvicrepis , another genus of miniature gobiesocids from southern Australia that also inhabits macroalgae habitats. The many reductions and novel characters of Barryichthys are discussed within the context of miniaturisation. 

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3. Genetic, morphometric, and molecular analyses of interspecies differences in head shape and hybrid developmental defects in the wasp genus Nasonia

   https://doi.org/10.1093/g3journal/jkab313  

   Cohen, Lorna B; Jewell, Rachel; Moody, Dyese; Arsala, Deanna; Werren, John H; Lynch, Jeremy A (September 2021, G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics)

   Lott, S (Ed.)

   Abstract Males in the parasitoid wasp genus Nasonia have distinct, species-specific, head shapes. The availability of fertile hybrids among the species, along with obligate haploidy of males, facilitates analysis of complex gene interactions in development and evolution. Previous analyses showed that both the divergence in head shape between Nasonia vitripennis and Nasonia giraulti, and the head-specific developmental defects of F2 haploid hybrid males, are governed by multiple changes in networks of interacting genes. Here, we extend our understanding of the gene interactions that affect morphogenesis in male heads. Use of artificial diploid male hybrids shows that alleles mediating developmental defects are recessive, while there are diverse dominance relationships among other head shape traits. At the molecular level, the sex determination locus doublesex plays a major role in male head shape differences, but it is not the only important factor. Introgression of a giraulti region on chromsome 2 reveals a recessive locus that causes completely penetrant head clefting in both males and females in a vitripennis background. Finally, a third species (N. longicornis) was used to investigate the timing of genetic changes related to head morphology, revealing that most changes causing defects arose after the divergence of N. vitripennis from the other species, but prior to the divergence of N. giraulti and N. longicornis from each other. Our results demonstrate that developmental gene networks can be dissected using interspecies crosses in Nasonia, and set the stage for future fine-scale genetic dissection of both head shape and hybrid developmental defects. 

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4. An unexpected new Poropanchax (Cyprinodontiformes, Procatopodidae) from the Kongo Central Province, Democratic Republic of Congo

   JOUKE, R. VAN; KIMBERLY, BERNOTAS; PEDRO, H.N. BRAGANÇA; MELANIE, L.J. STIASSNY (October 2019, American Museum novitates)

   A new procatopodid, assigned to the genus Poropanchax, is described from a wetland habitat located adjacent to the Inga Falls in Lower Congo. Poropanchax pepo, new species, is distinguished from all congeners by a combination of characters including a higher D/A ratio, rounded anal and dorsal fins, a humeral blotch in males, and the absence of a sharp ventral process on the basipterygium. The finding of a Poropanchax species in Lower Congo was unexpected, since the closest known congeneric population is located in northwestern Gabon, some 700 kilometers to the north. As recognized herein the genus Poropanchax is a clade comprised of five species geographically restricted to humid coastal regions of west and west-central Africa. 

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5. A Revision of the Peruvian Edrotini (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Pimeliinae)

   https://doi.org/10.3161/00034541ANZ2019.69.1.004  

   Giraldo-Mendoza, Alfredo E.; Flores, Gustavo E. (March 2019, Annales Zoologici)

   The Peruvian genera of Edrotini (Pimeliinae) are revised. A new genus Pachacamacius Flores & Giraldo gen. nov. with two new species, Pachacamacius aguilari Giraldo & Flores sp. nov. (type species) and Pachacamacius koepckeae Flores & Giraldo sp. nov., is described. Two species originally described in the genus ProhylithusKaszab, 1964 are reassigned to two new monotypic genera: Sechuranus Flores and Giraldo gen. nov. (type species Prohylithus barbatusKaszab, 1964) and Koneus Giraldo and Flores, gen. nov. (type species Prohylithus peruanusKaszab, 1981). This article includes diagnoses for five genera and redescriptions or descriptions, distributional data, habitat records and habitus photographs for six species. A dichotomous key for all 11 Peruvian species of Edrotini, drawings of new species' male genitalic features, and distribution maps are also provided. A discussion of the external morphological characters and male genitalia of the new taxa compared to the genera and species previously described and on endemicity and zoogeography of Peruvian Edrotini is presented. 

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