Shovelbill shark (Sphyrna alleni), hammerhead shark (Sphyrnidae) from Caribbean and Southwest Atlantic

NEWS - Researchers have identified a new species of hammerhead shark as the shovelbill shark or Requin-marteau pelle or Tiburón Cabeza de Pala (Sphyrna alleni) collected at Robinson Point and Riversdale Village, Belize, and provided by local fishermen in 2016 and 2019. S. alleni is named after Paul G. Allen (1953-2018), a philanthropist who supported shark research and conservation.

Shovelbill shark is max 150 cm long when mature with a flat, shovel-shaped head that lacks a notch on the anterior margin, a pointed (triangular) cephalofoil in both sexes and a distinct protrusion in males. The posterior margin is lobulated.

The posterior teeth are enlarged, molar-like, the first dorsal tip is anterior to the pelvic origin and the posterior margin of the anus is shallowly concave. It differs from S. tiburo in that the anterior margin of the head is more rounded and the posterior margin lacks lobules. The number of precaudal vertebrae for S. alleni is between 80-83 (~10 more vertebrae than S. tiburo).

The distribution range is in coastal waters, estuaries, coral reefs, seagrass beds and sandy bottoms from Belize to Brazil. Its presence has been confirmed in the Caribbean in Belize, Panama, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago and in the southwest Atlantic in Brazil.

S. alleni and S. tiburo are separated into two gene pools when examining 12 nuclear microsatellites with many private alleles observed. Visual inspection reveals a more pointed anterior margin of the cephalofoil in S. alleni which is consistent with geometric morphometric analysis and precaudal vertebrae count.

These species diverged between 3.61-5.62 million years ago which would be before the uplift of the Isthmus of Panama. It is possible that S. alleni and S. vespertina are sister lineages and S. tiburo diverged from them as it expanded into the subtropical and temperate regions of the Atlantic.

Phylogenetic reconstruction and head morphology also suggest S. tiburo is a species complex consisting of south central (Caribbean), northwestern (Gulf of Mexico, Florida, South and North Carolina) and eastern Pacific lineages.

Bonnetheads are currently rated as Globally ‘Endangered’ by the IUCN, but they have been assessed as an American amphibian species. The species is well managed in the higher latitudes of its Northern Hemisphere Atlantic range, but is heavily fished and poorly managed elsewhere.

Original research

Cindy Gonzalez, Bautisse Postaire, William Driggers, Susana Caballero & Demian Chapman (2024), Sphyrna alleni sp. nov., a new hammerhead shark (Carcharhiniformes, Sphyrnidae) from the Caribbean and the Southwest Atlantic. Zootaxa 5512 (4): 491–511, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5512.4.2

Dlium theDlium

Purwaceng (Pimpinella pruatjan)

Purwaceng or purwoceng or antanan gunung or Viagra of Java ( Pimpinella pruatjan or Pimpinella priatjan ) are small termas growing horizontally in Apiaceae, growing in villages on Dieng Plateau, Central Java Province, Indonesia, at 1,500 to 2,000 meters above sea level, the roots have medicinal properties for aphrodisiacs and are usually processed in powder form for a mixture of coffee or milk. P. pruatjan grows flat on the ground but does not propagate, small leaves are reddish green for 1-3 cm in diameter. This plant is only found in Java and grows in high mountain areas. A low population where industrial demand is very high results in increasingly scarce. Another place that is likely to become a purwaceng habitat is the Iyang Mountains and the Tengger Mountains in East Java Province. Efforts to multiply and cultivate have a big problem where these plants have difficulty producing seeds. In vitro propagation research through tissue cultivation has been carried out to overcome ...

Six new species forming the Sumbana species group in genus Nemophora Hoffmannsegg 1798 from Indonesia

NEWS - Sumbawa longhorn ( Nemophora sumbana Kozlov, sp. nov.), Timor longhorn ( Nemophora timorella Kozlov, sp. nov.), shining shade longhorn ( Nemophora umbronitidella Kozlov, sp. nov.), Wegner longhorn ( Nemophora wegneri Kozlov, sp. nov.), long brush longhorn ( Nemophora longipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.), and short brush longhorn ( Nemophora brevipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.) from the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia. The Lesser Sunda Islands consist of two parallel, linear oceanic island chains, including Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Sawu, Timor, Alor, and Tanimbar. The oldest of these islands have been continuously occurring for 10–12 million years. This long period of isolation has allowed significant in situ diversification, making the Lesser Sundas home to many endemic species. This island chain may act as a two-way filter for organisms migrating between the world's two great biogeographic regions, Asia and Australia-Papua. The recognition of a striking cli...

New living fossil, Amethyst worm lizard (Amphisbaena amethysta), from Espinhaço Mountain Range, Brazil

NEWS - New species from the northern Espinhaço Mountains, Caetité municipality, Bahia state, Brazil. Amethyst worm lizard ( Amphisbaena amethysta ) is the 71st species of the genus with 4 precloacal pores and the 22nd species of Caatinga morphoclimatic domain. Identification of the new species shows the reptiles of the Mountains are far from complete and may contain greater diversity of endemic taxa. A. amethysta can be distinguished by its anteriorly convex snout, slightly compressed and unkeeled, pectoral scales arranged in regular annuli, four precloacal pores, distinct head shield, 185-199 dorsal and half annuli, 13-16 caudal annuli, a conspicuous autotomy spot between the 4th-6th caudal annuli, 16-21 dorsal and ventral segments in the middle of the body, 3/3 supralabials, 3/3 infralabials and a smooth and rounded tail tip. A. amethysta occurs in areas with an average elevation of 1000 meters in patches of deciduous and semi-deciduous forests associated with valleys, slopes, fore...

Dlium