In October 2015, the dark false mussel, Mytilopsis leucophaeata, was encountered in the Duck Pond of the West River at Edgewood Park in New Haven, New Haven County, Connecticut, USA. The natural endemic range of Mytilopsis leucophaeata is the Gulf of Mexico and the temperate Atlantic coast of North America from Tampico, Mexico, northward to the Chesapeake Bay. In the late 1930s, Mytilopsis leucophaeata became established in the Hudson River basin in New York. The only previous reports of Mytilopsis leucophaeata from New England are from the Charles River near Boston, Massachusetts, in 1981 and from the Housatonic River in Fairfield County, Connecticut, in the 1990s. Mytilopsis leucophaeata has been characterized as the brackish-water equivalent to the zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, and has been associated with severe fouling problems of water-cooling systems in Europe where it has been introduced. It is hypothesized that Mytilopsis leucophaeata was introduced by ballast water of ships from New Haven Harbor and established in the lower West River subsequent to the installation of two-way tidal gates in the course of a tidal marsh and channel restoration project completed in 2012. Other invertebrates collected were the hydrozoan Cordylophora caspia; the polychaetes Hobsonia florida and Polydora cf. ciliata; the amphipods Gammarus fasciatus and Apocorophium simile; the ivory barnacle, Amphibalanus eburneus; and Say's mud crab, Dyspanopeus sayi. The blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, was commonly observed. The freshwater leech, Helobdella modesta, which was once abundant in the Duck Pond, was not collected. Given the invasive potential of Mytilopsis leucophaeata, in conjunction with the paucity of knowledge of many aspects of its natural history, especially in introduced settings, it is important to monitor this population.

A taxonomic revision of Etheostoma simoterum (Cope) published in 2007 resulted in the recognition of six species, with two species distributed in the Tennessee River system. A newly defined Etheostoma simoterum was restricted to populations in the Holston River above the confluence of the North and South Forks, and the Russell Fork system of the Ohio River drainage. A newly described species, Etheostoma tennesseense Powers & Mayden, included all other populations historically considered Etheostoma simoterum in the Tennessee River system from near the mouth of the Duck River upstream to the Clinch River, including the Holston River below the forks. A subsequent study utilizing molecular phylogenetics and analysis of male nuptial coloration did not support the recognition of Etheostoma tennesseense. Molecular phylogenies resolve both Etheostoma simoterum and Etheostoma tennesseense as paraphyletic. In addition, it was determined that male coloration patterns are not diagnostic for the more restricted and new definition of Etheostoma simoterum. In this study, we examine the systematics of Etheostoma simoterum using meristic traits sampled from more than 1,000 specimens, including Cope's syntype series of Hyostoma simoterum and Powers and Mayden's paratopotype series of Etheostoma tennesseense. Our results show a pattern of clinal variation, where meristic traits are higher in the in the lower Tennessee River system. Comparisons of populations above and below the forks of the Holston River show no differences in meristic traits, but populations sampled from the Watauga River system exhibit scale counts lower than any other population of Etheostoma simoterum. We cannot reject the hypothesis that Etheostoma tennesseense is conspecific with the specimens that comprise the Hyostoma simoterum syntype series. Based on both morphological and molecular species delimitation strategies, we treat Etheostoma tennesseense as a synonym of Etheostoma simoterum.

Predicting the response of endemic species to urbanization has emerged as a fundamental challenge in 21st century conservation biology. The factors that underlie population declines of reptiles are particularly nebulous, as these are often the least understood class of vertebrates in a given community. In this study, we assess correlations between feeding ecology and phenotypic traits of the Lesser Antillean endemic Dutch leaf-toed gecko, Phyllodactylus martini, along an urban gradient in the Caribbean island of Curaçao. There has been a marked decline of this species in developed habitats associated with the invasive tropical house gecko Hemidactylus mabouia. We find a correlation between aspects of locomotor morphology and prey in undeveloped habitats that is absent in developed habitats. Analyses of stomach contents further suggest that Phyllodactylus martini alters primary prey items in developed areas. However, changes in prey promote the overlap in foraging niches between Phyllodactylus martini and Hemidactylus mabouia, suggesting that direct resource competition is contributing to the decline of Phyllodactylus martini. In addition to competitive exclusion, we suggest that the urban extirpation of Phyllodactylus martini could also be attributed to a top-down control on population growth by Hemidactylus mabouia. Colonizations of walls put Phyllodactylus martini in direct contact with Hemidactylus mabouia increasing the chances for predation events, as evidenced by our observation of a predation event on a Phyllodactylus martini juvenile by an adult Hemidactylus mabuoia. In total, our results add to a growing body of literature demonstrating the threat that invasive synanthropic reptiles pose to endemics that might otherwise be able to cope with increased urbanization pressures.

Strepsiptera is a clade of entomophagous parasitoid insects with fewer than 30 previously reported fossils. Two new species of Caenocholax (Strepsiptera: Myrmecolacidae) described here represent the first reported adult strepsipterans preserved as organic compression fossils. Their occurrence in the Early Eocene (about 50 Ma) Green River Formation (Colorado, USA) is the northernmost New World record of Myrmecolacidae and the oldest record of Caenocholax. Caenocholax barkleyi sp. nov. and Caenocholax palusaxus sp. nov. are each known from one adult male. The aedeagus of C. barkleyi lacks a median projection and terminates in two hooks, an apomorphy of the species. Caenocholax palusaxus has distinctly intermediate wing vein density and a larger ratio of antennomere 6 to antennomere 7 than any other species of Caenocholax. The fossils reported here expand the known insect biota of the formation in taxonomic richness as well as the fossil record of Strepsiptera in space and time. Moreover, the Eocene specimens hint at an unappreciated fossil diversity of endoparasitic insects.

The distribution of Placobdella ornata (Verrill, 1872) is unclear as there has been much taxonomic confusion regarding this species. New collections and redetermination of museum specimens revealed 24 new locality records for Placobdella ornata, including the first reports of the species in New York and Rhode Island. Placobdella ornata is now known to occur in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and eastern New York, USA, as well as Belgium (presumably introduced). A specimen from the syntype series of Placobdella ornata (Verrill, 1872) is designated as the lectotype of the species.

The sponge biomarker hypothesis argues that 24-isopropylcholestanes preserved in Neoproterozoic-age rocks are “molecular fossils” left behind by marine sponges. Despite genetic and geologic support for this hypothesis, 24-isopropylcholestane has never been reported from a sponge body fossil. This lack of direct evidence regarding the source of sponge biomarkers through deep time leaves unanswered questions, such as whether their biosynthesis evolved once in sponges or multiple times across different lineages. In this study, we analyzed 10 sponge fossils from the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History collections in pursuit of evidence of sterane biomarkers. We failed to recover 24-isopropylcholestane and instead found a near-identical sterane profile across all samples. This result indicates a combination of little to no sterane preservation in the fossils themselves, coupled with anthropogenic hydrocarbon contamination during their collection and storage. However, signals from bacterial biomarkers (hopanes) were more diverse across samples and consistent with a priori expectations, meaning that we cannot rule out the possibility that at least part of the hydrocarbon signal is syngenetic. We suggest that future attempts to extract biomarker hydrocarbons from sponge fossils be performed on freshly collected and specially prepared field samples. Despite the fact that demosponges or their ancestors still present the most likely source of Neoproterozoic 24-isopropylcholestanes, multiple evolutionary scenarios are consistent with current genetic and biomarker evidence: the “sponge biomarker” could represent an evolutionary novelty in demosponges, or a trait that evolved deeper in the animal tree. We therefore continue to affirm the validity of the sponge biomarker hypothesis but caution against using Neoproterozoic 24-isopropylcholestanes as a calibration point for sponges in molecular clocks. Instead, we recommend using it as a reference point for comparison, as scenarios where crowngroup demosponges radiate after the Neoproterozoic remain inconsistent with the geologic record.

Turtles of the total Clade Pan-Chelidae have a relatively poor fossil record, which is completely restricted from the Early Cretaceous to Recent of South America and Australasia. The clade is expected to have formerly inhabited Antarctica as well. The phylogenetic relationships of extant pan-chelids remain poorly resolved, notably because there are conflicting signals between morphological and molecular data. The ecology of fossil pan-chelids appears to have been similar to that of their extant relatives. A taxonomic review of the group concluded that of 45 named taxa, 22 are nomina valida, 6 are nomina invalida and 15 are nomina dubia, whereas the final 2 are rendered non-testudinate through the designation of lectotypes.

A new species of underwing moth, Catocala slotteni sp. nov., is described from three specimens from the Gulf Coast of the Florida Panhandle, USA. Corresponding characters from wing pattern, male genitalia and the 5′ region of Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit I mitochondrial DNA separate C. slotteni from phenotypically similar species in the genus.

A new species of underwing moth, Catocala ventura sp. nov., is described from California, USA. Wing pattern and Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit I 5′ mitochondrial DNA separate C. ventura from related species with similar wing pattern and structure.