<p>A new species, Chordodes colchis, is described from several locations in Georgia. The species resembles some other Chorodes species, especially C. anthophorus, which has also been described from Georgia, but differs in conspicuous details. The new species possesses prominent thorn areoles, which were not described in C. anthophorus. The new species is the seventh species known from Georgia.</p>

A sample of land and freshwater snails, mainly pulmonates, was recently collected in caves in Goiás and Bahia states, Brazil. Twenty-one species were found in the material. The following species are reported for the first time for Goiás state: Cecilioides consobrina (Ferussaciidae), Dysopeas muibum and Stenogyra octogyra (Subulinidae), Entodina jekylli and Prohappia besckei (Scolodontidae; also reported for the first time for Bahia state), Pupisoma dioscoricola (Valloniidae). A new species from Goiás is described herein: Gastrocopta sharae sp. n. (Gastrocoptidae). The new records and species addressed here constitute important findings, helping to fill distributional gaps and improving the knowledge of the local molluscan fauna, an essential step for future conservation efforts.

In a previous study, Miralles and Vences (2013) compared seven different methods of species delimitation applied to the genus Madascincus. While focusing on methodological aspects their study involved an extensive data set of multilocus DNA sequences and of comparative morphology. On this basis they emphasized the need of revising the taxonomy of Madascincus, and revealed the existence of at least two well-supported candidate species. The present paper provides formal descriptions of these two taxa: (1) M. miafina sp. n., a species from dry areas of northern Madagascar, morphologically very similar to M. polleni (although both species are not retrieved as sister taxa), and (2) M. pyrurus sp. n., a montane species occurring >1500 m above sea level, endemic to the central highlands of Madagascar (Ibity and Itremo Massifs). Phylogenetically, M. pyrurus is the sister species of M. igneocaudatus, a taxon restricted to the dry littoral regions of the south and south-west of Madagascar in lowlands <500 m above sea level. To facilitate future taxonomic work, we furthermore elaborated an identification key for species of Madascincus. Finally, some aspects of the biogeographic patterns characterising the different main clades within the genus Madascincus are provided and discussed for the first time in the light of a robust phylogenetic framework.

A new species of the genus Moenkhausia is described from the Içá River, Amazon Basin. Moenkhausia britskii sp. n. is most similar to M. grandisquamis and M. xinguensis. From these two species it is readily distinguished by the pigmentation pattern of the humeral spot. Moenkhausia britskii further differs from M. xinguensis by the pattern of radii on the scales, which curve upward and downward (vs. scales with straight radii). Discussions on the putative relationship of the new species with M. grandisquamis and M. xinguensis, and on the peculiar upward and downward arched scale radii are provided.

&lt;p&gt;This paper describes new or little known species of Stenothoidae, collected from sea anemones, bivalves or hermit crabs. A key to world Stenula species is provided.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Parelasmopus setiger has been widely described from tropical to subtropical regions from Philippine Islands, Sulu Sea, Indonesia, Australia, north Indian Ocean and the Seychelles by several authors. The present study provides detailed descriptions of Parelasmopus setiger Chevreux, 1901 (Crustacea: Amphipoda) based on newly collected specimens from Pulau Hantu, Singapore. Morphological characters of the specimens closely resemble those of Parelasmopus setiger and Parelasmopus siamensis Wongkamhaeng, Coleman &amp; Pholpunthin, 2013. The specimens of both the species were quite similar to the Singapore specimens, although the shapes of appendages vary with growth and locality; therefore, P. siamensis is synonymized with P. setiger. The following species characteristics for P. setiger are indicated: 1) antenna 1 peduncle with 2 setae; 2) male gnathopod 2 propodus palm transverse; 3) Pereopods 5 to 7 posterior margins with long slender setae; and 4) dorsal carina pattern for pereonite 7 and pleonites 1 to 3.&lt;/p&gt;

The poorly known species Oedicerina ingolfi Stephensen, 1931 (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Oedicerotidae) is redescribed, based on new material from the Norwegian Sea. Oedicerina vaderi sp. n. from the northeast Atlantic Ocean and Oedicerina loerzae sp. n. from New Zealand waters are described raising the number of species in the genus to five. The three species treated here together with Oedicerina megalopoda Ledoyer, 1986 and Oedicerina denticulata Hendrycks & Conlan, 2003 are separated by characters of the rostrum, maxilliped, gnathopods, epimera, and by the dorsal armature of pleonites and urosomites. The genus is recorded from the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, mainly at bathyal depths.

The type specimens of the Neotropical Cichlidae in the collection of the Museum of Natural History of Berlin (formerly known as the Zoologisches Museum Berlin; ZMB) are listed, and their taxonomic status and nomenclature are discussed. Several primary type specimens are depicted for the first time. Morphometric data for primary type specimens of the taxa Apistogramma ornatipinnis, Apistogramma aequipinnis, Apistogramma reitzigi, Apistogramma weisei, Chaetobranchopsis bitaeniatus, Crenicara praetoriusi, Cichlasoma arnoldi and Crenicichla polysticta are given. A lectotype for Crenicichla polysticta is designated. (© 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Describing and comparing epidermal integumentary pigment patterns is a relatively under-used method for taxonomically distinguishing many species of closely related amphipods (Crustacea, Amphipoda). Three general methods are available to do this: comparing photographs; creation of detailed drawings of one or more somites; and drawings of the pigment patterns of the whole dorsal body surface. We describe a simple digital method by which diagrams can be made of the dorsal pigment patterns (DPP) of the cephalon, peraeon, and pleon. Digital DPP diagrams are an inexpensive approach to the inclusion of epidermal pigment patterns as a means of identifying some, although not all, species of amphipods. (© 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Freshwater leeches of the genus Helobdella Blanchard 1896 are small, proboscis-bearing glossiphoniids of the family Rhynchobdellidae that have been found worldwide. Over the past three decades, annelid developmental biologists have used several Helobdella species as model organisms. Here we describe a variable taxon, that has been studied extensively, and was formerly labelled as Helobdella sp. robusta” (Austin), as a new species, Helobdella austinensis n. sp. Diagnostic features of this polymorphic species, which has a body length of 13 to 17 mm and a yellow-brown colour, include a characteristic pattern of dark longitudinal stripes with black, conical papillae on the dorsal side of the body, irregularly arranged white pigment spots, and the lack of a nuchal scute. The type locality is Shoal Creek, Austin, Texas, USA. Based on the sequence of part of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, H. austinensis n. sp. is a defined taxon that differs genetically from other, morphologically similar Helobdella species by 11 to 17 %. Under laboratory conditions, hungry leeches suck body fluids from living freshwater snails, dead (frozen-thawed) Chironomus larvae, and crushed (wounded) crustaceans. Aquatic oligochaetes (Tubifex worms) and living insect larvae are ignored. This specific prey selection is a characteristic feature of H. austinensis, a taxon that differs, based on morphological features, from its relatives of the South American triserialis species complex. (© 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)