Sponge classification has long been based mainly on morphocladistic analyses but is now being greatly challenged by more than 12 years of accumulated analyses of molecular data analyses. The current study used phylogenetic hypotheses based on sequence data from 18S rRNA, 28S rRNA, and the CO1 barcoding fragment, combined with morphology to justify the resurrection of the order Axinellida Lévi, ...

Resurrection of Mazamastrongylus as proposed by Jansen (1986) was validated and placement of Mazamastrongylus peruvianus in this genus was confirmed, based on characters of the synlophe, copulatory bursa, and spicules. The cervical synlophe consists of a strongly tapering pattern and prominent "hood ridges" at the level of the excretory pore; there are 40 ridges at the midbody of males. The bur...

Two new species of Fergusobia, collected from 'rosette' shoot bud galls on Melaleuca quinquenervia, and from leaf, stem, leaf and flower bud galls on Syzygium luehmannii, both from the Cairns region of Queensland, Australia, are described. Fergusobia rosettae Davies n. sp. is characterised by the combination of a small, arcuate parthenogenetic female having a short conoid tail with a bluntly ro...

The silica skeleton of the deep-sea sponge Euplectella aspergillum was recently shown to be structured over at least six levels of hierarchy with a clear mechanical functionality. In particular, the skeleton is built of laminated spicules that consist of alternating layers of silica and organic material. In the present work, we investigated the micromechanical properties of the composite materi...

Quercorhabditis rajouriensis gen. n., sp. n. is described and illustrated. Distinctive characters include a labial region set off by a constriction and wider than adjoining body, heavily sclerotized cheilostom with arched rhabdions, barely differentiable stegostom, amphidelphic gonads, spicules with a free dorsal arm, and a leptoderan bursa with ten pairs of bursal papillae. The new genus resem...

Trichodysplasia spinulosa-associated polyomavirus (TSV) is responsible for a rare skin cancer. Using metagenomic approaches, we determined the complete genome sequence of a TSV first detected in Brazil in spicules of an immunocompromised patient suspected to have trichodysplasia spinulosa.

alfvén waves dissipation is an extensively studied mechanism for the coronal heating problem. these waves can be generated by magnetic reconnection and propagated along the reconnected field lines. here, we study the generation of alfvén waves at the presence of both steady flow and sheared magnetic field in the longitudinally density stratified of solar spicules. the initial flow is assumed to...

Two new and three known species of the genera Aponema Jensen, 1978, Molgolaimus Ditlevsen, 1921, Sabatieria Rouville, 1903, and Terschellingia De Mann, 1888 were found at the deep-sea Håkon Mosby Mud Volcano, at a depth of 1250m, in the Norwegian Sea. Aponema ninae sp. n. is characterized by short body length, short spicules, gubernaculum with wide apophyses, which are bevelled on the top, and ...