Pentastomids are parasites that infect respiratory cavities of vertebrates, they are pretty common but poorly known in wildlife veterinary. A Bothrops asper snake (Garman, 1884) was captured in the Caribbean region of Costa Rica and had its lung infested with pentastomids, identified as ca Porocephalus clavatus (Wyman, 1845). This represents the first record of Porocephalus (Humboldt, 1812) on ...

In Costa Rica, an annual outbreak of infant diarrheal disease (December and January) was reported since 1976, and rotavirus was incriminated later as the main etiological agent (1976-1981). Apparently the disease has not been systematically studied in Costa Rica after 1981. For that reason the occurrence of the outbreak was retrospectively documented for 1993-1995 and etiology was studied in 48...

A new species of terrestrial pitviper, Porthidium porrasi, is described from mesophytic forests of the Península de Osa and surrounding area of the Pacific versant of southwestern Costa Rica. It is most similar to P. nasutum and is characterized by a pattern of bands, persistence of the juvenile tail color in adults, and a high number of dorsal scales. Analysis of mtDNA sequences confirms its d...

We observed the mating behavior of the neck-banded snake Scaphiodontophis annulatus (a common species of colubrid in the South Pacific of Costa Rica) in the pre-montane wet forest of Las Cruces Biological Station (San Vito de Java, Costa Rica). Three S. annulatus were observed during courtship between 10-12 AM in a patch of primary forest. The two males were observed to interact with the female...

A comprehensive key for 75 species of Meteorus distributed across 15 Neotropical countries is presented. Eleven new species from Bolivia, Costa Rica and Ecuador are described: Meteorusalbistigma, Meteoruscarolae, Meteoruseurysaccavorus, Meteorusfallacavus, Meteorusflavistigma, Meteorushaimowitzi, Meteorusmagnoculus, Meteorusmartinezi, Meteorusmicrocavus, Meteorusnoctuivorus and Meteorusorion. E...

Nineteen new species of Cymatodera Gray are described: C. mexicana, C. cicatricula, C. matehualacaligoides, C. brailovskyi, C. durangoensis, C. monticola, C. paucipunctata, C. anulata, C. christina, C. copei, C. oxchuc, C. merickeli, C. romeroi, C. cellulosa, and C. acutipennis from México; C. doda from México, Nicaragua and Costa Rica; C. carinipennis from México and Guatemala; C. rileyi from ...

1Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 2Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Oxford, England, 3Natural History Museum, London, England, 4Department of Zoology and Fisheries, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic, 5Institute of Evolutionary Biology ...

The final larval stadium of Heteragrion majus Selys, 1886 and H. atrolineatum Donnelly, 1992 are described and illustrated for the first time, using reared material from Costa Rica, and compared with other species of the genus known from the country. All species were very similar as larvae, but they can be separated by the presence and distribution of antennal setae, spines on the posterior mar...

A new family of soft corals (Anthozoa, Octocorallia, Alcyonacea) from the aphotic tropical eastern Pacific waters revealed by integrative taxonomy Odalisca Breedy a b , Leen P. van Ofwegen c & Sergio Vargas d a Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, and Centro de Investigación en Estructuras Microscópicas, Universidad de Costa Rica, 11501-2060 San José, Costa Rica b Smithsoni...

This paper is the first taxonomic account of the hydroid orders Anthoathecatae and Leptothecatae from the Caribbean and Pacific coast of Costa Rica. All specimens are currently stored at the reference collection of the Museo de Zoología, Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica. Sixteen hydroid species are recorded: Eudendrium carneum, Pennaria disticha, Acryptolaria longitheca, Plumulari...