The genus Vestalenula is the most species rich in the putative ancient asexual ostracod Family Darwinulidae. Several new Recent species were described from various continents, mostly based on carapace shape and structure. These species were found in a variety of aquatic and (semi-) terrestrial habitats, including springs, streams, interstitial waters, leaf litter in forests and in splash zones ...

Background: The critically endangered Kemp’s ridley turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) has a reduced distribution range concentrated in the Gulf of Mexico and only a few pelagic stage juveniles occasionally strand on European coasts. In the study area only three individuals have been recorded previously, most recently in 2001. Results: Four new records of Kemp’s ridley turtle are reported from the no...

Two new and one known species belonging to the genus Callistocythere of the family Leptocytheridae from interstitial environments of the Okinawa Islands are fully described. Callistocythere intermedia sp. nov. is regarded as belonging to the C. japonica group, and Callistocythere ryukyuensis sp. nov. belongs to the C. minor group (these groups were established by Hanai 1957 based on carapace mo...

Abstract A new species of freshwater crab the genus Isolapotamon Bott, 1968 (Potamidae) is described from western Sabah in Malaysian Borneo. seowi species, sixth known Sabah, and differs its closest congener, I. buntyae Ng, Low & Clark, 2022, eastern Borneo, possessing a relatively lower carapace, more rugose dorsal carapace surface, postorbital cristae being sharper subparallel with fronta...

Spawning season, recruitment, and growth of the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium lamarrei were studied in a perennial wetland, northeastern Bangladesh during October 2016 to September 2017. season was estimated based on monthly variations percent ovigerous females. Recruitment using time series length-frequency distributions. We compared von Bertalanffy function (VBGF) Pauly Gaschütz (PGGF) ident...

Causal factors leading to Epizootic Shell Disease (ESD) lesions in American Lobster, Homarus americanus, are still not well understood. We explore the structural and physiological bases for development of ESD to early visible stages from earlier stages invisible to unaided eye. We suggest a lobster shell model which develops structural functional vulnerability and explains the origin of ESD. Me...

Crayfish carapace, a plentiful waste in China, was applied to remove divalent heavy metal ions—copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), zinc (Zn), and lead (Pb)—from wastewater. The adsorption capacities of crayfish carapace micro-powder (CCM) for heavy metal ions were studied with adsorbent dosages ranging from 0.5–2.5 g/L and with initial metal concentrations ranging from 50–250 mg/L. CCM particle size, in...

BACKGROUND Phenotypic anomalies are common in wild populations and multiple genetic, biotic and abiotic factors might contribute to their formation. Turtles are excellent models for the study of developmental instability because anomalies are easily detected in the form of malformations, additions, or reductions in the number of scutes or scales. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS In this study, ...

The dorsal and ventral aspects of the turtle shell, the carapace and the plastron, are developmentally different entities. The carapace contains axial endochondral skeletal elements and exoskeletal dermal bones. The exoskeletal plastron is found in all extant and extinct species of crown turtles found to date and is synaptomorphic of the order Testudines. However, paleontological reconstructed ...

The spatial distribution of epibionts on carapaces of marine turtles may be influenced by variation in recruitment dynamics, water flow patterns, and levels of disturbance on different regions of the carapace. We determined the distribution of 18 taxa of epibionts among nine zones on the carapace of 18 nesting loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) on Wassaw Island, Georgia, USA. Frequency of occ...