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Here, we describe a new Australian species in journal format and simultaneously open the description in a wiki format on the www.species-id.net. The wiki format will always link to the fixed original journal description of the taxon, however it permits future edits and additions to species' taxonomy and biology. The diving beetle Neobidessodes darwiniensis sp. n. (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae, Bidessini) is described based on a single female, collected in a rest pool of the Harriet Creek in the Darwin Area, Northern Territory. Within Neobidessodes the new species is well characterized by its elongate oval body with rounded sides, short and stout segments of antennae, length of body and dorsal surface coloration. In addition to external morphology, we used mitochondrial cox1 sequence data to support generic assignment and to delineate the new species from other Australian Bidessini including all other known Neobidessodes. Illustrations based on digital images are provided here and as online resources. A modified key is provided. Altogether ten species of the genus are now known worldwide, nine from Australia and one from New Guinea.
Wiki, species ID, online species pages, cox1, sequence data, DNA barcoding, molecular biodiversity assessment
Many approaches and initiatives to “accelerate” the
descriptive taxonomic process have recently been proposed or partially
implemented. We suggest that the wikimedia engine provides one of the
most powerful tools for routine taxonomic work, with wikipedia
providing generic data and wikispecies a taxonomic backbone, i.e. the
tree of life (see
The epigean species of the Australasian genus Neobidessodes
Hendrich & Balke, 2009 were recently treated in a comprehensive
systematic revision, including morphological and molecular data (
Combining morphology and mitochondrial DNA sequence data we describe the new species and provide a modified key for all epigean species of the genus. The DNA sequence data and a high resolution digital image of the beetle habitus, coloration and sculpture are made available online for faster dissemination of taxonomic knowledge. Links are provided below.
Material and methodsMaterial. This study is based on the examination of 26 specimens, the holotype of our new species and specimens of Neobidessodes bilita (Watts, 1978) and Neobidessodes mjobergi, deposited in CLH, SAMA and ZSM.
Neobiodessodes bilita (Watts, 1978): Australia, New South Wales. 12 exs., S NSW, 6.5 km SW Eden, Towamba Road 2 km N Nullica, 556 m, 16.XI.2006, 37.04.412S 149.51.200E, L. & E. Hendrich leg. (NSW 111), two specimens with “DNA M.Balke 1900”, “DNA M.Balke 1901” [green printed labels] (CLH, ZSM).
Neobidessodes mjobergi (Zimmermann, 1922): Australia, Northern Territory. 13 exs., Manton Dam Recreation Area, 46 km S Darwin, 35 m, 19.VIII.2006, 12.50.270S 131.08.050E, L. & E. Hendrich leg. (NT 1), one specimen with “DNA M.Balke 1656” [green printed label] (CLH, ZSM).
Descriptions. Beetles were studied with a Leica MZ 12.5 dissecting scope at 10–100x. Habitus photos of beetles were made by Alexander Riedel (Karlsruhe, Germany) and by the authors. Image stacks were aligned and assembled with the computer software Helicon Focus 4.77TM. Abbreviations used in the text are: TL (total length), TL-H (total length without head), and MW (maximum width). Label data of type material are cited in quotation marks.
DNA sequencing and data analysis. We extracted DNA
from the alcohol preserved female holotype after removal of the
abdomen, using the Qiagen Dneasy tissue kit. We ran a PCR with Bioline
Mago Taq at 94° for 2 min, 40 cycles of 94° for 30 s, 47° for 30 s and
72° for 60 s, and a final extension of 72° for 10 min, using primers
for the 3’ end of cytochrome c oxidase 1 (cox1) Jerry (F: 5’- CAA CAT TTA TTT TGA TTT TTT GG -3’) and Pat (R: 5’- TCC AAT GCA CTA ATC TGC CAT ATT A -3’) (
This cox1 fragment is our standard “DNA barcoding” fragment for Dytiscidae, a short fragment of DNA used for preliminary species identification and study of population-level processes (see e.g.
CLH Collection Lars Hendrich, Berlin, Germany; property of the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Austria
SAMA South Australian Museum, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
ZSM Zoologische Staatssammlung München, Munich, Germany
Results and discussion DNA SequencingWe obtained 450 bp 3’ cox 1 sequence (GenBank accession # FR733592). Ran against our 1400+ Australian cox1 sequence database, we find minimum uncorrected p-distances in SpeciesIdentifier of 10.15% (Limbodessus jundeensis Watts and Humphreys, 2003), followed by Neobidessodes samkrisi Hendrich & Balke, 2009, Neobidessodes thoracicus Hendrich & Balke, 2009 and Neobidessodes bilita (Watts, 1978) (10.37–10.39%) and e.g. Copelatus tenebrosus Régimbart, 1880 (10.59%). The neighbour joining analysis in PAUP* placed Neobidessodes darwiniensis sp. n. as the sister of all other Neobidessodes. This is not necessarily the correct phylogenetic position of Neobidessodes darwiniensis, but indicates that the female studied here does not belong to any other known Neobidessodes, nor to any other species in our database.
TaxonomyNeobidessodes is a genus with 10 species distributed in Australia (9 species) and New Guinea (1 species). All but two [the stygobitic Neobidessodes limestonensis (Watts and Humphreys, 2003) and Neobidessodes gutteridgei
(Watts & Humphreys, 2003)] species have a more or less contrasting
black/yellow surface. The basic pattern of these species includes
various yellow or reddish spots. The median lobes are simple and very
elongate, in ventral view strongly tapered or rounded at tip. The size
of the species varies from 1.95 to 3.85 mm (see also
The new species was placed in Neobidessodes because of the following combination of characters: 1) body elongate oval; 2) basal pronotal striae sharply incised, not connected by a transverse groove; 3) elytra lacking basal striae and sutural striae; 4) epipleura lacking transverse carina; 5) head lacking cervical line and its foremargin not bordered; 6) prosternal process broad, distinctly excavated and marginated; 7) inner margin of both metacoxal wings strongly ridged; 8) hind margin of abdominal ventrites 3–5 without row of minor irregular dentate processes.
Checklist of Neobidessodes speciesNSW = New South Wales; NT = Northern Territory; QLD = Queensland; VIC = Victoria; WA = Western Australia; N = northern; S = southern.
Australia – epigeanNeobidessodes bilita (Watts, 1978) S QLD, NSW, VIC
Neobidessodes darwiniensis Hendrich & Balke, sp. n. NT
Neobidessodes denticulatus (Sharp, 1882) N WA, NT, QLD, NSW
Neobidessodes flavosignatus (Zimmermann, 1922) N WA, NT, N QLD
Neobidessodes grossus (Zimmermann, 1922) N WA, NT, N QLD
Neobidessodes mjobergi (Zimmermann, 1922) N WA, NT, N QLD
Neobidessodes thoracicus Hendrich & Balke, 2009 N WA, NT, N QLD
Australia – stygobiticNeobidessodes gutteridgei (Watts & Humphreys, 2003) WA (Yilgarn)
Neobidessodes limestonensis (Watts & Humphreys, 2003) WA (Yilgarn)
New Guinea – epigeanNeobidessodes samkrisi Hendrich & Balke, 2009 West Papua, Merauke, Indonesia
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:CAD876B9-A027-458D-88D1-47E4A239FFA7
http://www.species-id.net/wiki/Neobidessodes_darwiniensis
Figs 1, 5, 6, 7Rest pool, Harriet Creek at Kakadu Highway, 11 km NE Pine Creek, Northern Territory, Australia [13°45'04.63"S, 131°53.5531"E].
Holotype: Female, “Australia: NT, Kakadu Hwy, Harriet Creek at Hwy Cross., 156m, 24.VIII.2006, 13.744816S, 131.897483E, L. & E. Hendrich leg. (NT 14)”; “DNA M. Balke 3821” [green printed label]; “HOLOTYPE Neobidessodes darwiniensis sp. n. Hendrich & Balke 2010” [red printed label] (SAMA).
Figures 1–4. Habitus of 1 Neobidessodes darwiniensis sp. n. (holotype, female) 2 Neobidessodes bilita (female) 3 Neobidessodes mjobergi and 4 Hydroglyphus godeffroyi (scale bar = 2.0 mm) (Photos: M. Balke, A. Riedel).
Measurements. TL = 1.95 mm, TL-H = 1.8 mm; MW = 1.0 mm.
Antennae, palpi, head and most parts of pronotum reddish-brown, posterior angles of head, near eyes and base of pronotum in middle broadly dark brown. Elytron dark brown with some small vague yellow spots subbasally and subapically (Fig. 1). Ventral side, including legs and epipleura, reddish-brown, prosternal process and metacoxal plates somewhat darkened.
Elongate oval, sides well rounded. Maximum width at apical third of body. Segments of antennae short and stout. Head with relatively coarse punctures and strong microreticulation. Pronotum and elytron with rather dense, medium-sized punctures and weak to moderate microreticulation, finely pubescent. Pronotal striae deep and well marked, length almost 1/2 of that of pronotum, strongly incurved converging anteriad (Fig. 1). Elytra lacking basal and sutural striae. Underside with a few moderately large weak punctures at sides, midline of metaventrite with moderately dense smaller punctures. Metacoxal lines raised, well separated, weakly diverging anteriorly.
Unknown.
Pro- and mesotarsi simple. Inner edge of mesotibia nearly straight.
The 3’ cox1 sequence available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/FR733592. 1 indicates that the new species is rather distinctive, the closest uncorrected p-distances in our database were other Neobidessodes species (c. 10.37%) and Limbodessus jundeensis (10.15%).
The smallest species of the genus. On first view, the new species resembles in size and colour the common Hydroglyphus godeffroyi (Fig. 4) distributed all over northern Australia and New Caledonia, and can be easily overlooked in the field. When recognized as a Neobidessodes the new species is similar to Neobidessodes mjobergi (Fig. 3) in coloration and to Neobidessodes bilita (Watts, 1978) (Fig. 2) in size. From Neobidessodes mjobergi it can be separated by its more broadly oval body, the much smaller size (Neobidessodes mjobergi 2.55-2.65 mm) and unicolourus head, and from Neobidessodes bilita
by the darker dorsal surface, the short and stout segments of
antennae, the rounded, broadly oval body, and the unflanged subapical
part of the elytra (Figs 1, 2). Furthermore, Neobidessodes bilita is a strictly south-eastern species with a disjunct distribution from southern Queensland to Victoria (
Named after the Darwin area in the Northern Territory; the specific epithet is an adjective in the nominative singular.
Only known from the type locality at Harriet Creek, 11 km NE Pine Creek but probably more widespread in the Northern Territory (Fig. 5).
Figures 5–7. 5 Distribution of Neobidessodes darwiniensis sp. n. in Northern Australia. 6–7 Habitat of Neobidessodes darwiniensis sp. n., Neobidessodes grossus, Neobidessodes mjobergi and Neobidessodes thoracicus, Northern Territory Kakadu Hwy, Harriet Creek at Hwy Crossing (NT 14) (Photos: L. Hendrich).
The single specimen was collected in one of the rest pools of a rocky creek, with gloomy water and at least partly shaded by smaller gum trees. The bottom consisted of coarse sand with a thick layer of unrotten leaves and twigs, no submerged or emergent vegetation visible (Figs 6, 7).
Neobidessodes darwiniensis sp. n. was associated with the dytiscids Clypeodytes larsoni Hendrich & Wang, 2006, Hydroglyphus daemeli (Sharp, 1882), Hydroglyphus godeffroyi, Hydroglyphus grammopterus (Zimmermann, 1928), Hyphydrus contiguus Wehncke, 1877, Hydroglyphus lyratus Swartz, 1808, Laccophilus cingulatus Sharp, 1882, Laccophilus sharpi Régimbart, 1889, Laccophilus walkeri J. Balfour-Browne, 1939, Limbodessus compactus (Clark, 1862), Neobidessodes grossus (Zimmermann, 1922), Neobidessodes mjobergi, Neobidessodes thoracicus Hendrich & Balke, 2009, Sternopriscus alligatorensis Hendrich & Watts, 2004, Sternopriscus aquilonaris Hendrich & Watts, 2004, Tiporus centralis (Watts, 1978), Tiporus guiliani (Watts, 1978) and Tiporus undecimmaculatus (Clark, 1862).
Despite the fact that thousands of Neobidessodes were collected on three field trips to the Northern Territory and the Kimberley region, surprisingly only one specimen of Neobidessodes darwiniensis
sp. n. appeared. Most of the expeditions took place during the dry
period, between June and October, when most of the other species of
the genus dominate the remaining rest pools and swamps. We assume the
new species is more common in or just after the rainy season, from
November to April, as was observed for Neobidessodes grossus (
1 | Length > 3.7 mm. Elytron with a subapical lateral flange, pronotal striae very weak, N WA, NT, N QLD | Neobidessodes grossus |
– | Length < 3.7 mm | 2 |
2 | Elytron with a subapical lateral tooth, pronotal striae well marked, WA, NT, QLD, N NSW | Neobidessodes denticulatus |
– | Elytron lacking lateral tooth, pronotal striae present or absent | 3 |
3 | Pronotal striae absent | 4 |
– | Pronotal striae present | 5 |
4 | Length 2.55–2.65 mm, outline of junction of pronotum and elytra smooth, sides of pronotum evenly curved, maximum width at posterior angles, dorsal colour pattern usually diffuse, N WA, NT, N QLD | Neobidessodes mjobergi |
– | Length 2.75–2.9 mm, outline of junction of pronotum and elytra slightly sinuate, maximum width of pronotum somewhat before base. Dorsal colour pattern strongly varying, when present, usually well marked. In some specimens pronotum yellow, in others pronotum and elytra all black, N WA, NT, N QLD | Neobidessodes thoracicus |
5 | Dorsal colour pattern diffuse. Pronotal striae well marked and long (1/4 to 1/3 of length of pronotum) | 6 |
– | Contrasting yellowish markings on black elytra. Pronotal striae only slightly marked and short (maximum 1/4 of length of pronotum) | 7 |
6 | Body elongate oval. Pronotum as broad as elytra, outline of junction of pronotum and elytra slightly sinuate, maximum width of pronotum somewhat before base (Fig. 2). Males with mesotibia curved, length 2.2–2.25 mm, VIC, NSW, S QLD | Neobidessodes bilita |
– | Body broader oval. Pronotum narrower than elytra, outline of junction of pronotum and elytra smooth, sides of pronotum evenly curved, maximum width at posterior angles (Fig. 1). Male unknown, length 1.95 mm, smallest species of the genus, NT | Neobidessodes darwiniensis sp. n. |
7 | Males with mesotarsus straight. Pronotal striae well marked but short, small species, length 2.0 mm, West Papua, Indonesia | Neobidessodes samkrisi |
– | Males with mesotarsus straight. Pronotal striae extremely weak and faint, larger species, length 2.35–2.65 mm, N WA, NT, N QLD | Neobidessodes flavosignatus |
We are indebted to Hans Fery (Berlin, Germany), Chris Watts (Adelaide, Australia) and one additional, anonymous reviewer for improving an earlier version of the manuscript. We thank Gregor Hagedorn (Berlin, Germany) for stimulating discussions on species ID and the wiki format and the ZooKeys team for helping to implement our journal publication / wiki upload approach. The Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory, the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service in Darwin and the Kakadu National Park are thanked for giving permission to conduct scientific research in the Northern Territory (Permit Numbers: 23929 and RK- 400/ RK- 660). This work was supported by grants to Michael Balke: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (BA 2152/4-1, 6-1 and 7-1), and to Lars Hendrich: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (HE 5729/1-1).