A simultaneous journal / wiki publication and dissemination of a new species description: Neobidessodes darwiniensis sp. n. from northern Australia (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae, Bidessini)

Abstract 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.


Introduction
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 Page 2010). Here, we test an approach where we publish a new species in open-access journal format, and at the same time upload the data to a purpose-buildt wiki, the species ID site, fl anked by a wikispecies entry which de facto serves as a "shop window".
Th e epigean species of the Australasian genus Neobidessodes  were recently treated in a comprehensive systematic revision, including morphological and molecular data ). Two new species, one from Australia and one from New Guinea, were described. Larvae of the genus were described in Michat et al. (2010). In northern Australia, Neobidessodes are among the most common and widespread diving beetles occurring in rest pools of intermittent streams during the dry season. Despite the fact that the fi rst author studied more than 6000 specimens from his own samples and numerous museum collections ), the new species described in this publication is known just from the female holotype. Th e single specimen was until recently overlooked in a vial, including numerous Neobidessodes mjobergi (Zimmermann 1922) and Hydroglpyhus godeff royi (Sharp 1882) collected in August 2006, on the way from Pine Creek to the Kakadu National Park.
Combining morphology and mitochondrial DNA sequence data we describe the new species and provide a modifi ed key for all epigean species of the genus. Th e 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.
Th is study is based on the examination of 26 specimens, the holotype of our new species and specimens of Neobidessodes bilita (Watts, 1978) and N. mjobergi, deposited in CLH, SAMA and ZSM.
Neobiodessodes bilita (Watts, 1978) 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 4.77 TM . 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 fi nal 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') (Simon et al. 1994).
Th is cox1 fragment is our standard "DNA barcoding" fragment for Dytiscidae, a short fragment of DNA used for preliminary species identifi cation and study of population-level processes (see e.g. ). We used the cox1 fragment sequenced for the female holotype to obtain quantitative data for species recognition which we here suggest especially useful as we had no male specimens for study of male genital structures. Th e sequence was added to our database of Australian Dytiscidae (Hendrich et al. 2010), containing around 70% of the Australian fauna, including all Neobidessodes species ). We ran neighbour joining analysis in PAUP* (Swoff ord 2002) using HKY85 as well as uncorrected p-distances. Th e Species Identifi er module of Taxon DNA software was used to study sequence divergence in the dataset (Meier et al. 2006).

DNA Sequencing
We obtained 450 bp 3' cox 1 sequence (GenBank accession # FR733592). Ran against our 1400+ Australian cox1 sequence database, we fi nd minimum uncorrected p-distances in SpeciesIdentifi er of 10.15% (Limbodessus jundeensis Watts and Humphreys, 2003), followed by Neobidessodes samkrisi , N. thoracicus Hendrich & Balke, 2009and N. bilita (Watts, 1978 (10.37-10.39%) and e.g. Copelatus tenebrosus Régimbart, 1880 (10.59%). Th e neighbour joining analysis in PAUP* placed N. darwiniensis sp. n. as the sister of all other Neobidessodes. Th is is not necessarily the correct phylogenetic position of N. darwiniensis, but indicates that the female studied here does not belong to any other known Neobidessodes, nor to any other species in our database.

Taxonomy
Neobidessodes is a genus with 10 species distributed in Australia (9 species) and New Guinea (1 species). All but two [the stygobitic N. limestonensis (Watts and Humphreys, 2003) and N. gutteridgei (Watts & Humphreys, 2003)] species have a more or less contrasting black/yellow surface. Th e basic pattern of these species includes various yellow or reddish spots. Th e median lobes are simple and very elongate, in ventral view strongly tapered or rounded at tip. Th e size of the species varies from 1.95 to 3.85 mm (see also ).

Checklist of
Sculpture and structure. 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, fi nely 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.
Male. Unknown. Female. Pro-and mesotarsi simple. Inner edge of mesotibia nearly straight. Affi nities -DNA Sequence Data. Th e 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%). Morphology. Th e smallest species of the genus. On fi rst view, the new species resembles in size and colour the common Hydroglyphus godeff royi (Fig. 4) distributed all over northern Australia and New Caledonia, and can be easily overlooked in the fi eld. When recognized as a Neobidessodes the new species is similar to N. mjobergi (Fig. 3) in coloration and to N. bilita (Watts, 1978) (Fig. 2) in size. From N. mjobergi it can be separated by its more broadly oval body, the much smaller size (N. mjobergi 2.55-2.65 mm) and unicolourus head, and from N. bilita by the darker dorsal surface, the short and stout segments of antennae, the rounded, broadly oval body, and the unfl anged subapical part of the elytra (Figs 1, 2). Furthermore, N. bilita is a strictly south-eastern species with a disjunct distribution from southern Queensland to Victoria ). Etymology. Named after the Darwin area in the Northern Territory; the specifi c epithet is an adjective in the nominative singular.
Distribution. Only known from the type locality at Harriet Creek, 11 km NE Pine Creek but probably more widespread in the Northern Territory (Fig. 5).
Habitat. Th e 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. Th e bottom consisted of coarse sand with a thick layer of unrotten leaves and twigs, no submerged or emergent vegetation visible (Figs 6, 7).