Catalog to families, genera, and species of orders Actiniaria and Corallimorpharia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa).

This book inventories all available (and some unavailable) names in the family, genus, and species groups of extant members of orders Actiniaria and Corallimorpharia [cnidarian subclass Hexacorallia (Zoantharia) of class Anthozoa], providing a benchmark of names, their status, and taxon membership. I have attempted to make the compilation complete as of 2010; some names created after 2010 are included. The book is derived from a database I compiled that was available through a website.

The List of Available Names (LAN): A new generation for stable taxonomic names in zoology?

The List of Available Names in Zoology (LAN) is an inventory of names with specific scope in time and content, presented and approved in parts, and constituted as a cumulative index of names available for use in zoological nomenclature. It was defined in Article 79 in the fourth edition of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. The LAN is likely to gain importance with the development of the online Official Registry for Zoological Nomenclature (ZooBank) as it is potentially a source of many nomenclaturally certified names.

Latitudinal diversity of sea anemones (Cnidaria: Actiniaria).

We sought to determine if the global distribution of sea anemones (cnidarian order Actiniaria) conforms to the classic pattern of biogeography--taxon richness at the equator with attenuation toward the poles--a pattern that is derived almost entirely from data on terrestrial plants and animals. We plotted the empirical distribution of species occurrences in 10° bands of latitude based on published information, then, using the Chao2 statistic, inferred the completeness of that inventory. We found the greatest species richness of sea anemones at 30-40° N and S, with lower numbers at tropical latitudes and the fewest species in polar areas.

The magnitude of global marine species diversity.

Background: The question of how many marine species exist is important because it provides a metric for how much we do and do not know about life in the oceans. We have compiled the first register of the marine species of the world and used this baseline to estimate how many more species, partitioned among all major eukaryotic groups, may be discovered.

Results: There are ∼226,000 eukaryotic marine species described.

Stylobates birtlesi sp. n., a new species of carcinoecium-forming sea anemone (Cnidaria, Actiniaria, Actiniidae) from eastern Australia.

We describe a new species of carcinoecium-forming sea anemone, Stylobates birtlesisp. n., from sites 590-964 m deep in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia.

Formation of the apical flaps in nematocysts of sea anemones (cnidaria: actiniaria).

Using scanning and transmission electron microscopy, we studied formation of the structure at the apical end of sea anemone nematocysts through which the tubule everts at discharge. In anemones of the genus Metridium, we found that each of the three solid triangular apical flaps comprises two layers that are continuous with those of the capsule wall: the electron-lucent inner layer is bound to the electron-dense outer layer. The two-layer structure is obvious in some discharged capsules in which, perhaps due to fixation, the layers part at the flap's periphery.

Structural diversity, systematics, and evolution of cnidae.

Cnidae are secreted by the Golgi apparatus of all cnidarians and only cnidarians. Of the three categories of cnidae (also called cnidocysts), nematocysts occur in all cnidarians, and are the means by which cnidarians defend themselves and obtain prey; spirocysts and ptychocysts are restricted to a minority of major taxa. A cnida discharges by eversion of its tubule; venom may be associated with the tubule of a nematocyst.

Finding NEMO: nestedness engendered by mutualistic organization in anemonefish and their hosts.

The interaction structure of mutualistic relationships, in terms of relative specialization of the partners, is important to understanding their ecology and evolution. Analyses of the mutualistic interaction between anemonefish and their host sea anemones show that the relationship is highly nested in structure, generalist species interacting with one another and specialist species interacting mainly with generalists. This supports the hypothesis that the configuration of mutualistic interactions will tend towards nestedness.