Validation of Pomacentrus novaeguineae, P. umbratilus and P. xanthocercus Allen, Erdmann & Pertiwi (Perciformes: Pomacentridae) from Melanesia and the eastern and central Indian Ocean.

N/A.

Validation of Gobiodon howsoni Allen (Gobiiformes: Gobiidae) from Rowley Shoals, Western Australia.

N/A.

Redescription of Conniella apterygia Allen and its reassignment in the genus Cirrhilabrus Temminck and Schlegel (Teleostei: Labridae), with comments on cirrhilabrin pelvic morphology.

Conniella apterygia is redescribed from re-examination of the holotype, two paratypes, and six additional specimens. The genus is closely allied to Cirrhilabrus, sharing similarities in general morphological and meristic details, but is separated from Cirrhilabrus and most other labrid fishes in lacking pelvic fins and a pelvic girdle. Recent molecular phylogenetic studies have provided strong evidence for the deep nesting of Conniella within Cirrhilabrus, contradicting its generic validity and suggesting that the loss of pelvic elements is autapomorphic.

Neopomacentrus flavicauda: a replacement name for Neopomacentrus xanthurus Allen amp; Randall, 1981 (Perciformes: Pomacentridae), a secondary junior homonym of Dascyllus xanthurus Bleeker, 1853.

N/A.

Two new species of dwarf rainbowfishes (Atheriniformes: Melanotaeniidae) from northern Australia and southern New Guinea.

The 'maccullochi species group' of rainbowfishes are small and distinctly patterned freshwater fishes of streams and swamps, comprising around eight species. The species from which the group bears its name, Melanotaenia maccullochi Ogilby, 1915, has been thought to comprise three forms occurring in distinct geographic areas, and recent mitochondrial genetic data provides matching patterns of likely inter-specific divergence. Here we undertake a detailed investigation of the taxonomic status of M.

Checklist of the marine and estuarine fishes of New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea, western Pacific Ocean, with 810 new records.

A checklist of the marine and estuarine fishes of New Ireland Province is presented, with special emphasis on Kavieng District, combining both previous and new records. After the recent KAVIENG 2014 expedition, a total of 1325 species in 153 families were recorded from the region. The largest families are the Gobiidae, Pomacentridae, Labridae, Serranidae, Apogonidae, Lutjanidae, Chaetodontidae, Blenniidae, Carangidae, Acanthuridae, Scaridae, Holocentridae, Syn-gnathidae, Lethrinidae and Scorpaenidae.

Multilocus molecular systematics of the circumtropical reef-fish genus (Pomacentridae): history, geography and ecology of speciation.

We investigated a pantropical sub-family and genus of damselfishes, the sergeant-majors (Pomacentridae: Abudefdufinae: ), to identify the tempo and mechanisms of speciation in the lineage. We examined sequence capture data from 500 loci and 20 species, with multiple individuals sampled from across the geographic ranges of widespread species. Utilizing a maximum likelihood framework, as well as a time-calibrated Bayesian phylogeny, the following key questions are addressed: What is the historical tempo of speciation? What are the relative contributions of vicariant, peripatric and parapatric speciation to sergeant-major diversity? How is speciation related to major variation in trophic ecology? The approximately 20 species of sergeant-majors fall into three main lineages.

Revision of the Australian Wet Tropics endemic rainbowfish genus Cairnsichthys (Atheriniformes: Melanotaeniidae), with description of a new species.

The freshwater melanotaeniid genus Cairnsichthys is endemic to a relatively small area of specialised habitat within the Wet Tropics bioregion of north-eastern Queensland, Australia. It was previously considered as monotypic, including only a single species, C. rhombosomoides (Nichols Raven, 1928).

, a new species of dottyback from Indonesia (Teleostei: Pseudochromidae).

The Pseudochromis reticulatus complex is diagnosed to include species of Pseudochromis with the combination of a pointed caudal fin (rounded with middle rays produced), a reticulated colour pattern on the upper part of the body, dorsal-fin rays modally III,26, anal-fin rays modally III,15, and pectoral-fin rays modally 18. Members of the complex include P. reticulatus Gill & Woodland, P.

Descriptions of three new species of Glossogobius (Teleostei: Gobiidae) from New Guinea.

Three new species of Glossogobius are described from New Guinea. Glossogobius multipapillus, n. sp.

A new species of the cardinalfish genus Siphamia (Perciformes, Apogonidae) from West Papua, Indonesia.

A new species of the cardinalfish genus Siphamia is described from specimens collected in the Province of West Papua, Indonesia, at depths of 50-72 m. Siphamia papuensis n. sp.

Checklist of the marine and estuarine fishes of Madang District, Papua New Guinea, western Pacific Ocean, with 820 new records.

A checklist of the marine and estuarine fishes of Madang District is presented, combining both previous and new records. After the recent PAPUA NIUGINI 2012 expedition, a total of 1337 species in 129 families have been recorded from the region. One species and one family is not native (Cichlidae: Oreochromis mossambicus), but has been introduced.

Phylogeny and biogeography of rainbowfishes (Melanotaeniidae) from Australia and New Guinea.

The family Melanotaeniidae (rainbowfishes) represents the largest monophyletic group of freshwater fishes found in Australia and New Guinea. The family consists of seven genera and a total of 81 species, which are broadly distributed throughout the region. We conducted a phylogenetic analysis of Melanotaeniidae based on nearly complete taxonomic sampling of all species.

The impact of conservation on the status of the world's vertebrates.

Using data for 25,780 species categorized on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, we present an assessment of the status of the world's vertebrates. One-fifth of species are classified as Threatened, and we show that this figure is increasing: On average, 52 species of mammals, birds, and amphibians move one category closer to extinction each year. However, this overall pattern conceals the impact of conservation successes, and we show that the rate of deterioration would have been at least one-fifth again as much in the absence of these.

Marine hybrid hotspot at Indo-Pacific biogeographic border.

Studying hybridization is crucial to understanding speciation and almost all our knowledge comes from terrestrial and freshwater environments. Marine hybrids are considered rare, particularly on species-rich coral reefs. Here, we report a significant marine hybrid zone at Christmas and Cocos Islands (eastern Indian Ocean) with 11 hybrid coral reef fishes (across six families); the most recorded hybrids of any marine location.

Endemism and regional color and genetic differences in five putatively cosmopolitan reef fishes.

Endemism is thought to be relatively rare in marine systems due to the lack of allopatric barriers and the potential for long-distance colonization via pelagic larval dispersal. Although many species of coral reef fishes exhibit regionally restricted color variants that are suggestive of regional endemism, such variation is typically ascribed to intraspecific variation. We examined the genetic structure in 5 putatively monospecific fishes from the Indo-West Pacific (Amphiprion melanopus, Chrysiptera talboti, and Pomacentrus moluccensis [Pomacentridae] and Cirrhilabrus punctatus, and Labroides dimidiatus [Labridae]) that express regional color variation unique to this area.

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.

Marine biodiversity hotspots and conservation priorities for tropical reefs.

Coral reefs are the most biologically diverse of shallow water marine ecosystems but are being degraded worldwide by human activities and climate warming. Analyses of the geographic ranges of 3235 species of reef fish, corals, snails, and lobsters revealed that between 7.2% and 53.