Expanded sampling of New Zealand glass sponges (Porifera: Hexactinellida) provides new insights into biodiversity, chemodiversity, and phylogeny of the class.

Glass sponges (Hexactinellida) constitute important parts of ecosystems on the deep-sea floor worldwide. However, they are still an understudied group in terms of their diversity and systematics. Here, we report on new specimens collected during RV expedition SO254 to the New Zealand region, which has recently emerged as a biodiversity hotspot for hexactinellids.

Cation Exchange during the Synthesis of Colloidal Type-II ZnSe-Dot/CdS-Rod Nanocrystals.

Cation exchange is known to occur during the synthesis of colloidal semiconductor heteronanoparticles, affecting their band gap and thus altering their optoelectronic properties. It is often neglected, especially when anisotropic heterostructures are discussed. We present a study on the role of cation exchange inevitably occurring during the growth of anisotropic dot-in-rod structures consisting of a spherical ZnSe core enclosed by a rod-shaped CdS shell.

An integrative phylogenetic approach for inferring relationships of fossil gobioids (Teleostei: Gobiiformes).

The suborder Gobioidei is among the most diverse groups of vertebrates, comprising about 2310 species. In the fossil record gobioids date back to the early Eocene (c. 50 m.

Rossellid glass sponges (Porifera, Hexactinellida) from New Zealand waters, with description of one new genus and six new species.

New Zealand's surrounding deep waters have become known as a diversity hotspot for glass sponges (Porifera: Hexactinellida) in recent years, and description and collection efforts are continuing. Here we report on eight rossellids (Hexasterophora: Lyssacinosida: Rossellidae) collected during the 2017 RV Sonne cruise SO254 by ROV Kiel 6000 as part of Project PoribacNewZ of the University of Oldenburg, Germany. The material includes six species new to science, two of which are assigned to a so far undescribed genus; we further re-describe two previously known species.

Freshwater gobies 30 million years ago: New insights into character evolution and phylogenetic relationships of †Pirskeniidae (Gobioidei, Teleostei).

The modern Gobioidei (Teleostei) comprise eight families, but the extinct †Pirskeniidae from the lower Oligocene of the Czech Republic indicate that further families may have existed in the past. However, the validity of the †Pirskeniidae has been questioned and its single genus †Pirskenius has been assigned to the extant family Eleotridae in previous works. The objective of this study is to clarify the status of the †Pirskeniidae.