The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of the holoparasitic isopod Gyge ovalis (Shiino, 1939) has been determined. The mitogenome is 14,268 bp in length and contains 34 genes: 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA, 19 tRNA and a control region. Three tRNA genes (trnE, trnI and trnS1) are missing. Most of the tRNA genes show secondary structures which derive from the usual cloverleaf pattern except for trnC which is characterised by the loss of the DHU-arm. Compared to the isopod ground pattern and Eurydice pulchra Leach, 1815 (suborder Cymothoida Wägele, 1989), the genome of G. ovalis shows few differences, with changes only around the control region. However, the genome of G. ovalis is very different from that of non-cymothoidan isopods and reveals that the gene order evolution in isopods is less conservative compared to other crustaceans. Phylogenic trees were constructed using maxiumum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses based on 13 protein-coding genes. The results do not support the placement of G. ovalis with E. pulchra and Bathynomus sp. in the same suborder; rather, G. ovalis appears to have a closer relationship to Ligia oceanica (Linnaeus, 1767), but this result suggests a need for more data and further analysis. Nevertheless, these results cast doubt that Epicaridea Latreille, 1825 can be placed as an infraorder within the suborder Cymothoida, and Epicaridea appears to also deserve subordinal rank. Further development of robust phylogenetic relationships across Isopoda Latreille, 1817 will require more genetic data from a greater diversity of taxa belonging to all isopod suborders.

The parasitic isopod Orthione griffenis Markham, 2004 was originally described from thalassinid mud shrimp hosts collected in Oregon. Subsequently, O. griffenis has been cited as a non-indigenous species in estuaries of the Pacific Northwest of North America; however, no taxonomic work has provided evidence that specimens from the western coast of the United States and other localities are conspecific. We report the first record of O. griffenis from Chinese waters based on collections made in the 1950s, which pre-date any records of the species from the United States by at least 20 years. Females of the Chinese specimens match the original description except in the number of articles on antennae 2 (six and five articles in the Chinese material and holotype, respectively). However, newly examined material from the United States showed females are variable in this character, exhibiting 5-6 articles on antennae 2. Although males of O. griffenis from Oregon were originally described as having second antennae with five articles, reexamination of the allotype showed that antennae 2 were damaged and missing terminal articles. Thus, the number of articles in the second antennae of males is six, as found in both the Chinese and new samples from the United States. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of males from USA and China revealed curled setae on the distolateral margins of the uropods, which were not reported in the original description. In China the species is found on Austinogebia wuhsienweni (Yu) from Shandong province, whereas along the western coast of North America the species extends from British Columbia to California on Upogebia pugettensis (Dana) and U. macginitieorum Williams (the latter species replacing U. pugettensis south of Pt. Conception, California). Orthione griffenis has also been reported from Japan on Upogebia issaeffi (Balss) and Austinogebia narutensis (Sakai). In Coos Bay, Oregon, the prevalence of the species was ∼65% in the mature U. pugettensis. The species was presumably introduced as larvae released in ballast water from ships originating in Asia. The epicaridium larvae of O. griffenis were examined with SEM, and aspects of the life history of the species are reviewed.

Submission procedures can be found at http://research.amnh.org/scipubs O n t h e c o v e r : U p p e r i m a g e : t h e s h r i m p Alpheus microstylus (Bate, 1888) (Alpheidae) infested ventrally by the abdominal bopyrid parasite Eophrixus caudatus, n. sp.Lower image: E. caudatus, n. sp., male (left) and female (right).

-Magnetic field structures on the solar atmosphere are not symmetric distribution in the northern and southern hemispheres, which is an important aspect of quasi-cyclical evolution of magnetic activity indicators that are related to solar dynamo theories. Three standard analysis techniques are applied to analyze the hemispheric coupling (north-south asymmetry and phase asynchrony) of monthly averaged values of solar Ha flare activity over the past 49 years (from 1966 January to 2014 December). The prominent results are as follows: (1) from a global point of view, solar Ha flare activity on both hemispheres are strongly correlated with each other, but the northern hemisphere precedes the southern one with a phase shift of 7 months; (2) the long-range persistence indeed exists in solar Ha flare activity, but the dynamical complexities in the two hemispheres are not identical; (3) the prominent periodicities of Ha flare activity are 17 years full-disk activity cycle and 11 years Schwabe solar cycle, but the short-and mid-term periodicities cannot determined by monthly time series; (4) by comparing the non-parametric rescaling behavior on a point-by-point basis, the hemispheric asynchrony of solar Ha flare activity are estimated to be ranging from several months to tens of months with an average value of 8.7 months. The analysis results could promote our knowledge on the long-range persistence, the quasi-periodic variation, and the hemispheric asynchrony of solar Ha flare activity on both hemispheres, and possibly provide valuable information for the hemispheric interrelation of solar magnetic activity.

Isopod parasites of the subfamilies Ioninae and Pseudioninae infest the branchial chambers of brachyuran crabs. In total, 19 species of parasitic isopods infest crabs from China; they belong to 6 genera from the Ioninae and 1 genus from the Pseudioninae. Specifically, the following genera are represented: Allokepon Markham, 1982 (three species), Apocepon Nierstrasz and Brender à Brandis, 1930 (three species), Cancricepon Giard and Bonnier, 1887 (one species), Dactylokepon Stebbing, 1910 (four species), Gigantione Kossmann, 1881 (four species), Onkokepon, An et al. 2006 (two species) and Tylokepon Stebbing, 1906 (two species). The new species Tylokepon biturus from Menaethius monoceros (Latreille) collected in China is distinguished from other members of the genus by the striking shape of the head, two mid-dorsal projections on Pereomere 6, and entire pleopods and uropods without any tubercules on their surface. A list of all bopyrid species (19 species in seven families) along with their hosts and localities, is presented.

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Background Argeia pugettensis is an isopod species that parasitizes other crustaceans. Its huge native geographic range spans the Pacific from China to California, but molecular data are available only for a handful of specimens from North-American populations. We sequenced and characterised the complete mitogenome of a specimen collected in the Yellow Sea. Results It exhibited a barcode ( cox1 ) similarity level of only 87–89% with North-American populations, which is unusually low for conspecifics. Its mitogenome is among the largest in isopods (≈16.5 Kbp), mostly due to a large duplicated palindromic genomic segment (2 Kbp) comprising three genes. However, it lost a segment comprising three genes, nad4L-trnP-nad6 , and many genes exhibited highly divergent sequences in comparison to isopod orthologues, including numerous mutations, deletions and insertions. Phylogenetic and selection analyses corroborated that this is one of the handful of most rapidly evolving available isopod mitogenomes, and that it evolves under highly relaxed selection constraints (as opposed to positive selection). However, its nuclear 18S gene is highly conserved, which suggests that rapid evolution is limited to its mitochondrial genome. The cox1 sequence analysis indicates that elevated mitogenomic evolutionary rates are not shared by North-American conspecifics, which suggests a breakdown of cox1 barcoding in this species. Conclusions A highly architecturally disrupted mitogenome and decoupling of mitochondrial and nuclear rates would normally be expected to have strong negative impacts on the fitness of the organism, so the existence of this lineage is a puzzling evolutionary question. Additional studies are needed to assess the phylogenetic breadth of this disrupted mitochondrial architecture and its impact on fitness.

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