The Effect of a Paired Lab on Course Completion and Grades in Nonmajors Introductory Biology.

This paper explores the effect of a paired lab course on students' course outcomes in nonmajors introductory biology at the University of Alaska Anchorage. We compare course completion and final grades for 10,793 students (3736 who simultaneously enrolled in the lab and 7057 who did not). Unconditionally, students who self-select into the lab are more likely to complete the course and to earn a higher grade than students who do not. However, when we condition on observable course, academic, and demographic characteristics, we find much of this difference in student performance outcomes is attributable to selection bias, rather than an effect of the lab itself. The data and discussion challenge the misconception that labs serve as recitations for lecture content, noting that the learning objectives of science labs should be more clearly articulated and assessed independent of lecture course outcomes.

Exceptional preservation of comma shrimp from a mid-Cretaceous Lagerstätte of Colombia, and the origins of crown Cumacea.

Mesozoic rocks with exceptional preservation of marine arthropods are known worldwide but largely restricted to mid-high latitudes. The scarcity of assemblages with exceptional preservation in low, tropical latitudes greatly limits our understanding of the origins of several modern groups and the evolution of tropical biotas through time. Here, we report the oldest crown Cumacea, or 'comma' shrimp (Arthropoda: Eumalacostraca: Peracarida) with modern familial affinities, from a new mid-Cretaceous (95-90 Ma) Lagerstätte in tropical South America. Cumaceans have one of the poorest fossil records among marine arthropods, despite today being abundant and speciose benthic organisms associated with fine-grained sediments with high fossilization potential. Eobodotria muisca gen. et sp. nov., found in mass accumulation surfaces, preserves with detail the gut, mouth parts, thoracic legs/pereopods, pleopods, uropods bearing setae, antennal flagella and even small eyes bearing ommatidia. These features, rarely preserved in fossil crustaceans, plus the large sample size (greater than 200 individuals, 6-8 mm long), allow us to discuss phylogenetic/systematic aspects and explore possible mechanisms behind their unusual accumulation. Eobodotria bridges an approximately 165 Myr gap in the cumacean fossil record, provides a reliable calibration point for phylogenetic studies and expands our understanding of exceptional preservation in past and present tropical settings.

The Lampropidae (Crustacea: Cumacea) of the World.

Prior to the present study, the cumacean family Lampropidae included 114 species. This family is primarily found in temperate to cold waters. Revisions and investigation of museum collections yielded 12 new genera (Alamprops n. gen., Aplatysympus n. gen., Austrolamprops n. gen., Brachylamprops n. gen., Doieolamprops n. gen., Farragolamprops n. gen., Paraplatysympus n. gen., Phallolamprops n. gen., Phallolampropoides n. gen., Pseudoarchaeocuma n. gen., Quasiparalamprops n. gen., Reyssia n. gen.) and 23 new species (Aplatysympus neozealanicus n. sp., Austrolamprops sulcatus n. sp., Bathylamprops paraleucon n. sp., Brachylamprops scabridus n. sp., Chalarostylis bruunae n. sp., Doeiolamprops confundus n. sp., Farragolamprops seminalis n.sp., F. spinacristatus n. sp., Hemilamprops impellucidus n. sp., Lamprops northwindae n. sp., Misceolamprops concavus n. sp., Paraplatysympus aspericristatus n. sp., P. echinolowryi n. sp., Phallolamprops californiensis n. sp., P. pribilofensis n. sp., Phallolampropoides chukchiensis n. sp., Platytyphlops bamberi n. sp., P. echinatus n. sp., P. lowryi n. sp., P. petrescui n. sp., P. taylorae n. sp., Pseudoarchaeocuma bacescui n. sp., Quasiparalamprops chathamensis n. sp.). Additional description and Fig. of the ovigerous female and adult male of Watlingia chathamensis are provided. All new species and genera are described and illustrated, with diagnoses and keys to all genera and species. In addition, Mesolamprops bacescui is transferred to the Diastylidae as Diastylis bacescui (Gamô 1999).

Phylogenetic and functional evidence suggests that deep-ocean ecosystems are highly sensitive to environmental change and direct human disturbance.

An understanding of the balance of interspecific competition and the physical environment in structuring organismal communities is crucial because those communities structured primarily by their physical environment typically exhibit greater sensitivity to environmental change than those structured predominantly by competitive interactions. Here, using detailed phylogenetic and functional information, we investigate this question in macrofaunal assemblages from Northwest Atlantic Ocean continental slopes, a high seas region projected to experience substantial environmental change through the current century. We demonstrate assemblages to be both phylogenetically and functionally under-dispersed, and thus conclude that the physical environment, not competition, may dominate in structuring deep-ocean communities. Further, we find temperature and bottom trawling intensity to be among the environmental factors significantly related to assemblage diversity. These results hint that deep-ocean communities are highly sensitive to their physical environment and vulnerable to environmental perturbation, including by direct disturbance through fishing, and indirectly through the changes brought about by climate change.

Hemilamprops chilensis sp. nov. (Crustacea: Cumacea: Lampropidae) from the coast of Chile, with a key to the Chilean Lampropidae and remarks on the status of H. ultimaespei Zimmer, 1921 and H. lotusae Bacescu, 1969.

A new species is described, Hemilamprops chilensis, from Chile. The new species was collected at several localities, from Bahia Herradura in the central part of the country, to Ancud on the island of Chiloe in the south. The depth of collection ranged from 0-30 m. The species with the closest affinity to H. chilensis is the South African species, H. glabrus Day, 1978. The new species is distinguished from all other Hemilamprops by the combination of a short lateral ridge anteriorly on the carapace, maxilliped 3 with the basis much longer than the remainder of the appendage, and the telson bearing 3 terminal setae and 2 pairs of small lateral setae. The identities of H. ultimaespei and H. lotusae are fixed by lectotype and neotype designation, respectively. The lectotype of H. ultimaespei is selected as the neotype of H. lotusae, making H. lotusae a junior objective synonym of H. ultimaespei.

Leuconidae (Crustacea: Cumacea) from the collections of the Museum Victoria, Australia.

The collections of the Museum Victoria have yielded six new leuconid species in five genera from Australian waters: Austroleucon adiazetos n. sp., A. dolosolevis n. sp., Eudorellopsis mykteros n. sp., Kontiloleucon australiensis n. gen., n. sp., Leucon (Alytoleucon) dolichorhinos n. sp., Ommatoleucon megalopos n. sp. as well as the new genus Kontiloleucon. Leucon (Leucon) echinolophotos n. sp. is a new species from off Enderby Land, Antarctica. Keys to the Australian leuconid genera and species are included.

New Zealand Diastylidae and Gynodiastylidae (Crustacea: Cumacea).

Recent work in the collections at the New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research collections in Wellington has yielded 14 new diastylid species in five genera, Colurostylis whitireia n. sp., Diastylis acanthoelachys n. sp., D. adaioacanthus n. sp., D. curtain n. sp., D. dasys n. sp., D. enodis n. sp., D. homoacanthus n. sp., D. implanus n. sp., D. spinacellulosus n. sp., Diastylopsis aspratilis n. sp., D. bicarina n. sp., Leptostylis wisniewskiae n. sp., L. zealandiensis n. sp., Makrokylindrus semiechinata n. sp. and a single new gynodiastylid species, Gynodiastylis chathamensis n. sp. Makrokylindrus is recorded from New Zealand waters for the first time. Keys to all diastylid and gynodiastylid species from New Zealand waters are included, as well as an updated global key to Diastylopsis.

Platycuma bamberconfabulor sp. nov. (Crustacea: Cumacea: Nannastacidae) from Antarctica, with a note on the gut of Platycuma.

Platycuma bamberconfabulor sp. nov. is based on a specimen from the Ross Sea. The species can be distinguished from the other species in the genus through the combination of a laterally expanded and somewhat dorsoventrally flattened carapace, anterior margin of the carapace excavate in dorsal view, uropod peduncles less than twice as long as pleonite 6, and subequal pleonites 4 and 5.

A replacement name for Dayus Gerken, 2001 (Crustacea, Peracarida, Cumacea), preoccupied by Dayus Mahmood, 1967 (Insecta, Hemiptera, Cicadellidae).

A replacement name is proposed for genus Dayus Gerken, 2001 (Crustacea: Peracarida: Cumacea), preoccupied by Dayus Mahmood, 1967 (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cicadellidae). The following changes are proposed: Jennidayus new replacement name = Dayus Gerken, 2001 (nec Mahmood 1967); Jennidayus pharocheradus (Gerken, 2001), comb. n. = Dayus pharocheradus Gerken, 2001; Jennidayus acanthus (Gerken, 2001), comb. n. = Dayus acanthus Gerken, 2001; Jennidayus makrokolosus (Gerken, 2001), comb. n. = Dayus makrokolosus Gerken, 2001.

New Zealand Bodotriidae (Crustacea: Cumacea).

The cumacean fauna of New Zealand has been little studied, and recent collections on the Chatham Rise and Challenger Plateau have yielded many new species and new genera of Cumacea. A recent manuscript on the New Zealand Nannastacidae (Gerken 2012) increased the described New Zealand fauna by 66%. Within the Bodotriidae, 6 new species were discovered. The new species Apocuma chathamensis n. sp., A. sculpta n. sp., Bathycuma dayae n. sp., Cyclaspis petrescui n. sp., C. hayeae n. sp. and C. zealandiaensis n. sp. are described, and keys to all New Zealand Bodotriidae are provided.

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. More species were described in the past decade (∼20,000) than in any previous one. The number of authors describing new species has been increasing at a faster rate than the number of new species described in the past six decades. We report that there are ∼170,000 synonyms, that 58,000-72,000 species are collected but not yet described, and that 482,000-741,000 more species have yet to be sampled. Molecular methods may add tens of thousands of cryptic species. Thus, there may be 0.7-1.0 million marine species. Past rates of description of new species indicate there may be 0.5 ± 0.2 million marine species. On average 37% (median 31%) of species in over 100 recent field studies around the world might be new to science. CONCLUSIONS: Currently, between one-third and two-thirds of marine species may be undescribed, and previous estimates of there being well over one million marine species appear highly unlikely. More species than ever before are being described annually by an increasing number of authors. If the current trend continues, most species will be discovered this century.