A new species of the genus Litarcturus Brandt, 1990, L. kexueiae sp. nov., collected from deep sea of the Okinawa Trough, is described and illustrated. It is readily distinguished from the other seven species of the genus by bearing long supraocular spines about as long as the head and posterolateral pleotelsonic spines overreaching the pleotelson apex.

Female mimics are known from many species, but permanent, non-conditional, alternative mating strategies are only known from an isopod, a fish, a lizard and a bird. The single bird example refers to lek-breeding ruffs Philomachus pugnax, a shorebird for which two strategies (independent and satellite) have been known for over 50 years. Ruffs also provided the single case of an animal with two, ...

Water balance of the terrestrial isopod, Armadillidium vulgare, was investigated during conglobation (rolling-up behavior). Water loss and metabolic rates were measured at 18 +/- 1 degrees C in dry air using flow-through respirometry. Water-loss rates decreased 34.8% when specimens were in their conglobated form, while CO2 release decreased by 37.1%. Water loss was also measured gravimetrically...

Two species of the genus Dynoides Barnard, 1914 (D. crenulatus Carvacho and Haasmann, 1984; D. saldanai Carvacho and Haasmann, 1984) not reported since their description were rediscovered during an intensive sampling program in the intertidal and shallow subtidal of the Mexican Pacific. Both species are abundant in the area and inhabit among the algae Jania adherens Lamouroux, 1816, Amphiroa mi...

Drifting rafts of Macrocystis pyrifera may connect isolated kelp forests in the Southern California Bight. To determine which species might utilize this dispersal mechanism, faunal samples from natural drifting rafts and attached M. pyrifera plants were collected during five cruises between March 1995 and December 1997. These rafts, which can be considered as floating islands, were aged and the...