Newly discovered / described species 2015

Two new frogs from Madagascar:
Rhombophryne ornata and R. tany.

Ref. Scherz MD, Ruthensteiner B, Vieites DR, Vences M, Glaw F. 2015 - 'Two new microhylid frogs of the genus Rhombophryne with superciliary spines from the Tsaratanana Massif in northern Madagascar.' Herpetologica 71: 310-321
 
A cichlid finally gets a scientific name after a long wait -
Ref. S. O. Kullander & H. R. Varella (2015) Wallace’s Pike Cichlid Gets a Name after 160 Years: A New Species of Cichlid Fish (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from the Upper Rio Negro in Brazil. Copeia: October 2015, Vol. 103, No. 3, pp. 512-519.

Abstract: A cichlid species first collected by Alfred Russell Wallace in the upper Rio Negro in 1852, lost during the transport to England but documented in drawings, is described as Crenicichla monicae on the basis of three specimens collected by the Swedish Amazonas Expedition 1923–1925. Crenicichla monicae is most similar to C. johanna, C. rosemariae, and one undescribed species which are characterized by cycloid scales, distinguishing them from other species of the genus in which most scales are ctenoid. Crenicichla monicae is recorded only from the lower Rio Uaupés and lower Rio Içana, tributaries of the upper Rio Negro, and is sympatric with the similar species C. johanna and C. lenticulata. It is distinguished from all other species of Crenicichla by the colour pattern in females, with scattered dark spots on the upper half of the side and on the dorsal and caudal fins.
 
"Hymenophorus candeli (Pardo Alcaide, 1978)* [E]
(Figure 2)
Examined material: Talassemtane, fir grove, 31.vii.
2013, Polytrap traps, 1 specimen, Yousra Benyahia leg.
Idem, 30.vii.2014, Polytrap traps, 1 specimen, Yousra
Benyahia leg. Idem, 04.viii.2014, Polytrap traps, 2 specimens.
Yousra Benyahia leg.
Distribution: Very rare species, strictly endemic of
central Rif mountain range in Morocco, which was yet
known only of one single type female collected in July
1963, in the cedar grove of Tizi Ifri, around 1,700 m.
(Pardo-Alcaide 1978). These new collected specimens
represent the rediscovery of this species and confirm its
occurrence in the cedar and fir groves of Rif mountain
range."

Source:

Benyahia, Yousra et al. (2015). First survey of darkling beetles (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) of Talassemtane National Park, Western Rif, Morocco. Check List 11(5): 1778.
 
The pivotal question of course, being as it was discovered in Australia, is just how lethal it is :p

Oh, it can kill just by looking at you. In fact, watching the video is considered hazardous, and not recommended by 9 out of 10 doctors.

:p

Hix
 
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