A checklist of the croakers of the world, family Sciaenidae, is presented. A total of 584 nominal species belonging to 289 valid species and 69 genera is included. Four genera, Johnius with 32 species, Cynoscion 25, Stellifer 24, and Umbrina 17 contains 30% of the species, whereas 43% of the genera (31) are monotypic. Eques is a valid genus-name and should be used instead of Equetus. Fourteen nominal species remain unidentifiable and are placed in incertae sedis, whereas 12 nominal species currently described in sciaenid genera lay outside the family. Among this latter group two of them represent senior synonyms of well-established species: Sciaena guttata Bloch and Schneider, 1801 and Sciaena pallida Walbaum, 1792 predate Giuris margaritaceus (Valenciennes, 1837) and Cymolutes praetextatus (Quoy and Gaimard, 1824), respectively, and they are here declared nomina oblita.
 

In wildlife management, sufficient information about fauna is vital for conservation of species and their habitats. Furthermore, the number of bird species in a habitat can represent an index of habitat quality. Therefore, this study was carried out to identify bird fauna on a university campus (i.e. Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University of Khuzestan, abbreviated as ASNRUKH) in the southwest of Iran in order to determine the number of bird species, the day of their arrival, and the presence time of migratory birds on campus. Field survey and identification of birds were carried out in the study area, with an area of 72.9 ha, using binoculars from June 2017 to May 2018 in linear transects spaced 20 meters apart. We identified 62 bird species, including nine raptors, which is equal to 11.25% of bird species in Iran. In total, 19 residents, five summer visitors, 21 winter visitors and 17 passing migratory birds were identified. The lowest co-occurrence number of species (21–25) was observed from middle June to early October and the maximum number of concurrent species (38–41) were recorded from late November to early January. The Western Barn Owl Tyto alba was the only resident raptor, which is part of an integrated pest management system throughout the year. ASNRUKH’s long-established persistent favorable microclimate supports both resident and migratory birds. In addition, the study area provides food and safety for migratory birds from across the globe as a stopover site.
 

Turkey is biogeographically diverse and consequently has a rich herpetofauna. As a result of active herpetological research, the number of species has steadily increased in recent years. I present here a new checklist of amphibian and reptile species distributed in Turkey, revising the nomenclature to reflect the latest taxonomic knowledge. In addition, information about the systematics of many species is also given. In total 35 (19.4%) amphibian and 145 (80.6%) reptile species comprise the Turkish herpetofauna. Among amphibians, 16 (45.7%) anurans and 19 urodelans (54.3%) are present. Among reptiles, 11 (7.6%) testudines, 71 (49%) saurians, 3 (2.1%) amphisbaenians and 60 (41.3%) ophidians are considered part of the herpetofauna. The endemism rate in Turkey is considered relatively high with a total of 34 species (12 amphibian species – 34.3% and 22 reptile species – 15.2%) endemic to Turkey, yielding a total herpetofaunal endemism of 18.9%. While 38 species have not been threat-assessed by the IUCN, 92 of the 180 Turkish herpetofaunal species are of Least Concern (LC), 13 are Near Threatened (NT), 10 are Vulnerable (VU), 14 are Endangered (EN), and 7 are Critically Endangered (CR). In addition, 6 species are in the DD (Data Deficient) category.
 

Two new heterotardigrade (Tardigrada) species, Bryodelphax pucapetricolus sp. nov. and Bryodelphax wallacearthuri sp. nov., are described from moss associated with limestone pavement in the Republic of Ireland. The species description process for these two taxa initiated a more detailed exploration of several morphological characters of importance in Bryodelphax Thulin including cuticular sculpture elements and ventral plate morphology. Division of the third dorsal median plate in the context of the genera Bryochoerus Marcus and Bryodelphax is further discussed. We recommend minor emendations to the generic diagnoses of Bryochoerus and Bryodelphax. Also, we emend the species diagnoses of Bryodelphax aaseae Kristensen, Michalczyk and Kaczmarek and Bryodelphax parvuspolaris Kaczmarek, Zawierucha, Smykla and Michalczyk, record the genus Parechiniscus Cuénot from the Republic of Ireland for the first time, and make suggestions relevant to the taxonomy of limnoterrestrial heterotardigrades.

The book by Boris Kryštufek and Georgy I. Shenbrot, published a few weeks ago, is an encyclopaedic masterpiece and up-to-date standard work on the rodent group of Arvicolinae Gray, 1821 (voles and lemmings) belonging to the family Cricetidae Fischer, 1817 (hamsters). The authors are two experts on these mammals, and are known worldwide by scientists working in mammalogy for their publications. In addition to countless individual articles, B. Kryštufek is best known for his monograph on the ‘Mammals of Turkey and Cyprus’, which he published together with Vladimír Vohralík (Kryštufek and Vohralík, 2001; 2005; 2009). Georgy Shenbrot wrote, among many other books and papers, mainly devoted to desert and steppe rodents, ‘An Atlas of the Geographic Distribution of the Arvicoline Rodents’ in co-operation with Boris Krasnov (Shenbrot and Krasnov, 2005). It is certainly no exaggeration to call the present book, reviewed here, a worthy, up-to-date successor to Hinton's classic ‘Monograph of Voles and Lemmings’ (Hinton, 1926) and Gromov and Polyakov's volume on ‘Voles (Microtinae)’ (Gromov and Polyakov, 1977) in the framework of the ‘Fauna SSSR’ series (which actually always represented the entire group worldwide). So, one can say that a fundamental work on voles appears about every 50 years.
 

Macrobenthos play an important role in aquatic ecosystems because they mineralize, promote, and mix the oxygen flux into the sediment, which recycles the organic matter. Sampling of macrobenthos populations for this study was carried out in the supratidal, mid tidal, low tidal, and subtidal regions of the Dayyer, Ouli, and Kangan stations in the Persian Gulf during both cold and warm seasons. Water parameters such as the temperature, salinity, pH, turbidity, and electrical conductivity were assessed, and were indicative of moderate water quality. Representatives of a total of 31 taxonomic families were identified during both seasons, of which 59 were identified to genus and species. The highest average number of species was observed in the low tidal region of Kangan in the warm season at 16.6 ± 1.2 species, and the lowest number was observed in the supratidal regions of Ouli and Kangan in the cold season at 6.6±2 species. The species diversity, as calculated using the Shannon–Wiener Index (H’), showed a significant difference between sampling seasons and sampling stations, as well as pollution level at the beaches. The species diversity index in Ouli, Dayyer, and Kangan stations also differed between the seasons. In both seasons, the Kangan station showed the highest species diversity while the Dayyer station showed the lowest. These results reveal a rich species diversity of macrobenthos and good water quality at the three beaches in the Persian Gulf. Re-assessment of species diversity during an environmental impact assessment prior to urban development should be further conducted to ensure that the

community is not significantly affected and the ecosystem remains intact.