A checklist of marine bryozoan taxa in Scottish sea regions.

Jennifer Loxton,Sally Rouse,Mary E Spencer Jones,Joanne S Porter

doi:10.3897/zookeys.787.24647

Abstract

Contemporary and historical bryozoan records were compiled to provide a comprehensive checklist of species in Scottish waters. The checklist comprises 218 species in 58 families, with representatives from each of the extant bryozoan orders. The fauna was relatively sparse compared to other regions for which bryozoan checklists were available e.g. New Zealand and Australia. Six non-indigenous bryozoan species from the Scottish seas region were included in the checklist. Baseline information on species distributions, such as that presented in this checklist, can be used to monitor and manage the impact of human activities on the marine environment, and ultimately preserve marine biodiversity.

Highlights

The phylum Bryozoa comprises approximately 6000 known/described extant species of filter feeding invertebrates that predominantly occur in the marine environment (Gordon and Costello 2016)
There is no a priori reason to expect that the Scottish sea region would have a distinct fauna, the region does support a greater range of habitat types than the adjoining English Sea area (Baxter et al 2011)
It can be concluded that Scotland has fewer bryozoan species than New Zealand (n = 953), Australia (n = 886), and the Mediterranean (n = 556) (Gordon 1999; Gordon et al 2010; Rosso and Di Martino 2016)

Summary

Introduction

The phylum Bryozoa comprises approximately 6000 known/described extant species of filter feeding invertebrates that predominantly occur in the marine environment (Gordon and Costello 2016). There are three classes and four orders of extant bryozo-. The order Cheilostomatida is the most diverse. All bryozoans are clonal and the colonies can take many different forms including encrusting, erect and arborescent forms (McKinney and Jackson 1991). Colony growth proceeds via the asexual budding of individual units, called zooids, with sexual reproduction producing free-swimming larvae (McKinney and Jackson 1991). Bryozoan species occur in all major marine habitats, from the Polar regions to the tropics, ranging from the intertidal zone to the deep sea. The vast majority of species live attached to a substrate, which may be rocks, biogenic structures (e.g. coral, shells), algae or man-made debris (Hayward and Ryland 1998)

Methods

Results

Conclusion