Abstract
The Mediterranean specimens of the genus Microporella collected from shallow water habitats during several surveys and cruises undertaken mostly off the Italian coast are revised. As a result of the disentanglement of the M.ciliata complex and the examination of new material, three new species, M.bicollarissp. nov., M.ichnusaesp. nov., and M.pachyspinasp. nov., are described from submarine caves or associated with seagrasses and algae. An additional species Microporella sp. A, distinct by its finely reticulate ascopore, is described but left in open nomenclature owing to the limitations of a single infertile fragment. After examination of all available material, based on their identical zooidal morphology, the genus Diporula is regarded as junior synonym of Microporella and the combination Microporellaverrucosa is resurrected as first suggested by Neviani in 1896. Fenestrulinajoannae is also reassigned to Microporella. The availability of a large number of colonies of the above-mentioned and other species already well known from the area (i.e., M.appendiculata, M.ciliata, and M.modesta), allowed the assessment of their high intraspecific variability as well as the observation, for the first time, of some morphological characters including ancestrulae, early astogeny, and kenozooids. Finally, M.modesta, in spite of M.ciliata as defined by the neotype selected by Kukliński & Taylor in 2008, appears to be the commonest species in the basin.
Highlights
The genus Microporella Hincks, 1877 is one of the most distinctive bryozoan genera (Taylor and Mawatari 2005), both cosmopolitan and species-rich, currently including 34 fossil and 115 Recent species (Bock 2020)
This work increased the number of Microporella species recorded from the Mediterranean, and showed how the stock of Microporella species found in this area was composed only of tropical alien species
Some of its morphological features are distinct from other congeners, the lack of some diagnostic characters, such as ovicells, and the scarcity of material available prevents the description of a new species
Summary
The genus Microporella Hincks, 1877 is one of the most distinctive bryozoan genera (Taylor and Mawatari 2005), both cosmopolitan and species-rich, currently including 34 fossil and 115 Recent species (Bock 2020). These numbers are constantly increasing, with new species of Microporella continuously being described worldwide, both fossil (e.g., Di Martino et al 2017, 2019, 2020a) and Recent (e.g., Almeida et al 2017; Figuerola et al 2018; Dick et al 2020; Di Martino et al 2020a; Ramalho et al 2020). Some of its morphological features are distinct from other congeners (e.g., ascopore), the lack of some diagnostic characters, such as ovicells, and the scarcity of material available prevents the description of a new species
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
