Bryozoan Family Research Articles

On some colorful bryozoans from Brazil: reevaluation of Aptonella violacea Canu & Bassler, 1928 and a new species of Cosciniopsis Canu & Bassler, 1927.

Gigantoporidae Bassler, 1935 is a cheilostome bryozoan family comprising five genera, including the colorful genus Cosciniopsis Canu & Bassler, 1927, considered a senior synonym of Aptonella Canu & Bassler, 1928. The taxonomy of Aptonella has historically been considered confusing due to the colored zooecia, which suggests an affinity with other genera such as the stomachetosellid Cycloperiella Canu & Bassler, 1923. Here, the type species of Aptonella, A. violacea Canu & Bassler, 1928, is reevaluated and compared with other Gigantoporidae, to provide a new combination: Cycloperiella violacea n. comb. For the reassessment of Gigantoporidae, the type species of Gigantopora Ridley, 1881, G. lyncoides Ridley, 1881 is redescribed, and a new species of Cosciniopsis, C. viridis sp. nov. is described from Brazil. Characteristics of Cy. violacea, including a double calcified ooecium (lepralielliform type) and the acleithral-type aperture in ovicelled zooids, are distinct from other Gigantoporidae. This distinction supports the synonymization of Aptonella with Cycloperiella, which is here transferred to the family Bitectiporidae MacGillivray, 1895.

Boring bryozoans: an investigation into the endolithic bryozoan family Penetrantiidae

An endolithic lifestyle in mineralized substrates has evolved multiple times in various phyla including Bryozoa. The family Penetrantiidae includes one genus with ten extant and two fossil species. They predominantly colonize the shells of molluscs and establish colonies by chemical dissolution of calcium carbonate. Based on several morphological characters, they were described to be either cheilostome or ctenostome bryozoans. For more than 40 years, neither the characters of species identity and systematics nor the problem of their phylogeny was approached. Consequently, the aim of this study is to reevaluate species identities and the systematic position of the genus Penetrantia by analyzing at least six different species from eight regions with the aid of modern methods such as confocal laser scanning microscopy and 3D-reconstruction techniques. This study demonstrates that the musculature associated with the operculum and brood chamber shows significant differences from the cheilostome counterparts and seems to have evolved independently. Together with the presence of other ctenostome-like features such as true polymorphic stolons and uncalcified body wall, this finding supports a ctenostome affinity. Operculum morphology reveals many new species-specific characters, which, together with information about gonozooid morphology, tentacle number, and zooid size ranges, will enhance species identification. It also revealed a probable new species in Japan as well as potential cryptic species in France and New Zealand. In addition, this study increases the known distribution range of the family and its substrate diversity. Altogether, the new information collated here provides the basis for future work on a neglected taxon.

New species and new records of Reteporella (Bryozoa: Cheilostomatida) from Greenland waters.

New species and new records of the cheilostome bryozoan family Phidoloporidae are reported from the poorly studied shelf and continental slope of Greenland. Reteporella vitta n. sp. differs from congeners in the shape and size of fenestrulae, the size of autozooids and their arrangement within the colony, features of the orificial complex, including the indistinctly denticulate distal rim, shape of the condyles and height of the peristome, as well as the shape and location of the suboral avicularium, and the morphology of the ovicell. Reteporella obscura n. sp. differs from other Reteporella species in a unique combination of the following characters: colony surface texture, shape of orifice and condyles, shape of the suboral avicularium, and the morphology of the ovicell. Other specimens of Reteporella from Greenland were identified as R. watersi (Nordgaard, 1907), firstly recorded in southern and western parts of the study area, and as R. grimaldii (Jullien, 1903) and R. beaniana (King, 1846), previously known only from some localities of western and eastern Greenland and recorded abundantly in 2016. Reteporella watersi specimens from Greenland differ from conspecific material from the Faroe Islands in lacking oral spines and in the size of zooidal characters.

A revision of the ctenostome bryozoan family Pherusellidae, with description of two new species

Pherusellid ctenostomes are a little-investigated clade of bryozoans comprising three described species that are usually distinguished by their different peristome sizes. In this study, the entire family of Pherusellidae is revised with description of two new species, Pherusella minima from the Mediterranean Sea and Pherusella liowae from Singapore. Serial semithin sections and 3-D reconstruction are used for the first time on an entire family of bryozoans. Soft-tissue morphology yields numerous characters such as details of the digestive tract, duplicature bands, and pore-plate structure that are useful and necessary for species identification. Cystid characters alone are regarded as insufficient for proper species recognition. Numerous previous studies have reported Pherusella tubulosa from Asia, but probably have misidentified this species. Hence, it appears to be restricted to the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Furthermore, we suggest Pherusella brevituba only occurs in the Pacific Ocean and is not an alien species to the Mediterranean Sea, as previously suggested. We conclude that previous records most likely belong to the new species P. minima, which itself is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea.

A genome-skimmed phylogeny of a widespread bryozoan family, Adeonidae

BackgroundUnderstanding the phylogenetic relationships among species is one of the main goals of systematic biology. Simultaneously, credible phylogenetic hypotheses are often the first requirement for unveiling the evolutionary history of traits and for modelling macroevolutionary processes. However, many non-model taxa have not yet been sequenced to an extent such that statistically well-supported molecular phylogenies can be constructed for these purposes. Here, we use a genome-skimming approach to extract sequence information for 15 mitochondrial and 2 ribosomal operon genes from the cheilostome bryozoan family, Adeonidae, Busk, 1884, whose current systematics is based purely on morphological traits. The members of the Adeonidae are, like all cheilostome bryozoans, benthic, colonial, marine organisms. Adeonids are also geographically widely-distributed, often locally common, and are sometimes important habitat-builders.ResultsWe successfully genome-skimmed 35 adeonid colonies representing 6 genera (Adeona, Adeonellopsis, Bracebridgia, Adeonella, Laminopora and Cucullipora). We also contributed 16 new, circularised mitochondrial genomes to the eight previously published for cheilostome bryozoans. Using the aforementioned mitochondrial and ribosomal genes, we inferred the relationships among these 35 samples. Contrary to some previous suggestions, the Adeonidae is a robustly supported monophyletic clade. However, the genera Adeonella and Laminopora are in need of revision: Adeonella is polyphyletic and Laminopora paraphyletically forms a clade with some Adeonella species. Additionally, we assign a sequence clustering identity using cox1 barcoding region of 99% at the species and 83% at the genus level.ConclusionsWe provide sequence data, obtained via genome-skimming, that greatly increases the resolution of the phylogenetic relationships within the adeonids. We present a highly-supported topology based on 17 genes and substantially increase availability of circularised cheilostome mitochondrial genomes, and highlight how we can extend our pipeline to other bryozoans.

Synopsis of ‘onychocellid’ cheilostome bryozoan genera

ABSTRACTGenera assigned to the cheilostome bryozoan family Onychocellidae are revised based on the skeletal morphology of the type species and, when possible, the type material of these species. All genera are illustrated using scanning electron micrographs, some for the first time. Onychocellidae, which ranges from the Cenomanian stage of the Cretaceous to the Recent, has been a particularly troublesome family because of poorly defined generic concepts correlating at least in part with a paucity of morphological characters. Thirty-five genera are described in this review. Of these, two are recognised as subjective synonyms of other onychocellid genera (Rhebasia and Semieschara), one cannot be sufficiently characterised from the type material (Collura), and two are new: Aechmellina gen. nov. (type species Aechmella falcifera) and Kamilocella gen. nov. (type species Eschara latilabris). A neotype is chosen for Rhagasostoma hexagonum, the type species of Rhagasostoma. A key is provided to assist in the identification of onychocellid genera. Phylogenetic relationships between genera remain obscure and are unlikely to be fully resolved based on skeletal morphology alone. The family as an entity is loosely circumscribed and almost certainly paraphyletic, containing stem genera of other anascan familes such as Lunulitidae, Coscinopleuridae and Aspidostomatidae.www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:org:pub:63A31AD2-F049-42CB-A45B-557014DC286E

Living and fossil Steginoporellidae (Bryozoa: Cheilostomata) from New Zealand.

The cheilostome bryozoan family Steginoporellidae in New Zealand comprises seven living species of Steginoporella. Three of these are new to science-Steginoporella discors n. sp., Steginoporella lineata n. sp. and Steginoporella modesta n. sp.-and one (Steginoporella magnifica) additionally occurs as a Plio-Pleistocene fossil. A new Early Pleistocene fossil species, Steginoporella tiara n. sp., is also recognised. The living species exhibit the full range of colonial morphologies known for the genus, and two of the new deep-shelf taxa described herein have the smallest known colonies, both linear, not exceeding 5 mm in width and 22 mm in length. One species has a recorded depth range down to 615 m, apparently the deepest known for the genus. Zooidal proportions vary, with a length:width ratio in the seven living species ranging from 1.31 to 1.81, exceeded only by that in the new fossil taxon, which has very elongate zooids. Notwithstanding the conspicuous differences in colonial and zooidal morphology, four of the living species appear to be closely related, sharing distinctive reticulation of opercular sclerites, a similar morphology of the median process and no B-zooid morphs. Only one New Zealand taxon has B-zooids. Biogeographically, all the species except S. magnifica (also known from Tonga) are nominally endemic, but it is possible that some of the deeper-water taxa may eventually be found outside the boundary of the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone. The operculum in Steginoporella species is initially a single thin layer continuous with the membranous frontal wall, becoming two-layered when fully functioning in feeding zooids and mandibulate B-zooids.

On Powellithecidae fam. nov., a new Pliocene to Recent bryozoan family endemic to New Zealand, with the description of Powellitheca gen. nov. (Bryozoa, Cheilostomata)

A new cheilostome bryozoan genus, Powellitheca gen. nov., is erected here for three species from New Zealand, one of which has been previously assigned to Emballotheca Levinsen, 1909, but which differ significantly from the Australian type species of Emballotheca , E. quadrata (MacGillivray, 1880). Notably, whereas Emballotheca has a cormidial orifice (i.e., formed by numerous neighbouring zooids), and lepralielliform ooecia, the orifice of Powellitheca gen. nov. is formed by single zooids and ooecia are of the microporelliform type. The introduction of a new family, Powellithecidae fam. nov., becomes necessary because of the nonconformity of Powellitheca gen. nov. with other known families having microporelliform ooecia. In addition to the Recent type species Powellitheca terranovae gen. et sp. nov., one other new Recent species, P. labiosa gen. et sp. nov., and a Plio-Pleistocene fossil species, Monoporella waipukurensis Waters, 1887, are assigned to the new genus.

Revision of Chlidoniopsidae Harmer, (Bryozoa: Cheilostomata) including a description of Celiopsis vici gen. and sp. nov.

AbstractThe bryozoan family Chlidoniopsidae Harmer, 1957 is reviewed in relation to a new Paleogene European fossil, Celiopsis vici new genus and new species. It differs from the type and only other genus of the family in having longer internodes with up to three zooids, shorter proximal caudae, and, more importantly, suture lines that unequally divided the umbonuloid frontal shield and basal (abfrontal) wall (and the hypostegal coelom in life) into sectors, analogous to the situation in the lepralioid-shielded Prostomariidae and Urceoliporidae. Unlike Prostomaria and Urceolipora, and like Chlidoniopsis, Celiopsis is uniserial. The suture lines in Celiopsis were lines of insertion (attachment) of epithecal membranes in life and each sector has its own longitudinal series of septular pores, sometimes doubled. Miocene to Recent Chlidoniopsis contains two species, and Eocene–Oligocene Celiopsis contains three species. The geographic distribution gives evidence of origination of the family in the Paratethys of Europe, with southeastwards migration to Australia and the tropical western Pacific. The temporal distribution suggests two macro-evolutionary trends—from multizooidal to unizooidal internodes, and from a broader area of basal wall, with a division into separate cryptocystal fields, to a narrower basal wall with no such division.

Substratum and Morphometric Relationships in the Bryozoan Genus Odontoporella, with a Description of a New Paguridean-Symbiont Species from New Zealand

Members of the bryozoan family Hippoporidridae have frequently been found encrusting gastropod shells inhabited by hermit crabs, with which they appear to enter into a symbiotic relationship-shells occupied by hermits may in some species have a tubular extension of the encrusting bryozoan from the shell opening, induced by the presence of the crab. Such colony growth is characteristic of some species of Hippoporidra Canu and Bassler and Odontoporella Héjjas. The type species of Odontoporella, O. adpressa (Busk), has been attributed a nominal distribution from Chiloe Island, Chile (the type locality), to the Falkland Islands, New Zealand, and New Caledonia. In New Zealand, colonies are relatively easily obtainable from some localities, so a study was undertaken to ascertain substratum and morphometric relationships across the range of distribution of the species, using museum specimens and, where possible, fresh material. It became clear that the New Zealand population constitutes a separate species, here named O. bishopi n. sp., in which the orifice is proportionately larger than in O. adpressa. In contrast to O. adpressa, which settles on a range of substrata, O. bishopi preferentially settles on gastropod shells occupied by hermit crabs (mostly Paguristes setosus (H. Milne Edwards)) and shows sexual dimorphism at the level of the polypide. Male polypides not only have modified lophophores but also reduced guts.

New taxa of Japanese and New Zealand Eurystomellidae (Phylum Bryozoa) and their phylogenetic relationships

As presently recognized, the small cheilostome bryozoan family Eurystomellidae (superfamily Catenicelloidea) comprises just two genera: EurystomellaLevinsen, 1909, with three Recent species, and SelenariopsisMaplestone, 1913; with one Recent and two fossil species. Within Eurystomella sensu lato, colonies range from uni-/biserial to multiserial and the smooth gymnocystal frontal shields of zooids may be entire or have one to several large foramina. Here we describe seven new Recent species of encrusting eurystomellids from New Zealand and Japan. Including species of Selenariopsis, a cladistic analysis was carried out on 11 eurystomellid species and five outgroup species, the latter representing the families Cribrilinidae, Euthyroididae, Petalostegidae, and Catenicellidae. The results of the analysis support restricting Eurystomella to multiserial species with large frontal foramina, median suboral sutures, and basal pore-chambers. Two new genera, both with imperforate frontal shields and uniporous mural septula, are segregated from Eurystomella: uni-/biserial Zygopalme, with a median suboral suture and accssory perforations in the ovicellular kenozooid, and multiserial Integripelta, lacking the suture and accessory perforations. © 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2002, 136, 199–216.

Notes on astogeny of some Petraliellidae (Bryozoa) from Australia

Members of the bryozoan family Petraliellidae share the capacity to develop basal rhizoids, which anchor the unilaminar, semi-repent parts of the colonies above the substratum, and enable them to overgrow other, competing sessile forms. Little is known of the larval behaviour and settlement, or the early astogeny of species. Ancestrulate colonies of the Australian Tertiary lunulitiform species Smittia biincisa are referred to the genus Riscodopa, and together with Riscodopa paucipora sp. nov. are described and compared with the Recent species R. cotyla and R. parva from New Zealand, and with R. hyalina sp. nov. from New South Wales, Australia. All the Recent species are known to develop basal rhizoids, and an early astogeny similar to that of many other small, rooted bryozoans, comprising the post-metamorphosis development of a binary complex, including rhizoid and feeding elements, is inferred for Riscodopa. Observations on living Hippopetraliella magna from Queensland suggest that both the ancestrular morphology and early astogeny show a capacity for semi-repent growth, even though they do not include rhizoid development. Larvae metamorphose without direct attachment, and the ancestrula develops elongated, partially calcified supporting processes, which raise the early stages of growth above the substratum. A similar kind of ancestrula has been found in preserved specimens of Mucropetraliella ellerii.

New bryozoan family from the Indo-Pacific shows unexpected diversity

Two new species of the recently established genus Echinovadoma (Bryozoa: Cheilostomatida: Echinovadomidae) are described and illustrated from the Banda Sea, off Java, E.alacermatrix sp. nov. and E.magnitorquata sp. nov. Their affinities to the only other known species of the genus, E.anceps, for which both the genus and family were named, are discussed.

First fossil occurrence of the austral bryozoan family Urceoliporidae

The cheilostome bryozoan family Urceoliporidae has not previously been discovered in the fossil record, hitherto comprising only three Recent species in two genera from Australia and New Zealand. Urceolipora miocenica n. sp. is described from the Pakaurangi Formation, Waitemata Group, from Pakaurangi Point, Kaipara Harbour, New Zealand. Thus, both families of the superfamily Urceoliporoidea (Urceoliporidae and Prostomariidae) are now known from the Early Miocene. The new species is made the type of a new subgenus, Cureolipora, chiefly distinguished from Urceolipora sensu stricto by the lack of a longitudinal ridge dividing the frontal shield into two sectors, and also by the lack of an orificial sinus and lateral‐oral homs. More than 215 species of Bryozoa are now known to occur in the New Zealand Miocene, more than half of which are undescribed.

Two new genera of Bryozoa (Calloporidae) from New Zealand

Two new genera of the bryozoan family Calloporidae are described from New Zealand. The first, Leptinatella, is introduced for L. gordoni n. sp., specimens of which have been referred in the past to Watersia militaris (Waters) but are distinct from this species, which is a phase of the cribrimorph Corbulipora tubulifera (Hincks). The second genus, Bryocalyx, is introduced for B. cinnameus n. sp., which has small, conical colonies anchored by rhizoids. Another species of Bryocalyx is known from a few fragments only: and has also been referred in the past to Watersia sp. It is briefly discussed, but left unnamed here.

Studies on Recent Macroporidae (Bryozoa: Cheilostomatida), with new taxa and ontogeny of the ovicells

The Recent species of the Bryozoan family Macroporidae are discussed after study of type and newly collected material using the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The diagnosis of the family and the descriptions of Recent species are updated, using characters previously overlooked or incompletely known. Three new species are described: Macropora brownisp. nov. and Macropora uttleyisp. nov. from Three Kings Island, New Zealand, the latter differing from other species in the features of female zooids and ovicells and in its uniserial growth; Macropora georgiensissp. nov., the first macroporid found in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost in distribution, being found on South Georgia Island. The geographical range of the family is extended to sub‐Antarctic waters of the Atlantic Ocean. A study on the ontogeny of the ovicells of Macroporidae is included and the conclusion is drawn that, in most cases, the ovicell is subimmersed, supported by a kenozooid, and that maternal zooids are differentiated early in ontogeny into female zooids (here termed gynozooids).

The Tertiary bryozoan family Prostomariidae – morphology and relationships

The Tertiary bryozoan family Prostomariidae – morphology and relationships

Recent and fossil Lunulitidae (Bryozoa: Cheilostomata) 1. The genus Otionella from New Zealand

Summary Living species of the free-living bryozoan Family Lunulitidae are now found only in Australasia. One genus, Otionella, is particularly well represented in the Tertiary-to-Recent of New Zealand, where other genera of Lunulitidae are rare. Although some species of Otionella are common to both Australia and New Zealand, records of several nominal forms have been confused in synonymies. In order to facilitate identification of the New Zealand fauna, O. squamosa (Tenison Woods) is redefined, O. nitida (Maplestone) is redescribed, and five new species, O. inopina, O. proberti, O. zelandica, O. affinis and O. symmetrica are introduced and their distribution in time and space is discussed.

The genera of the Chaperiidae (Bryozoa)

Abstract The genera of the bryozoan family Chaperiidae are reconsidered on the basis of type and other material and undescribed species from the New Zealand region, and 11 genera are recognised. Uttley’s Chaperiopsis is considered to be validly separable from Chaperia sensu stricto and to include Uttley & Bullivant’s genera Scutochaperia, Parmachaperia, and Clipeochaperia (retained as a subgenus). Two new genera, Icelozoon and Exallozoon, are proposed for some species of Kluge, and Pyrichaperia n.gen. is established for a species of Canu & Bassler. Exostesia Brown, Hagenowinella Canu, and Larnacicus Norman are shown to be chaperiids, and a new genus, Bryopastor, is erected for certain Recent deep-sea and fossil species from New Zealand and the tropical Pacific. Harpecia n.gen. is established for Chaperia spinosissima Calvet and transferred to the Electridae.

Systematic position and scope of the family Hyphasmoporidae

The bryozoan family Hyphasmoporidae Vine, 1885, is restored as a systematic category in the suborder Rhabdomesidae, Astrova and Morozova, 1956. The presence of metapores (tubular cavities between zooecia that have been called "mesopores," "pits," ''recesses," etc., by various authors) distinguishes the Hyphasmoporidae from the Rhabdomesidae, the family in which seven previously described genera formerly were placed. As presently constituted, the family Hyphasmoporidae contains nine genera: Hyphasmopora Vine, Streblotrypa Ulrich in Vine, Clausotrypa Bassler, Streblotrypella,Nikiforova, Streblascopora Bassler, Nikiforovella Nekhoroshev, Petaloporella Prantl, Ogbinopora Shishova, and Pinegopora Shishova. The new genera Ogbinopora and Pinegopora are diagnosed and their type species 0. armeniensis, n. sp., and P. delicatata. n. sp., are described and illustrated along with Streblotrypa suvodiensis Shishova, n. sp., and Streblascopora fasciculata (Bassler). All four species are from the Upper Permian of the U.S.S.R. --H. Duncan.