Microporella browni
| Notice: | This page is derived from the original publication listed below, whose author(s) should always be credited. Further contributors may edit and improve the content of this page and, consequently, need to be credited as well (see page history). Any assessment of factual correctness requires a careful review of the original article as well as of subsequent contributions.
If you are uncertain whether your planned contribution is correct or not, we suggest that you use the associated discussion page instead of editing the page directly. This page should be cited as follows (rationale):
Citation formats to copy and paste
BibTeX: @article{Harmelin2011Zootaxa2798, RIS/ Endnote: TY - JOUR Wikipedia/ Citizendium: <ref name="Harmelin2011Zootaxa2798">{{Citation |
Ordo: Cheilostomatida
Familia: Microporellidae
Genus: Microporella
Name
Microporella browni Harmelin, Jean-Georges, 2011 – Wikispecies link – Pensoft Profile
- Microporella browni Harmelin, Jean-Georges, 2011, Zootaxa 2798: 3-7.
Materials Examined
Material examined.Holotype: 2010 -0001-0001 DPUV, on Haliotis mariae shell. South Oman, Salalah, near Mirbat, Kelp Bay, right side, 9 m, 16 January 2009. Paratypes: 2010 -0001-0002 DPUV, 2010 -0001-0003 DPUV, 2010 -0001-0004 DPUV, 2010 -0001-0005 DPUV, 2010 -0001-0006 DPUV, 2010 -0001-0007 DPUV, 2010 -0001- 0 0 0 8DPUV, on the same Haliotis mariae shell as the holotype. South Oman, Salalah, near Mirbat, Kelp Bay, right side, 9 m, 16 January 2009. Mounted on SEM stub: 2010 -0001-0009 DPUV, 2010 -0001-0010 DPUV, taken from bivalve shells. South Oman, Salalah, near Mirbat, Kelp Bay, right side, 9 m, 16 January 2009. Other material examined: M. browni n. sp. — Lebanon: Beirut, airport pier, 3–11 m, 2 colonies on serpulid tube, 25 September 2002; 4 colonies on shells, 16 July 2003. Indian Ocean: (1) Gulf of Aden, Tadjoura (1146 ’ 45 N, 4254 ’ 37 ’’ E), 20 m, 11 colonies beneath planar coral Pachyseris, October 1969; (2) South Oman, Salalah, near Mirbat, Kelp Bay, left side, 11 m, 5 colonies on bivalve shells, 23 January 2009; (3) Maldive Islands, North Male Atoll, Vabbinfaru Is., House Reef, 5–19 m, 4 colonies on bivalve shells, 12–13 January 2008; (4) Maldive Islands, North Male Atoll, Helengeli Is., March 1983, 4 colonies on bivalve shells, coll. F.F. Steininger. M. orientalis Harmer, 1957 — SEM photos of the holotype, NHM n 1986.2. 1.2 (23.K 1 / 2136) (courtesy of P.D. Taylor and S.F. Mawatari).
Etymology
Etymology. Named in honour of the bryozoologist and geologist David A. Brown (1916–2009).
Description
Description. Colony encrusting, unilaminar, small or medium-sized. Autozooids approximately pentagonal, hexagonal or oval, longer than broad (mean L/W = 1.32 in Lebanon, 1.28 in Oman and 1.35 in Maldives). Frontal shield moderately convex, entirely covered with small rounded nodes and small pseudopores intercalated between them (93–98 pores in Lebanon, 58–85 in Tadjoura, 70–95 in Oman, 31–51 in Maldives); areolae slit-like, oval or round, often poorly visible. Primary orifice wider than long, anter rounded, serrated with 11–19 denticles, these triangular with rounded summit, proximal border (poster) with an irregular, slightly corrugated edge between two low shoulder-shaped condyles at each corner, sometimes missing. Oral spines 4–5 in most cases, occasionally 3, 6 or 7, thin, often detached, sometimes particularly long (up to 600 µm) and curved outwardly in well-preserved zooids. Ascopore proximal to orifice at a distance equal to orifice length or shorter, surrounded by a rim, often more raised proximally, lumen C-shaped with median process relatively large, rounded, rectangular or triangular, both spinous, sometimes with anastomosed denticles forming bars. Avicularium normally single, on the right or left, proximolateral to ascopore, rostrum directed distolaterally, truncated with tapered tip, a little longer than the maximum width of the membranous proximal area, crossbar complete and robust, mandible setiform, thin, moderately long (0.5–0.8 Az L), with lower side gutter-shaped (when dry), bearing at a distance corresponding to rostrum tip 2 pointed lateral processes curved basally. Ovicells with no visible oral spines, personate, i.e. with tall, arched, granular collar, distally adjacent to ascopore, raised over orifice and distally joined to smooth, arched rim on proximal edge of ooecium to form a complete peristome. Entooecium globose, broader than long, coarsely granular, evenly ‘perforated’ with many ‘pseudopores’ a little smaller than those of frontal wall. Secondary orifice transversally oval and narrower than primary orifice. Ancestrula tatiform with 10 or 11 spines, with narrow cryptocyst, budding two distolateral autozooids. In youngest periancestrular zooids, denticles of primary orifice are poorly prominent, resembling small rounded knobs, spine number generally 6 or 7, up to 8 (in one zooid).
Discussion
Remarks. All specimens of M. browni n. sp. from Lebanon, Tadjoura, Oman and Maldives are remarkably similar in features of the primary orifice, particularly the shape and distribution of the denticles on the distolateral edge, and the proximal edge slightly corrugated between low condyles. These condyles can be poorly or not prominent in the colonies from Oman and Maldives. The number of denticles observed in SEM photos indicates that this parameter may range differently according to locality: 12–16 in Lebanon (Beirut), 10–16 in the Gulf of Aden (Tadjoura), 13–18 in south Oman, 10–13 in the Maldives. For the whole suite of specimens, 13 is the modal number of denticles, which represents only 26 % of the distribution. However, the tiny morphological traits of the orifice can be considered as highly diagnostic for this personate Microporella species. Zooids of M. browni n. sp. typically bear a single avicularium, lacking in some zooids including periancestrular ones. However, paired avicularia can be exceptionally present, as observed in two non-ovicellate (i.e. not associated with distal ooecium) zooids from two different colonies of the Tadjoura material. The colonies from Tadjoura also differ in their zooidal dimensions, which are larger than those of specimens from the other localities. These two particular features in the Tadjoura material may correspond to a local geographical morphotype. The southeastern Mediterranean specimens are similar in all morphological features to those collected in the Indian Ocean.
Taxon Treatment
- Harmelin, Jean-Georges; Ostrovsky, Andrew N.; Cáceres-Chamizo, Julia P.; Sanner, Joann; 2011: Bryodiversity in the tropics: taxonomy of Microporella species (Bryozoa, Cheilostomata) with personate maternal zooids from Indian Ocean, Red Sea and southeast Mediterranean, Zootaxa 2798: 3-7. doi
This treatment was originally uploaded by Plazi, compare this treatment on Plazi. Unless this treatment has been substantially changed on Species-ID, Plazi requests to maintain a link back to the original repository.
