Jellyella tuberculata ( Bosc, 1802 )

Vieira, Leandro M., Almeida, Ana C. S. & Winston, Judith E., 2016, Taxonomy of intertidal cheilostome Bryozoa of Maceió, northeastern Brazil. Part 1: Suborders Inovicellina, Malacostegina and Thalamoporellina, Zootaxa 4097 (1), pp. 59-83 : 69-71

Jellyella tuberculata ( Bosc, 1802)

( Figs. 18–19 )

Flustra tuberculata Bosc, 1802: 118 . [Atlantic]

Flustra peregrina d’Orbigny, 1841 , pl. 10, fig. 1–3; 1847: 8. [ Brazil: Rio de Janeiro]

Membranipora tehuelcha: Waters, 1898: 674 (?in part), pl. 48, fig. 6–8. [ Brazil: Pernambuco]

Membranipora tuberculata: Marcus, 1937: 33 , pl. 5, fig. 12. [ Brazil: São Paulo]

Membranipora tuberculata: Marcus, 1939: 125 , pl. 6, fig. 4A–B. [ Brazil: Pernambuco]

Membranipora tuberculata: Marcus, 1955: 279 . [ Brazil: Espírito Santo]

Membranipora tuberculata: Osburn, 1940: 349 . [Atlantic: Tortugas, Florida and Puerto Rico]

Membranipora tuberculata: Maturo, 1957: 33 , fig. 25–26. [ USA: North Carolina]

Membranipora tuberculata: Winston, 1982: 119 , fig. 27. [ USA: Florida]

? Membranipora tuberculata: Gordon, 1984: 24 , pl. 1A. [ New Zealand]

? Membranipora tuberculata: Soule et al., 1995: 37 , pl. 3A–B. [ USA: California]

Jellyella tuberculata: Taylor & Monks, 1997: 41 , figs. 3,14–15. [Atlantic]

? Jellyella tuberculata: Tilbrook et al., 2001: 37 , fig. 2D. [ Vanuatu]

Jellyella tuberculata: Vieira et al., 2008: 13 . [ Brazil: Pernambuco, Rocas Atoll, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul]

Jellyella tuberculata: Winston & Hayward, 2012: 50 , fig. 28. [ USA: Cape Cod to Virginia]

Material examined. UFPE 0 44, UFPE 0 45, UFPE 0 47, Riacho Doce, Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil, 9º34'42" S, 35º39'19" W, intertidal, on algae, Sargassum spp., coll. 31 March 2007 by L.M. Vieira. UFPE 0 92, Pratagy (Sereia), Maceió, Alagoas State, Brazil, 9º33'55" S, 35º38'40" W, intertidal, on algae, Sargassum spp., coll. 0 7 September 2007 by A.G.A. Borba Jr. UFPE 109, Jatiúca, Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil, 9º39'10" S, 35º41'40" W, intertidal, on algae, Sargassum spp., coll. 0 9 September 2003 by L.M. Vieira; UFPE 113, coll. 13 August 2007 by L.M. Vieira.

Description. Colony encrusting, unilaminar, white. Zooids rectangular, 0.420–0.618 mm (0.505 ± 0.060) long and 0.173–0.321 mm (0.214 ± 0.035) wide; frontal surface of zooids mostly membranous, 0.278–0.494 mm (0.347 ± 0.050) long, with a small amount of calcified cryptocyst proximally. Lateral wall slightly calcified. Cryptocyst developed, irregular, occupying less than one-fifth of zooidal length, 0.037–0.161 mm (0.102 ± 0.037) long, with minute tubercles on surface; paired calcified wings (supposedly for muscle attachment) occur inside the cryptocyst. Gymnocyst developed proximally, sometimes fused, often forming two rounded tubercles. Several microscopic calcareous hooks (spinules) along internal lateral and distal transverse walls. Operculum with heavily sclerotized outer rim, wider than long, 0.037–0.062 mm (0.047 ± 0.007) long, 0.093–0.117 mm (0.104 ± 0.006) wide.

Polypides with 15 translucent white tentacles. Avicularia absent. Ooecium absent. Colonies develop from a twinned ancestrula.

Remarks. Gordon & Parker (1991) noted the inconsistent occurrence of the internal proximal winged spines inside the cryptocyst in different specimens of J. tuberculata worldwide, supposedly present only in specimens from Atlantic. Tilbrook et al. (2001) also suggest J. tuberculata as a species complex owing to the presence of variable morphology in different geographic areas. Specimens from Santa Barbara, USA ( Soule et al. 1995) are smaller (about 0.20–0.23 mm long and 0.10–0.11 mm wide) than those from Brazil. Specimens reported from the Pacific and Indian Oceans may belong to a different species, being distinct in zooid size and lacking a plectriform apparatus below the cryptocyst ( Gordon & Parker 1991).

Specimens of J. tuberculata from Atlantic are characterized by a mainly membranous frontal wall with a small proximal cryptocyst, a gymnocyst developed as two proximal tubercles, and zooids with microscopic calcareous internal attachment structures (hooks along lateral walls and paired wings descending from inside of proximal cryptocyst). Development of proximal turbercles is variable in J. tuberculata , forming small globular nodules or stronger tubercles directed distally, covering the proximal cryptocyst or merging as a stronger tubercle ( Marcus 1937).

Distribution. Widespread in all tropical and warm temperate ocean waters on brown algae. Jellyella tuberculata is the most abundant encruster of drift Sargassum in tropical Western Atlantic, and it is found more rarely on red algae, rooted Sargassum species, and occasionally on hard substrata, especially floating plastic debris ( Winston et al. 1996). Possibly a species complex rather than a single widespread species is involved. In Brazil, it was previously registered in Bahia, Pernambuco, Rocas Atoll, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul ( Vieira et al. 2008; Almeida et al. 2015b). This is the first record of the species in Alagoas.

Figures

FIGURES 18 – 23. Species of Jellyella from Maceió: 18 – 19, Jellyella tuberculata, UFPE 0 92, Pratagy, Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil; 18, group of zooids on algae; 19, close-up of one autozooid showing the developed proximal cryptocyst and the internal spinules along internal lateral wall; 20 – 23, Jellyella brasiliensis n. sp., Pratagy, Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil; 20 – 21, UFPE 0 80, holotype: 20, group of zooids on algae; 21, close-up of autozooid showing the smooth frontal membrane; 22 – 23, UFBA 1596, paratype: 22, close-up of skeletal autozooid; 23, close-up of lateral wall showing a multiporous mural septula.