Labioporella tuberculata Winston, Vieira & Woollacoot, 2014

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 : 75-77

Labioporella tuberculata Winston, Vieira & Woollacoot, 2014

( Figs. 32–34 )

Siphonoporella granulosa: Canu & Bassler, 1928a: 69 , pl. 4, fig. 5. [ Brazil: Bahia] Non Siphonoporella granulosa Canu & Bassler, 1928c: 69 , pl. 8, fig. 1. [Gulf of Mexico]? Labioporella dipla Marcus, 1949: 14 , figs. 14–16. [ Brazil: Espírito Santo]

Labioporella granulosa: Vieira et al., 2008: 20 . [ Brazil: Bahia]

Labioporella tuberculata Winston et al., 2014: 144 , figs. 2, 3. [ Brazil: Bahia]

Material examined. UFPE 0 28, Ipioca (Ponta do Prego), Maceió, Alagoas State, Brazil, 9º31'30" S, 35º35'10" W, intertidal, on stones, coll. 30 August 2010 by L.M. Vieira and M.D. Correia. UFAL 0 65, UFAL 0 66, Riacho Doce, Maceió, Alagoas State, Brazil, 9º34'42" S, 35º39'19" W, intertidal, on stones, coll. 29 March 2006 by L.M. Vieira and M.D. Correia; UFAL 278, UFBA 1603, UFPE 0 26, coll. 10 January 2008 by L.M. Vieira and M.D. Correia. UFAL 228, UFPE 0 23, UFPE 0 99, Amores, Maceió, Alagoas State, Brazil, 9º40'40" S, 35º42'10" W, intertidal, on stones, coll. 0 2 April 2007 by L.M. Vieira and M.D. Correia. UFAL 343, Jatiúca, Maceió, Alagoas State, Brazil, 9º39'10" S, 35º41'40" W, intertidal, on algae, coll. 18 January 2011 by L.M. Vieira and M.D. Correia.

Description. Colony encrusting on hard substrata, often unilaminar. Zooids variable in size and shape, 0.569– 0.674 mm (0.617 ± 0.041) long and 0.250–0.398 mm (0.324 ± 0.054) wide, subrectangular to suboval, edges rounded distally and sharper proximally. Lateral walls tuberculate distally, becoming smooth proximally, with porous cryptocyst sunken distally and shallow proximally. Polypide tube central or slightly lateral, about 0.10 mm in diameter, joined to the basal wall. One or two large calcified tubercles at proximal corners of zooids. Avicularia large, about 0.73 mm long and 0.30 mm wide, rare, with median polypide tube distinct from the cryptocystal shelf, deep; cryptocyst with small tubercles, without pores; mandible wider distally, occupying the distal half of the avicularium. Small kenozooids with a single median pore, less than half the size of one autozooid, may be present.

Remarks. This species was recently described by Winston et al. (2014) from Salvador, Bahia, NE Brazil. It is similar to Labioporella sinuosa ( Osburn, 1940) from Florida, but that species is distinct in having smaller zooids than those of L. tuberculata and no proximal tubercles on gymnocyst. According to Winston et al. (2014), Labioporella dipla Marcus, 1949 , also reported from Brazil (Espírito Santo), and Labioporella granulosa ( Canu & Bassler, 1928c), from the Gulf of Mexico, have avicularia and no corner tubercles. We examined thousands of zooids of different colonies from Maceió, and only a few avicularia were found (e.g. Fig. 34 ). These avicularia resemble those described for L. dipla ( Marcus 1949: pl. 3, fig. 14) and L. granulosa ( Fig. 35 ). The unique distinctive characteristic in L. dipla is the presence of a prominent tubercle on the distal wall beneath the operculum, which is absent in L. tuberculata . Examination of the type specimens of L. granulosa ( Fig. 35 ) also revealed larger zooids (about 0.72 mm long), wider polypide tubes than those of L. tuberculata (0.13–0.15 mm wide), and polypide tubes separated from the basal wall.

Distribution. Labioporella tuberculata is known only from Salvador, Bahia (Winston et al. 2014) and Maceió, Alagoas (present study). It is often found on hard substrata, including rocks, stones and shells. This is the first record of the species in Alagoas.

Figures

FIGURES 32 – 35. 32 – 34, Labioporella tuberculata, UFBA 1603, Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil; 32, group of zooids; 33, close-up of one autozooid; 34, group of autozooids with an avicularium. 35, Labioporella granulosa, USNM 7593, holotype, Gulf of Mexico, group of autozooids with an avicularium.