Pulpeirina amoena ( Jullien & Calvet, 1903 ) Reverter-Gil & Souto, 2015

Reverter-Gil, Oscar & Souto, Javier, 2015, Redescription of some species of Bryozoa described by J. Jullien and L. Calvet in the NE Atlantic, European Journal of Taxonomy 157, pp. 1-17 : 2-7

Pulpeirina amoena ( Jullien & Calvet, 1903) comb. nov.

Figs 1 A–E, 2A–E, 3A–E; Table 1

Hippothoa amoena Jullien & Calvet, 1903: 88 , pl. 10, fig. 9.

Schizoporella jullieni Calvet in Jullien & Calvet, 1903: 142 , pl. 17, figs 1a–b.

? Smittia guernei Jullien & Calvet, 1903: 103 pars.

? Hippothoa amaena – Calvet 1907: 424. — d’Hondt, 1975: 579.

Material examined

Lectotype of Hippothoa amoena (here designated)

AZORES: Hirondelle st. 247, Pico Island, 38º24’ N, 28º01’26’’ W, 30 Aug. 1888, 318 m ( MOM INV- 22578).

Paralectotypes of Hippothoa amoena

AZORES: Hirondelle st. 226, Pico-Faial Channel, 38º31’19’’ N, 28º34’31’’ W, 14 Aug. 1888, 130 m ( MOM INV- 22579, MOM INV- 22581).

Lectotype of Schizoporella jullieni (here designated)

AZORES: Hirondelle st. 226, Pico-Faial Channel, 38º31’19’’ N, 28º34’31’’ W, 14 Aug. 1888, 130 m ( MOM INV- 22502).

Paralectotypes of Schizoporella jullieni

AZORES: same data as lectotype, several small fragments covered with glue ( MOM INV- 22523); same data as lectotype, an encrusting colony, together with Chorizopora sp. and Hippothoa sp. ( MOM INV- 22524).

Other material examined

SPAIN: Hirondelle st. 56, 43°38’30’’ N, 6°08’16’’ W, N Iberian Peninsula, 4 Aug. 1886, 90 m, Jullien coll., originally labeled as “ Smittia deguernei J. Jullien ” ( MOM INV- 22580).

Description

Colony encrusting, unilaminar.Autozooids oval to hexagonal, only slightly convex, separated by shallow grooves. Frontal wall smooth, translucent in young zooids, marked with slight transversal undulations; perforated by numerous, evenly spaced, small pseudopores rimmed in surface, prolongated in oblique tubules. One to several rows of pores distal to zooidal orifice. Pores joined by short tubules, visible in transparent walls, forming somewhat radial series running to margins of zooid. Orifice cleithridiate, not terminal; anter transversely oval, surrounded by thin rim; separated from shallow, concave poster by short, pointed condyles and pair of small notches. Edge of poster formed by pair of presumed vestigial costae fused in saggital plane, leaving small central pore and narrow slit. Spines absent. Communication via small, basal pore chambers. Ovicells terminal, prominent, cleithral. Large ooecium formed by distal kenozooid with no visible frontal part ( Ostrovsky et al. 2009; Ostrovsky 2013). Ectooecium smooth, evenly perforated by small pseudopores prolongated in tubules, with small central umbo and sometimes growth lines. Ovicell aperture dimorphic, larger than in infertile autozooids, formed by proximal border of ooecium and poster of zooidal orifice; closed by zooidal operculum. Small, irregularly shaped kenozooids (without any orifice) may be present filling small spaces between autozooids. Zooeciules and avicularia absent. Ancestrula not observed.

Remarks

Hippothoa amoena was described by Jullien & Calvet (1903) for three samples collected on shells at two stations near Pico Island, Azores, at depths between 130 and 318 m. The original material is now kept at MOM and a lectotype is designated here. The name of the species appeared in the original paper with two different spellings: ‘amoena’ and ‘amaena’. Both include a ligature and are therefore incorrect according to Art. 32.5.2 of the ICZN Code ( ICZN 1999). We select here the first spelling and correct it to amoena (Arts 19.3, 24.2.3 and 32). Hippothoa amoena was later reported from its original area between 80 and 115 m by Calvet (1907) and by d’Hondt (1975) between 80 and 1260 m, but this material was not found in MNHN or MOM, so perhaps it has been lost.

Schizoporella jullieni was described by Calvet ( Jullien & Calvet 1903), also from material collected at the Azores (strait between Pico and Faial Islands, at a depth of 130 m). The original material is also kept at MOM and a lectotype is designated here. Schizoporella jullieni does not seem to have been reported since its original description. However, Gautier (1962: 121) stated that S. jullieni must be a synonym of Trypostega claviculata (Hincks, 1884) , a species that he reported from the Strait of Sicily. This synonymy was subsequently assumed by Arístegui Ruiz (1984) when citing T. claviculata from the Canary Islands. These records differ from S. jullieni in the presence of interzooidal avicularia and the absence of the vestigial suboral costae. A revision of Gautier’s original material proves that it belongs to a new species of Trypostega , which will be described in a future paper.

A revision of the type material of H. amoena and S. jullieni demonstrated that they correspond to the same species. Taking into account that H. amoena was described first in the original paper, and reported twice since its original description, we decide here to give precedence to this name, according to Art. 24 of the ICZN Code.

The porous gymnocystal frontal wall, the suboral pair of vestigial costae, and the absence of oral spines in H. amoena are all characters reminiscent of those in several taxa, such as the recently described genus Vitrimurella Winston et al., 2014 , some fossil Trypostegidae , or even some Catenicellidae Busk, 1852 . However, catenicellids differ most obviously by their erect, flexible and jointed colonies. Vitrimurella differs, among other features, by the ovicell. In the type species of the genus, V. lata (Smitt, 1873) , and two other species, the ovicell is small, cap-like, immersed in the distal part of the maternal zooid, and therefore quite different from the large, prominent and uniformly perforated ovicell of H. amoena . In two other species of the same genus, V. gemina ( Tilbrook, 2006) and V. lepida (Hayward, 1988) , the ooecia are also prominent but possess a median suture, perhaps suggesting that they belong in a different genus. Hippothoa amoena also differs from fossil Trypostegidae provided with suboral vestigial costae (e.g., Trilophora Lang, 1916, Boreasina Voigt & Hillmer, 1983 and Grammothoa Voigt & Hillmer, 1983 ) mainly by the absence of zooeciules or avicularia and the dimorphic orifices. Finally, Boreas Morris, 1980 also lacks avicularia, as H. amoena , but it lacks suboral vestigial costae and dimorphic orifices.

Moreover, H. amoena differs from all these taxa by the pseudopores of the frontal wall, which are not simple perforations, as can be seen in young, translucent zooids. The perforations in the surface of the zooids are formed during the calcification of the frontal wall ( Fig. 3A ). As the calcified layer thickens, the pseudopores extend to form short, oblique tubules. Groups of these oblique tubules are joined together by basal, horizontal tubules arranged forming a somewhat radial series, presumably reaching the zooidal margins ( Fig. 3B, E ). In some cases there is also a median, longitudinal horizontal tubule ( Fig. 3C ). The ovicells, however, do not possess horizontal tubules. The horizontal tubules do not seem to actually be excavated in the calcified layer, but rather to be an open space between the calcified layer and the underlying membranous ectocyst ( Fig. 3D ). If this is the case, this space represents a vestigial hypostegal coelom. This possibility, together with the radial arrangement of the horizontal tubules and the pair of suboral vestigial costae, is perhaps reminiscent of an ancient spinocystal frontal shield. Nevertheless, study of more fresh material is necessary to clearly establish the structure of the frontal wall in H. amoena . Although some related species may have tubular pseudopores (e.g., Trypostega sp. nov. or Vitrimurella spp., L.M. Viera pers. comm. Sep. 2014), they are not radially arranged. On the other hand, it will be difficult to prove whether fossil Trypostegidae had radial tubular pseudopores.

Therefore, we erect a new genus, Pulpeirina , for H. amoena , and we tentatively place it in the family Trypostegidae . The structure of the frontal wall in Pulpeirina amoena comb. nov., perhaps reminiscent of an ancient spinocystal frontal wall, may support the suggestion that the Trypostegidae evolved from a pliophloeine ancestor ( Gordon 2000).

Pulpeirina amoena comb. nov. is only known with certainty from around Pico Island, Azores, between 80 and 318 m depth (up to 1260 m according to d’Hondt 1975). However, we have found another sample, labeled as Smittia deguernei and presumably collected from the NW Iberian Peninsula, which corresponds to the same species. Smittia guernei was described by Jullien & Calvet (1903) for two samples collected off the NW coast of the Iberian Peninsula at a depth of 90 m. One of the samples (MOM INV-22518) matches the original description and is here designated as the lectotype of the species (see below). The other sample (MOM INV-22580) corresponds to P. amoena comb. nov. (see Fig. 3 ). Taking into account the evident differences between both species, it seems impossible that Jullien, who originally described both of them in the same paper (or even any other researcher), could have made such a mistake of identification. It seems more probable that the samples were mixed up during their preservation or during their subsequent revision by Calvet, when he undertook the responsibility of finishing the study of the samples collected by the Hirondelle. Therefore, we consider that the geographical origin of this sample of P. amoena comb. nov. is also doubtful.

Figures

Fig. 1. Lectotype of Hippothoa amoena Jullien & Calvet, 1903 (MOM INV-22578). A. Some autozooids. B. Group of irregular kenozooids. C. Primary orifice. D. Ovicell. E. Distal dietella.

Fig. 3. Pulpeirina amoena (Jullien & Calvet, 1903) comb. nov. (MOM INV-22580). A. Simple pores in a young, marginal autozooid. B. Tubular pores arranged radially. C. An autozooid with radially arranged tubular pores and a medial horizontal tubule. D. Inner view of an autozooid showing the tubular pseudopores and horizontal tubules. E. Detail showing tubular pores joining the horizontal tubule.