Crisia brasiliensis Ramalho & Moraes, 2021

Ramalho, Laís V., Moraes, Fernando C., Salgado, Leonardo T., Bastos, Alex C. & Moura, Rodrigo L., 2021, Bryozoa from the reefs off the Amazon River mouth: checklist, thirteen new species, and notes on their ecology and distribution, Zootaxa 4950 (1), pp. 1-45 : 27

Crisia brasiliensis Ramalho & Moraes n. sp.

( Fig. 13A, B )

Material examined. Holotype: MNRJBRY-1468: Brazil, Amapá state (Sta#3, 03°35.4267’N – 049°07.6028’W), 90 m, on sponge, 26 September 2014 ; Paratypes: MNRJBRY-1437, MNRJBRY-1481, MNRJBRY-1524: Brazil, Amapá state ( Sta #3, 03°35.4267’N – 049°07.6028’W), 90 m, on sponge, 26 September 2014 ; MNRJBRY-1489: Brazil, Pará state ( Sta #4, 01°17.989’N – 046°46.732’W), 55 m, on sponge, 27 September 2014; collected by Fernando Moraes & Rodrigo Moura (NHo Cruzeiro do Sul ).

Etymology. Referring to the type locality (i.e., Brazilian waters).

Diagnosis. Colony with 7–20 autozooid per internode; internodes connected by black joints. Autozooids with more or less developed peristomes; apertures circular; frontal surface with slit-like pseudopores. Gonozooid large, elongate, pear-shaped with slit-like pseudopores; ooeciostome short and curved forward with elliptical ooeciopore.

Description. Colony arborescent, delicate, branched and jointed; new branches usually arising laterally to the fifth or sixth zooid of an internode. Infertile internodes [L 1432–1966– 2613 µm (SD 422, N 8)] composed of 7–20 autozooids alternately placed, and 7–12 autozooids in fertile internodes; internodes connected by black joints. Autozooids with more or less developed peristome, short to moderately long, usually facing upwards and/or slightly outwards, and with circular aperture; frontal surface with slit-like pseudopores. Large, pear-shaped gonozooid [L 514–548–578 (SD 24, N 5); W 290–309– 328 µm (SD 16, N 5)], elongate and forming close to a bifurcation; ooeciostome short, curved and facing forward, placed distally of the brood chamber; ooeciopore slightly elliptical [L 50–54–57 (SD 3, N 4); W 61–68– 76 µm (SD 7; N 4)]; gonozooidal surface punctuated by numerous slit-like pseudopores (internally circular).

Remarks. Seven Crisia species have been recorded from Brazil: C. aculeata Hassal, 1840 , C. cylindrica Busk, 1886 , C. ramosa Harmer, 1891 , C. pseudosolena ( Marcus, 1937) , C. ficulnea Buge, 1979 , C. micra Marcus, 1955 , and C. fragosa Ramalho et al., 2009 . Winston et al. (2014) and Ramalho et al. (2018) recorded Crisia colonies in Rio de Janeiro state and in the Abrolhos Bank, Brazil, but the lack of gonozooids precluded specific identifications. Crisia brasiliensis Ramalho & Moraes n. sp. is easily distinguished from its congeners by the presence of black joints, slit-like pseudopores on gonozooidal and autozooidal surface, gonozooid with ooeciostome curved forward and ooeciopore slightly elliptical. Crisia fragosa is the most similar Brazilian species having slit-like pseudopores on the surface. However, it differs by presenting pale joints, fewer zooids in each internode, larger gonozooid (L 630–710–757, W 339–349– 359 µm), and circular ooeciopore (68–78– 87 µm in diameter). Crisia denticulata ( Lamarck, 1816) , from the Northeastern Atlantic, also has black joints and autozooids with peristomes that are not so developed ( Hayward & Ryland 1985), but it differs from the new species in having circular pseudopores, and inconspicuous ooeciopore with a very short tube.

Figures

FIGURE 13. Crisia brasiliensis Ramalho & Moraes n. sp. (Holotype MNRJBRY-1468).A. Colony fragment showing branches and a gonozooid. B. Gonozooid showing ooeciostome and ooeciopore, and some autozooidal peristomes. Scale bars: A, 1000 µm; B, 100 µm.