Celleporaria sherryae Winston, 2005

Harmelin, Jean-Georges, 2014, Alien bryozoans in the eastern Mediterranean Sea — new records from the coast of Lebanon, Zootaxa 3893 (3), pp. 301-338 : 318-319

? Celleporaria sherryae Winston, 2005

( Fig. 8 A–C; Table 8 )

? Holoporella vagans ( Busk, 1881) : Canu & Bassler 1928: 148, pl. 25, figs 7–13, text-fig. 33e–g.

? Celleporaria subalba: Winston 1986 , p. 14, figs 31–34. Non Holoporella subalba Canu & Bassler, 1928: 146 , pl. 25, figs 1–6, text-fig. 33b.

? Celleporaria sherryae Winston, 2005: 51 , figs 141–142.

Material examined. Specimens from Lebanon: 1) Stn 5A, 3 colonies on concretions and skeleton of Polycyathus (scleractinian); 2) Stn 11A, 1 colony on Spondylus shell from rocky wall. Other material examined: SEM photos of a specimen from Brazil, São Sebastião (São Paulo), attributed to C. mordax by L.M. Vieira.

Description. Colony encrusting, multilamellar, generally small, moderately calcified. Frontal shield finely nodular or smooth, 6–8 small to medium-sized marginal pseudopores. Orifice broader than long, anter semicircular, poster with sides slightly concave and indented by small U-shaped sinus, condyles lacking; operculum light brown. Orificial spines 4, occasionally 5–6, or 2 when distal ones immersed in secondary calcification, often long (up to 425 µm) and persistent. Small adventitious suboral avicularium placed on raised, bulging cystid just below sinus, directed upwardly and facing laterally, rostrum rounded with distal edge serrated by 3–5 broad, triangular teeth. Vicarious avicularia arising by frontal budding in largest colonies, large, with sides parallel or slightly concave, tip rounded, often with low visor, distal palate medium-sized, crossbar complete, without columella. Ooecium forming open, relatively narrow, slightly nodular hood, leaving proximalmost spines free.

Remarks. The Lebanese specimens belong to a group of Celleporaria species having in common a primary orifice with a semicircular anter, a slightly concave poster with a median notch, a small, suboral adventitious avicularium with serrated rostrum facing laterally at the tip of a bulging mucro, and generally four oral spines. This species group includes at least Celleporaria mordax ( Marcus, 1937) from Brazil, a species from Jamaica ascribed to C. mordax by Winston (1986, p. 13, figs 27–30), Celleporaria sherryae Winston, 2005 from Florida, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, Celleporaria aperta ( Hincks, 1882) from the Indo-Pacific realm, and Celleporaria mauritiana Hayward, 1988 from Mauritius. Each of these species differs from the others in several features that need to be better characterized, the most apparent criteria being a priori the presence or absence of condyles at the base of the anter and the shape of the vicarious avicularia. For instance, specimens from NW Florida assigned to Holoporella mordax by Shier (1964) differ in having vicarious avicularia with a rostral chamber apparently occulted by the palate except for a central keyhole-shaped lucida. SEM photos of specimens of C. mordax recently collected near the type-locality of this species (courtesy of L. Vieira and J. Winston) show vicarious avicularia having the rostrum with concave edges, a serrated tip and its greatest width at the level of the columella. The Lebanese specimens closely resemble the Jamaican specimens illustrated by Winston (1986) as C. mordax , which belong in fact to another species (J.E. Winston, pers. comm. 3 June 2014). They have in common similar-shaped orifices lacking condyles, with a small sinus, four oral spines, a small suboral avicularium with few broad distal teeth and large vicarious avicularia with a rounded tip but not distinctly spatulate. The only apparent difference may be the width of the sinus, which is broader in the Jamaican species. The Lebanese material also presents some features in common with C. aperta ( Hincks, 1882) , including a small U-shaped sinus, up to four oral spines and a small suboral avicularium whose irregular edge is scalloped ( Winston & Heimberg 1986). This Indo-Pacific species has been recorded from the Red Sea ( Waters 1909), the Suez Canal ( Hastings 1927), and the Eastern and central Mediterranean, i.e. Israel ( Powell 1969a; Eitan 1972; d’Hondt 1988) and Malta (Agius et al. 1977). According to Winston & Heimberg (1986), who examined the type of C. aperta , the rostrum of the vicarious avicularia of this species is subtriangular and serrated, thus clearly different from these structures in the Lebanese specimens. They also pointed out that several species were mixed together under this name, particularly by Harmer (1957). The specimens from Ghana, West Africa, ascribed to C. aperta by Cook (1968, 1985), who noticed relationships with C. mordax , may belong to another species. Finally, C. sherryae , well-illustrated in Winston (1986) as C. subalba ( Canu & Bassler, 1928) (cf. Winston 2005), is the species that appears to present the greatest similarity with the Lebanese specimens, as confirmed by J. Winston (pers. comm. 3 June 2014). Similarities between them concern the orifice, the adventitious avicularium, the oral spines, the form of the frontal shield and the pale color of operculum. Celleporaria sherryae is frequent in fouling ( Winston 2005), a trait which promotes human-mediated dispersal. However, unlike the Lebanese specimens, its colonies are massive (Winston, pers. comm.) and the shape of the vicarious avicularia is slightly different. Thus, the Lebanese specimens are only provisionally ascribed to C. sherryae , but, as noticed by Winston (2005), revision of the whole species group is needed.

Figures

FIGURE 8.? Celleporaria sherryae Winston, 2005, Lebanon, Stn 11 A: A, four autozooids and a vicarious avicularium; B, non-ovicelled zooid with suboral adventitious avicularium and two spines (distalmost pair covered by secondary calcification); C, ovicelled zooid and two vicarious avicularia. Scale bars: A, C, 100 µm; B, 50 µm.

Tables

TABLE 8.? Celleporaria sherryae, morphometrics of four colonies from Stns 5 A and 11 A; Av L refers to vicarious avicularia from Stn 11 A.

C. sherryae	X	SD	Range	N
Or L	131	8	115–145	30
Or W	164	8	145–175	30
Av L	262	41	205–315	5