Anguinella palmata van Beneden, 1845

López-Gappa, Juan, Liuzzi, María G., Castro, Karen L., Bobinac, Magalí & Schwindt, Evangelina, 2022, Fouling bryozoans in Argentine harbours (Southwest Atlantic): new records and the description of a new species, Zootaxa 5205 (4), pp. 374-400 : 379

Anguinella palmata van Beneden, 1845

( Figs 6–8 )

Anguinella palmata van Beneden 1845: 34 , pl. 4, figs 18–24; Marcus 1937: 133, pl. 26, fig. 71a, b; 1941: 28, fig. 28; Hayward 1985: 92, fig. 29; Gordon & Mawatari 1992: 11, pl. 5A; Winston & Hayward 2012: 22, fig. 11; Vieira et al. 2014: 501, figs 46–48.

Material examined. MACN-In 43872, Ingeniero White harbour, June 22, 2016, collected by Sandra Fiori.

Description. Colony erect, about 4–5 cm high, flexible, forming grey-brown tufts, consisting of primary and secondary axes giving rise to tubular zooids that are slightly incurved towards the colony axis. Zooids elongate, about 748–1150 µm long and 131–174 µm diameter, cylindrical, opaque, merging without external differentiation into the branch axis; surface with a muddy texture due to the accretion of silt particles; internal anatomical details not visible.

Remarks. This supposed globally distributed species probably comprises a cryptic species complex ( Waeschenbach et al. 2015). Anguinella palmata has been regarded as cryptogenic in Brazil, where its main dispersal mechanism is by hull fouling ( Miranda et al. 2018; Xavier et al. 2021). This is the first record of A. palmata for Argentina, where it should also be regarded as cryptogenic.

Distribution. Europe (Hayward 1985), Atlantic coast of Africa ( Cook 1985) and United States ( Winston & Hayward 2012), New Zealand, Australia ( Gordon & Mawatari 1992), Brazil ( Marcus 1937; Vieira et al. 2014; Xavier et al. 2021) and Buenos Aires Province (this study). Gordon & Mawatari (1992) suggest that A. palmata was introduced in New Zealand by maritime traffic.

Figures

FIGURES 6–11. FIGURES 6–8. Anguinella palmata (MACN-In 43872); 6, general aspect; 7–8, close-up of branches and zooids. FIGURES 9–11. Aetea cultrata (MACN-In 43873); 9, general aspect of zooids, stolons and zoeciules (arrowheads); 10, close-up of zoeciules (arrowheads); 11, close-up of one zooid. Scale bars. 6: 1000 µm; 7–9: 200 µm; 10, 11: 100 µm.