Bryozoans, or Moss Animals, are colonial filter-feeding invertebrates that form encrusting or weed-like colonies. The individual 'animals' are on average about 0.5 mm in length, and live inside a protective covering from which they extend a crown of cilia-covered tentacles called a lophophore. These are not true individuals though as they develop as buds on the colony and share nutrients; for this reason they are referred to as 'zooids'. The colonies produce sexually by means of reproductive zooids that have gonads, but lack feeding apparatus. Bryozoans are widespread globally, but are often overlooked because they are small and the colonies resemble plants.
The genus Cellaria currently contains about 50 species of erect, branching Bryozoans found from just bellow the low tide line to depths of about 1000 m. Like other erect Bryozoans, this genus is most diverse in polar and temperate regions, with most known species having been described from the Indo-Pacific, Antarctic and North Atlantic regions. However, in the last decade five new species have been described from the western Atlantic, three from Brazil, one from the United States and one from Barbados, suggesting that the full diversity of the genus in this area has not yet fully been explored.
In a paper published in the journal Zoologia on 9 March 2018, Ana Almeida of the Laboratório de Estudos de Bryozoa at the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, and the Museu de Zoologia at the Universidade Federal da Bahia, Facelúcia Souza, also of the Museu de Zoologia at the Universidade Federal da Bahia, and Leandro Vieira, also of the Laboratório de Estudos de Bryozoa at the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, describe a new species of Cellaria from the coast of Bahia State, Brazil.
The new species is named Cellaria oraneae, in honour of Orane Alves of the Universidade Federal da Bahia, in honour of her work on Brazilian marine biodiversity. The species forms erect branching colonies of distinctly hexagonal zooids. Fertile zooids are grouped together, in separate regions to infertile zooids, which can be distinguished by thickening of the stems. The species was found at depths of 15-50 m on the Atlantic coast of Bahia.
In a paper published in the journal Zoologia on 9 March 2018, Ana Almeida of the Laboratório de Estudos de Bryozoa at the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, and the Museu de Zoologia at the Universidade Federal da Bahia, Facelúcia Souza, also of the Museu de Zoologia at the Universidade Federal da Bahia, and Leandro Vieira, also of the Laboratório de Estudos de Bryozoa at the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, describe a new species of Cellaria from the coast of Bahia State, Brazil.
The new species is named Cellaria oraneae, in honour of Orane Alves of the Universidade Federal da Bahia, in honour of her work on Brazilian marine biodiversity. The species forms erect branching colonies of distinctly hexagonal zooids. Fertile zooids are grouped together, in separate regions to infertile zooids, which can be distinguished by thickening of the stems. The species was found at depths of 15-50 m on the Atlantic coast of Bahia.
Cellaria oraneae, Bahia, Brazil: (2) General aspect of the branches; (3) close-up of subhexagonal autozooids; (4) close-up of opesia showing tuberculate distal rim and proximal condyles; (5) close-up of hexagonal interzooidal avicularia with longitudinal ridges forming a spear-shaped area and sagittate foramen; (6) close-up of fertile rhombic zooids; (7) close-up of immersed ovicells showing oval aperture with proximal rectangular lip. Scale bars: (2) is 500 μm; (3) and (6) are 200 μm; (4), (5) and (7) are 100 μm. Almeida et al. (2018).
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