Terwasipora complanata ( Norman, 1864 )

Martino, Emanuela Di, 2022, Revision of the type species of some cheilostome bryozoan genera in the collection of the Swedish Museum of Natural History, Zootaxa 5125 (2), pp. 157-181 : 175-176

Terwasipora complanata ( Norman, 1864)

( Fig. 10 )

Lepralia complanata Norman, 1864: 85 , pl. 10, fig. 4.

Terwasipora complanata: Reverter-Gil & Souto 2019: 2743 , figs 5, 6.

Material examined. Holotype by monotypy SMNH-Type-1772, North Atlantic Ocean , Ireland, encrusting a rock. Leg. unknown.

Remarks. The description of this species is omitted because accurate descriptions are available in several papers, some very recent (e.g. Reverter-Gil & Souto 2019, Ramalho et al. 2022). However, the original material described by Norman (1864) has never been described and/or illustrated. The syntype SMNH-Type-1772 ( Fig. 10A ) consists of a fan-shaped colony, about 5.8 x 8.6 mm, encrusting a granitic rock, about 9 x 11.5 cm, sharing the substrate with spirorbid polychaetes.

Norman (1864) acknowledged having found the specimen in the collection of British Zoophytes of his late friend Mr. Barlee that he inherited. This information agrees with the label ( Fig. 10B ), as does the description of the substrate provided by Norman (1864) as coarse-grained granite. While Norman (1864) claimed not to have detailed information about the collecting locality, apart from being British, the label reports Ireland as the probable origin, which seems plausible given that the geology of the northern coast of Ireland is characterized by igneous rocks and granitic intrusions.

This species has a wide Atlanto-Mediterranean distribution. Confirmed records are from the Isles of Scilly (off Cornwall, England) encrusting shells and rocks ( Hayward & Ryland 1999), several localities along the Atlantic Iberian coast ( Reverter-Gil & Souto 2019), the Strait of Gibraltar (e.g. López de la Cuadra 1991), the Alboran Sea ( Ramalho et al. 2022), and the western Mediterranean ( Gautier 1962, Novosel & Pozar-Domac, 2001, Rosso & Di Martino 2016).

Figures

FIGURE 10. Terwasipora complanata (Norman, 1864), Holotype SMNH-Type-1772, Ireland. A. General view of the colony. B. Label on the underside of the rock substrate. Scale bars: A = 1 mm; B = 3 cm.