Puellina caraguata, Winston, Judith E. & Vieira, Leandro M., 2013

Winston, Judith E. & Vieira, Leandro M., 2013, Systematics of interstitial encrusting bryozoans from southeastern Brazil, Zootaxa 3710 (2), pp. 101-146 : 116-118

Puellina caraguata sp. nov.

( Fig. 11 ; Table 9 )

Material examined. Holotype: MZUSP 724 ( Fig. 11 B–D), measured specimen #3, BIOTA Stn 205. Paratypes: MZUSP 725, measured specimen #1, BIOTA Stn 211; VMNH 70016, measured specimen #2, BIOTA Stn 211. Additional material: MZUSP 694, #23 [2 colonies], near BIOTA Stn 205, 15 m.

Etymology. Named for BIOTA station 205, off Caraguatatuba, SP, Brazil. The first part of the locality name Caraguata is used for the commonest species found on sand grains. Used as a noun in apposition.

Diagnosis. Interstitial Puellina with a very convex frontal shield made up of 5–6 pairs of costae, a distinct central keel, and 5 orificial spines, ovicells produced by the distal zooid.

Description. Colony encrusting, unilaminar, on shell grains, with a preference for concave surfaces. Zooids oval, about 0.25–0.35 mm in length and 0.18–0.25 mm in width. Smooth lateral gymnocyst extending in a narrow rim below the outer edges of the costate frontal shield. Frontal shield convex, composed of 6–7 pairs of rounded costae. Outer edge of each costa with a rounded tubercle. At midline on distal half of zooids additional tubercles coalesce and project as a keel. Between the costae are rows of pores, 2–4 small pores and a larger pore at the outer edge of the rows. First pair of costae fused in a V-shape with a central lacuna. Orifice semicircular, surrounded distally and laterally by 5 (rarely 6) large tubular spines. No avicularia or kenozooids. Ooecia transversely oval, imperforate, about 0.2 mm wide and 0.15 mm long, with a central keel. Two or four oral spines visible on ovicelled zooids.

Remarks. This is the commonest Puellina species in the Brazilian interstitial encrusting fauna. The species resembles interstitial Puellina parva (Winston & Håkansson, 1986) from Florida, but the species differ in the size of autozooids, larger in Brazilian colonies, and the number of oral spines, five in P. caraguata sp. nov. vs six in P. parva .

Distribution. São Paulo state, Brazil.

Figures

FIGURE 11. Puellina caraguata sp. nov.: A, a colony in the hollow of a shell grain. B, another colony growing out of a cavity in which the larva had settled and metamorphosed. C, a group of zooids, the central one one with an ovicell; the highest point or tubercle on the convex frontal shield is central. D, close-up of orifice and bases of five hollow oral spines. Scale bars: A, B, D, 0.5 mm; C, 0.3 mm.

Tables

TABLE 9. Measurements (mm) of Puellina caraguata sp. nov..

	Lz	Wz	Lo	Wo	Lov	Wov
N	18	18	17	17	6	6
Mean	0.295	0.214	0.038	0.056	0.117	0.156
SD	0.027	0.023	0.006	0.009	0.010	0.007
Min	0.252	0.180	0.027	0.036	0.108	0.144
Max	0.342	0.252	0.054	0.072	0.126	0.162