Cosciniopsis Canu & Bassler, 1927

Larré, Igor R. N. M., Almeida, Ana C. S. & Vieira, Leandro M., 2024, On some colorful bryozoans from Brazil: reevaluation of Aptonella violacea Canu & Bassler, 1928 and a new species of Cosciniopsis Canu & Bassler, 1927, Zootaxa 5506 (2), pp. 245-260 : 253-254

Genus Cosciniopsis Canu & Bassler, 1927

Type species. Cosciniopsis coelatus Canu & Bassler, 1927

Diagnosis. Colonies encrusting; cystid with distinct bright color. Zooids with lepralioid frontal wall and numerous small pseudopores, except around the orifice; lateral wall with uniporous septula near the basal wall. Primary orifice with arched distal region and shallow concave proximal border; paired proximolateral condyles with conspicuous lunula. Primary orifice dimorphic in ovicelled zooids, without spines.Adventitious avicularia may be present, single or paired, typically latero-oral. Ovicell hyperstomial, cleithral, with ooecium surface morphologically similar to the frontal wall of the zooid.

Remarks. The taxonomy of Cosciniopsis has been considered confusing ( Tilbrook 2006; Vieira et al. 2010) mainly due to a poorly informative diagnosis. Also, few species were studied using SEM [e.g., Cosciniopsis declivis Harmer,1957 , Cosciniopsis australis ( Waters, 1889) , Cosciniopsis caerulea ( Canu& Bassler, 1929) , and Cosciniopsis globosa Harmer, 1957 )], making it challenging to correctly identify congeners. The genotype Cosciniopsis coelatus Canu & Bassler, 1927 , originally described from the Philippines, has cleithral ovicell ( Tilbrook 2006), thus being considered distinct from other gigantoporids. However, the monophyly between Cosciniopsis , Gigantopora , and Gephyrophora was recently corroborated based on genome-skimmed data ( Orr et al. 2022).