Powellithecidae, Emanuela Di Martino, Paul D. Taylor, Dennis P. Gordon & Lee Hsiang Liow, 2016

Emanuela Di Martino, Paul D. Taylor, Dennis P. Gordon & Lee Hsiang Liow, 2016, On Powellithecidae fam. nov., a new Pliocene to Recent bryozoan family endemic to New Zealand, with the description of Powellitheca gen. nov. (Bryozoa, Cheilostomata), European Journal of Taxonomy 207, pp. 1-17 : 3

Family Powellithecidae fam. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:F43BC913-D3B4-457A-A73C-2B4A5F0897AC

Type genus

Powellitheca gen. nov.

Diagnosis

See genus diagnosis below.

Remarks

Powellithecidae fam. nov. is erected to accommodate the new genus Powellitheca gen. nov., characterised by a unique suite of morphological characters when compared with all the known families sharing the same microporelliform ooecial structure. The microporelliform ooecium consists of an uncalcified ectooecium and a calcified endooecium separated by a narrow coelomic space in communication with the hypostegal coelom of the distal autozooid, and has been found only in the lepraliomorph families Microporellidae Hincks, 1879 , Pacificincolidae Liu & Liu, 1999 , Schizoporellidae Jullien, 1883 , Myriaporidae Gray, 1824 and Porinidae d’Orbigny, 1852 ( Ostrovsky 2013) . Powellitheca gen. nov. cannot be accommodated in any of these families. It lacks the ascopore typical of Microporellidae and the small heterozooid (avicularium or kenozooid) placed between the orifice and the umbo seen in Pacificincolidae . In Schizoporellidae the orifice has well-defined condyles separating a distinct anter from a small sinus, while the orifice in Powellitheca gen. nov. is dimorphic, condyles are faint and a sinus is lacking. An orifice with sinus and condyles also characterises Myriaporidae from which Powellitheca gen. nov. further differs in having multiporous instead of uniporous septula. Porinidae typically have erect colonies, a primary orifice with a well-defined sinus, a well-developed aviculiferous peristome, and a short frontal spiramen.