Conescharellina sp.

Bock, Philip E. & Cook, Patricia L., 2004, A review of Australian Conescharellinidae (Bryozoa: Cheilostomata), Memoirs of Museum Victoria 61 (2), pp. 135-182 : 146

Conescharellina sp.

Figures 1A–D .

Bipora angulopora .— Maplestone 1909: 268 (not Conescharellina angulopora Tenison Woods ).

Specimens examined. NMV F98977 , F98978 , F101878 . 13 specimens, all somewhat worn, labelled “ Bipora angulopora ” are present in the Maplestone material, inferred to be from New South Wales .

Description. Colonies conical, slightly wider than high; zooid orifices in apparent radial series, elongated, with prominent condyles and a subtriangular sinus. Peristomes deep, worn, not raised, with an adapical pore present. Avicularia very elongated and narrow, usually occurring antapically and laterally, sometimes paired, usually alternating with zooid orifices, orientation lateral or random, bar with a ligula. Small lunate root pores adapical, with paired avicularia. Antapical surface solid, with rows of small avicularia but no cancelli.

Height of colony up to 2.1 mm, width 2.6 mm, number of whorls 9–10, number of zooids per whorl 10–12.

Remarks. Maplestone (1909: 268) listed “ Bipora angulopora ” from the “Miner” dredgings from New South Wales but did not describe his specimens. His labelled material agrees in part with Livingstone’s (1924) description of some colonies of C. angulopora . These were conical and had elongated avicularia orientated in several directions. The colonies examined are very worn, have adapical lunate root pores; the avicularia have a ligulate bar. Generally, the orientation of the avicularia is random but some colonies tend to have a pair of laterally directed avicularia, somewhat similar to those of C. ecstasis (compare Fig. 1B with 5B), from which they are distinguished by their orifice shape and the presence of a ligulate bar. The peristomes are worn but a few show an adapical pore on their outer edge. The antapical surface is smooth and thickly calcified, with no sign of cancelli but with radial series of minute avicularia. These colonies may be assigned to a general category of “ C. angulopora ” but, without examination of type material of that species, it is not possible to be certain of their identification, other than that they represent Maplestone’s (1909) concept of the species. Three of the colonies have associated antapical solitary corals, one of which is figured ( Fig. 1D ).

Specimens from South Australia in the NMV Collection, identified and labelled as “ Bipora angulopora ” by Maplestone but never described, belong to two additional species, C. cognata and C. diffusa (see below).

Figures

Figure 1. A–D, Conescharellina sp. A–C, NMV F98977, colony; direction of growth arrowed; scale=1 mm, B, detail of orifices and avicularia, scale = 500 µm, C, detail of orifice with adapical pore (arrow), scale=100 µm. D, NMV F98978, colony from antapical surface with commensal coral, scale = 1 mm. E–H, Conescharellina eburnea (Maplestone, 1909). E, BMNH 2000.2.3.33, adapical view of colony, scale=1 mm. F–H, NMV F98979. F, adapical view of colony showing root pores, scale = 500 µm. G, antapical view of colony with small, central and paired marginal peristomial avicularia (arrow), scale=500 µm. H, detail of orifices and avicularia, adapical pore arrowed, scale= 100µm.