EXOCHELLIDAE Bassler, 1935

Kuklinski, Piotr, Taylor, Paul D. & Denisenko, Nina, 2007, Arctic cheilostome bryozoan species of the genus Escharoides, Journal of Natural History 41 (1 - 4), pp. 219-228 : 221

Family EXOCHELLIDAE Bassler, 1935

Genus Escharoides Milne-Edwards, 1836

Type species. Cellepora coccinea ( Abildgaard, 1806) .

Diagnosis

Frontal shield with marginal areolae, lacking pseudopores; umbonuloid, with ring scar on underside. Oral spines present on distal border of orifice; secondary orifice generally peristomate and/or with denticles. Avicularia well developed, single or paired, lateral to orifice, pointed. Ovicell prominent, hyperstomial.

Remarks

Although Escharoides coccinea has never been recorded from the Arctic ( Kluge 1975), it is the type species of Escharoides and we therefore present SEM images of this species to illustrate the key characteristics of the genus ( Figure 1 ). Hayward and Ryland (1999) provided a detailed description of this species. The frontal shield is more coarsely tuberculate in E. coccinea than in either of the two Arctic species of Escharoides ; there are six rather than four oral spines; and the paired avicularia are often of different sizes ( Figure 1C ), a feature not seen in either E. bidenkapi or E. jacksoni .

Figures

Figure 1. Escharoides coccinea (Abildgaard, 1806), NHM 1911.10.1.1034, Guernsey, bleached. (A) Colony showing autozooids and ovicellate zooids; (B) ovicellate zooid with two lateral avicularia; (C) autozooid with two lateral avicularia of strikingly unequal sizes; (D) orifice of autozooid. Scale bars: 200 mm (A); 100 mm (B, C); 30 mm (D).