Galiciapora, Souto, Javier, Berning, Björn & Ostrovsky, Andrew N., 2016

Souto, Javier, Berning, Björn & Ostrovsky, Andrew N., 2016, Systematics and diversity of deep-water Cheilostomata (Bryozoa) from Galicia Bank (NE Atlantic), Zootaxa 4067 (4), pp. 401-459 : 447

Genus Galiciapora n. gen.

Type species: Galiciapora unica n. sp.

Diagnosis. Colony encrusting, uniserial, branching at an angle between 40–50°. Zooids oval, large, frontal shield lepralioid, entirely and evenly pseudoporous except for distalmost area, lateral walls entirely absent proximolaterally, communication via 1–2 distolaterally budded zooids via basal pore-chambers. Orifice with condyles and broad, shallow U-shaped sinus, no spines. Ovicell terminal. Ooecium formed by distal kenozooid budded from uniporous basal pore-chamber on sloping distal wall of maternal zooid. Calcified ectooecium with numerous pseudopores. Avicularia adventitious, small, paired, incorporated into the lateral peristomial margin of each zooid. Ancestrula unknown.

Etymology. Alluding to the type locality on Galicia Bank, plus – pora, a common suffix for bryozoans with porous skeletal walls. Gender feminine.

Remarks. Owing to the ‘smittinid’-like ovicell, the pseudoporous lepralioid frontal shield and the presence of adventitious avicularia associated with an orifice bearing a sinus, we assign this new genus to the family Bitectiporidae . Galiciapora n. gen. is unique among bitectiporids in forming uniserial colonies of zooids with distinctly reduced lateral walls and a pair of small, distolateral basal pore-chambers from which 1–2 zooids are budded. The ooecium is formed by a distal kenozooid that is budded by the maternal zooid, and which is connected to the latter via a single distal communication pore located between the distolateral basal pore-chambers.

Galiciapora is distinguished from the smittinid Placidopora n. gen., introduced above, in possessing avicularia and a well-defined orificial sinus, as well as in the better-developed and more-defined lateral walls with basal pore-chambers of different size and shape. The three distal areas (a pair of distolateral basal pore-chambers producing autozooids, and the central uniporous basal pore-chamber from which the kenozooid is produced) are adjacent, and their borders are marked by raised ridges and sutures in Galiciapora whereas the extremely reduced basal pore-chambers in Placidopora are well separated from each other as well as from the central area from which the kenozooidal ooecium is budded.