Bugula neritina ( Linnaeus, 1758 )

Taylor, Paul D. & Tan, Shau-Hwai Aileen, 2015, Cheilostome Bryozoa from Penang and Langkawi, Malaysia, European Journal of Taxonomy 149, pp. 1-34 : 15-16

Bugula neritina ( Linnaeus, 1758)

Fig. 8 A–B

Sertularia neritina Linnaeus, 1758: 815 .

Bugula neritina – Ryland & Hayward 1977: 162, fig. 78.

Material

MALAYSIA: MSL BRY014, Batu Uban, Penang, attached to float hanging from fishing jetty.

Description

Colony erect, weakly mineralized, forming a luxuriant bush comprising bifurcating branches with zooids in two alternating rows opening on one side of branch, purple-brown in colour.Autozooids slender, about 0.48–0.56 mm long by 0.15–0.18 mm wide; opesia occupying almost all of frontal surface, squared-off distally; operculum absent; gymnocyst forming sides and back walls of zooids; spines and cryptocyst lacking; ovicell globular, large and prominent ( Fig. 8B ), attached to inner distal angle of zooid by a short peduncle. Avicularia lacking.

Remarks

Considerable attention has been focused on Bugula neritina as a source of the natural product bryostatin. Molecular studies have recently shown that morphologically defined, B. neritina is a complex comprising at least three separate species ( Fehlauer-Ale et al. 2014).The complex is very widely distributed in tropical, subtropical and even temperate waters, and is an important fouling taxon dispersed anthropogenically (e.g., Ryland et al. 2011).

Figures

Fig. 8. — A–B. Bugula neritina (Linnaeus, 1758). Batu Uban, Penang, MSL BRY014. A. Part of a colony. B. Detail showing four globose ovicells. — C–F. Cradoscrupocellaria sp. Kuah jetty, Langkawi, MSL BRY015. C. Colony fragment. D. Zooids near branch tip showing spines and scuta. E. Branches and vibracular seta (bottom). F. Ovicells, spines and scuta. Scale bars: A, C = 1 mm; B, D = 200 μm; E = 500 μm; F = 100 μm.