Antropora minor ( Hincks, 1880 )

Taylor, Paul D. & Tan, Shau-Hwai Aileen, 2015, Cheilostome Bryozoa from Penang and Langkawi, Malaysia, European Journal of Taxonomy 149, pp. 1-34 : 13-14

Antropora minor ( Hincks, 1880)

Fig. 7A

Membranipora trifolium var. minor Hincks, 1880: 87 , pl. 11, fig. 6.

Antropora minor – Tilbrook 1998: 34, fig. 2a–f.

Material

MALAYSIA: MSL BRY012a, Kampung Kuala Temoyong, Langkawi, colony encrusting interior of large gastropod shell.

Description

Colony encrusting, multiserial, unilamellar or multilamellar. Ancestrula and early astogeny not observed. Autozooids subovoidal, about twice as long as wide, 0.34–0.40 mm long by 0.18–0.40 mm wide; zooidal boundaries marked by a narrow fissure; opesia occupying one-half to two-thirds of frontal surface, pear-shaped, generally pinched slightly at about two-thirds of length; cryptocyst well developed proximally and shelf-like, tapering distally, pustulose; gymnocyst visible proximally and proximolaterally, narrow, tapering distally; spines lacking. Ovicells not observed in studied Malaysian material but elsewhere described as small, partly immersed in distal zooid and with cap-like ooecia (e.g., Tilbrook 1998). Avicularia interzooidal, directed distally, small, about 0.06–0.09 mm long by 0.04–0.05 mm wide, present at proximal corner or less often at two proximolateral corners of most autozooids; rostrum rounded, a little longer but narrower than opesia.

Remarks

Large vicarious avicularia sometimes develop in this species (e.g., Tilbrook 1998: fig. 2e) but were not seen in the studied colony from Langkawi. Antropora minor is widely distributed in the tropics, occurring in the Caribbean, South Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, including East Sumbawa, Malaysia ( Tilbrook 1998).

Figures

Fig. 7. — A. Antropora minor (Hincks, 1880). Part of a colony encrusting a large gastropod shell; Kampung Kuala Temoyong, Langkawi, MSL BRY012a. — B–E. Nellia oculata Busk, 1852. Balik Pulau, Penang, MSL BRY013. Internodes from a single colony. B, D. Complete internodes. C.Autozooid. E. Detail of tiny avicularium with proximal pore. Scale bars: A–B, D = 500 μm; C = 100 μm; E = 20 μm.