Powellitheca waipukurensis ( Waters, 1887 ) Waters, 1887

Emanuela Di Martino, Paul D. Taylor, Dennis P. Gordon & Lee Hsiang Liow, 2016, On Powellithecidae fam. nov., a new Pliocene to Recent bryozoan family endemic to New Zealand, with the description of Powellitheca gen. nov. (Bryozoa, Cheilostomata), European Journal of Taxonomy 207, pp. 1-17 : 10-15

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5852/ejt.2016.207

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:E16CAFB9-F553-4D91-9761-BBBE4E3B3278

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5632372

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/AB7D603B-B133-5C5F-FE48-50AAF152FBB1

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Powellitheca waipukurensis ( Waters, 1887 )
status

comb. nov.

Powellitheca waipukurensis ( Waters, 1887) comb. nov.

Figs 4 View Fig. 4 , 5 View Fig. 5 A–D, 6, Table 3 View Table 3

Monoporella waipukurensis Waters, 1887: 50 , pl. 6, fig. 11.

Hippoporina View in CoL ? waipukurensis – Brown 1952: 272, figs 203–204.

Emballotheca waipukurensis – Gordon et al. 2009: 296. — Rust & Gordon 2011: 156.

Material examined

Lectotype

NEW ZEALAND: NHMUK D32522, Mangapanian,?Pliocene, Hawkes Bay, Waipukurau Gorge.

Additional figured material

NEW ZEALAND: NHMUK BZ 7744 and BZ 7745, Nukumaruan, Pleistocene, Nukumaru Limestone, Waiinu Beach; NHMUK D36986, same details as lectotype.

Other material

NEW ZEALAND: NIWA 98228, 15 colonies from Hatuma Quarry, Waipukurau.

Description

Colony large, encrusting, multiserial, unilaminar ( Figs 4 View Fig. 4 , 5 View Fig. 5 A, 6A). Ancestrula minimally calcified, comprising a thin rim of granular cryptocystal calcification with the outline shaped as a matryoshka doll, about 250–450 μm long by 250–355 μm wide, budding one distal and two distolateral zooids ( Fig. 6 View Fig. 6 D–E). First three budded zooids smaller than later ones, about 230–360 μm long by 240–300 μm wide, hexagonal ( Fig. 6 View Fig. 6 D). Zooids developed from ancestrular buds are irregularly polygonal and angled at 90˚ to 180˚ to encircle the ancestrula ( Fig. 6 View Fig. 6 D). Later autozooids arranged in well-defined rows, distinct, boundaries marked by very narrow furrows, quadrate to rectangular, generally with squared corners, longer than broad, with a highly variable length/width ratio (mean L/W = 2.23), some appearing squat and others slender ( Figs 5 View Fig. 5 , 6 View Fig. 6 A–B). Frontal shield lepralioid, slightly convex, granular, regularly and evenly perforated by 40–50 small, circular pores about 10–15 μm in diameter ( Fig. 6 View Fig. 6 A–C). Frontal septula not distinguishable, probably because of obliteration by the growth of diagenetic cement. Orifice placed distally, generally broader than long, with the proximal lip gently convex and two tiny condyles placed proximal to the midlateral position ( Fig. 6 View Fig. 6 F); an imperforate, smooth, scarcely raised peristomial rim lateral and distolateral to the orifice, terminating in a flat, suboral umbo, palette-shaped, often broken and leaving an oval depression ( Figs 5 View Fig. 5 C–D, 6F). Lyrula and oral spines absent ( Fig. 6 View Fig. 6 G). Ovicells hyperstomial. Ooecia globular, large, occupying almost the entire frontal shield of the next distal zooid forming the ooecium. Ectooecium membranous. Endooecium calcified, tubercular like the frontal shield, with deep pits and tubercles radially aligned in alternating ridges and furrows, the frontal rim imperforate and smooth, slightly upturned ( Figs 5 View Fig. 5 A–C, 6C). Primary orifice of fertile zooids larger than that of autozooids, rounded quadrangular, about as long as wide; secondary orifice slit-like with a tongue-shaped, suboral umbo ( Figs 5 View Fig. 5 A–C, 6C). Avicularia uncommon, adventitious, placed lateral to the orifice or at zooid midlength, usually single, rarely paired, when paired one smaller, semielliptical or 8-shaped with a spatulate, rounded rostrum, distolaterally directed ( Figs 5 View Fig. 5 C, 6C, F), no crossbar. Kenozooids budded at junctions between colonies growing on same substratum, similar to autozooids in size and in the appearance of the frontal shield but lacking apertures ( Fig. 6 View Fig. 6 B). Oval, multiporous (at least six pores) septula visible on vertical walls ( Fig. 6 View Fig. 6 H), about 40 μm long by 20 μm wide. Intramural, reparative budding also observed ( Fig. 6 View Fig. 6 C).

Remarks

Brown (1952: 272, fig. 204) chose NHMUK D32522 from Waipukurau Gorge as the lectotype of this species. This specimen forms part of the T. Hincks Collection and is accommodated in a cavity slide that was labelled “ Monoporella waipukurensis on Heteropora [sic]” by Eliza Jelly. Jelly traded bryozoans extensively in the late 19th century ( Torrens & Winston 2002: 307–308) and the supposition must be that this particular specimen was used by Waters when describing his new species, then passed on to Jelly who in turn gave it to Hincks. Brown figured (fig. 203) a fertile specimen (D36986; Fig. 5 View Fig. 5 ) from the same locality and collection to provide details of ooecia, which are lacking in both the lectotype and the Waters’ specimen from Napier housed in the Manchester Museum. Brown (1952, p. 274) questioned the status of the Manchester Museum specimen, describing it as a slide labelled “ Monoporella waipukurensis ” by Waters and referring to it as a “?original syntype ”. As this specimen lacks ovicells, he considered that it was not the specimen figured by Waters (1887, pl. 6, fig. 11), which does have ovicells.

Distribution

This species has been found in the Mangapanian Te Aute Limestone (Pliocene, ~ 3.1 Ma) of Waipukurau Gorge and nearby Hatuma Quarry, Hawkes Bay, and in the Nukumaruan (early Pleistocene) Nukumaru Limestone (~ 2.3–2.0 Ma) and Nukumaru Brown Sand (~ 2.0–1.9 Ma) units of Nukumaru and Waiinu beaches, Wanganui Basin, and Nukumaruan at Petane (trigonometrical station), just north of Napier, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand.

Table 3. Measurements in microns of Powellitheca waipukurensis (Waters, 1887) comb. nov.

  N (zooids, colonies) Mean SD Min Max
ZL 22, 4 562 ± 50 469 679
ZW 22, 4 248 ± 49 182 367
OL 22, 4 113 ± 11 94 139
OW 22, 4 142 ± 20 114 182
OL* 12, 4 203 ± 19 177 203
OW* 12, 4 211 ± 14 190 211
OvL 40, 4 406 ± 37 339 476
OvW 40, 4 354 ± 38 258 429
AvL 12, 4 149 ± 17 119 177
AvW 12, 4 102 ± 12 84 130
NEW

University of Newcastle

NHMUK

Natural History Museum, London

NIWA

National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Bryozoa

Class

Gymnolaemata

Order

Cheilostomatida

Family

Porinidae

Genus

Powellitheca

Loc

Powellitheca waipukurensis ( Waters, 1887 )

Emanuela Di Martino, Paul D. Taylor, Dennis P. Gordon & Lee Hsiang Liow 2016
2016
Loc

Emballotheca waipukurensis

Rust S. & Gordon D. P. 2011: 156
Gordon D. P. & Taylor P. D. & Bigey F. P. 2009: 296
2009
Loc

Hippoporina

Brown D. A. 1952: 272
1952
Loc

Monoporella waipukurensis

Waters A. W. 1887: 50
1887
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