Antropora minor (Hincks, 1880)

Judith L Winston, 2016, Bryozoa of Floridan Oculina reefs, Zootaxa 4071 (1), pp. 1-81 : 20-21

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4071.1.1

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:D47C792F-E91D-40A6-ABB7-FA7810578562

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6084722

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/19362D2E-2006-FFA4-BBA5-F9BCFC37FCE1

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Antropora minor (Hincks, 1880)
status

 

Antropora minor (Hincks, 1880) View in CoL

( Fig. 10 View FIGURE 10 ; Table 9 View TABLE 9 )

Membranipora trifolium var. minor Hincks, 1880: 87 , pl. 9, fig. 6.

Membrendoecium parvus Canu & Bassler, 1928a: 61 , pl. 1, figs 1–2.

Membrendoecium minus: Marcus 1937: 50 , pl. 9, fig. 22A, B.

Antropora minor: Tilbrook 1998: 34 , fig. 2A–F; Vieira et al. 2008: 14; Winston et al. 2014: 151, fig. 7.

Material examined. VMNH no. 70609, 70610; USNM no. 1283235.

Description. Colonies encrusting, unilamellar, on calcareous substrata ( Fig. 10 View FIGURE 10 A). Zooids oval to subtriangular, broader proximally. Frontal membrane underlain by beaded cryptocyst and rimmed by proximally elongated gymnocyst ( Fig. 10 View FIGURE 10 B). Cryptocystal shelf also broader proximally, gradually narrowing to distal wall around half-moon shaped operculum and forming oval to bell-shaped opesia. Interzooidal avicularia interspersed between autozooids, each with circular foramen, granular cryptocyst and well-developed gymnocyst that may have a small tubercle ( Fig. 10 View FIGURE 10 B, C); mandible U-shaped, rostral rim well calcified. Brooding zooids show thickened lunate rim of calcification distally.

`Remarks. The most unusual feature of this species is its ability to calcify over the frontal membrane and opesia of many zooids in a colony ( Fig. 10 View FIGURE 10 E, F). In some zooids a small central opening may remain. In others the entire frontal surface is covered by concentric rings of calcification. These ‘closure plates’ may be a way to protect zooids from predation (colonies on Oculina showed a considerable amount of damage and repair), or a means to preserve nutritive resources in a food-scarce habitat.

Distribution. Oculina banks, Atlantic coast of Florida, Brazil.

TABLE 9. Measurements in mm of Antropora minor (Hincks, 1880).

  Lz Wz Lo Wo Lcircz Wcircz
N 18 18 18 18 18 18
Mean 0.381 0.251 0.041 0.061 0.257 0.211
SD 0.040 0.024 0.007 0.008 0.037 0.025
Min 0.324 0.216 0.036 0.054 0.216 0.162
Max 0.450 0.306 0.054 0.072 0.324 0.252
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