Crepis sinensis, Reverter-Gil, Oscar, Souto, Javier & Fernández-Pulpeiro, Eugenio, 2011

Reverter-Gil, Oscar, Souto, Javier & Fernández-Pulpeiro, Eugenio, 2011, Revision of the genus Crepis Jullien (Bryozoa: Cheilostomata) with description of a new genus and family and notes on Chlidoniidae, Zootaxa 2993, pp. 1-22 : 9

Crepis sinensis n. sp.

( Figs 19–20 ; Table 6)

? Crepis longipes: Harmer 1926: 318 (part).

Material examined. Holotype: SMF 5429, South China Sea, Hainan, Yalong Bay, Yezhou Island, 18º14’ N, 109º39’ E, 7–8 m, Liu, 25/11/1990 (coated for SEM). Paratype: SMF 5430, same locality as holotype.

Etymology. The material referred to this species was collected in the South China Sea.

Description. Colony adnate, delicate, of branching uniserial series. Autozooidal dilatation oval, somewhat variable in shape, with rounded distal rim; tapering proximally and prolonged into a slender cauda of variable length but generally short. Lateral walls vertical, irregular in their basal contact with the substratum, with smooth exterior-walled (gymnocystal) calcification. Frontal area of dilatation bordered by thin, even rim. Gymnocyst reduced to the proximal cauda. Cryptocyst smooth, flat, its distal edge abruptly raised to form proximal border of opesia; the calcification sometimes curving proximally where it abuts the lateral wall. Opesia semi-elliptical, occupying more than one third of frontal area, with slightly concave proximal edge; operculum occupying its distal half.

Zooidal branching frequent, each autozooid giving rise to two lateral buds from the dilatation, their caudae at right angles to the parent zooid. Spines and heterozooids absent. Ancestrula and ovicell unknown.

Remarks. The studied material, consisting of two samples from the South China Sea (Hainan), was originally identified as C. longipes . It seems not to have been reported in any publication.

Crepis sinensis shares certain characteristics with C. sidneyi , such as its small size, the oval shape of the zooids, a smooth cryptocyst and peripheral rim, and an ecological setting in shallow waters using erect bryozoans as substrata. It differs, however, in having a significantly smaller size, a flatter cryptocyst that is more abruptly raised distally, and typically a proximal curvature of calcification where the distal cryptocystal rim encounters the lateral wall on each side.

As mentioned for the previous species, the material reported as C. longipes by Harmer (1926) from Seget, northern New Guinea (ZMA V.Bry. 1813) ( Figs 21, 22 ) consists of only two zooids, one of them evidently deformed, and it is difficult to decide on its status. Nevertheless, in its small size and the appearance of the cryptocyst, smooth and flat, it might correspond to C. sinensis .

Crepis sinensis is so far known only from Yalong Bay, Hainan, at 7–8 m depth.

Mean SD Minimum Maximum N Frontal surface length 0.189 0.0114 0.174 0.204 5 Frontal surface width 0.108 0.0071 0.101 0.118 5 Opesia length 0.075 0.0106 0.063 0.086 5 Opesia width 0.080 0.0131 0.058 0.090 5 Opesia L/Zooid L 39.7 % 36.2 % 42.2 %

Cauda width 0.028 0.0041 0.019 0.035 10

SD, Standard deviation; N, number of measurements.

Figures

FIGURES 18 – 22. 18, Crepis sp., Amoy, China (NHMUK 1927.8.11.15); 19, Crepis sinensis n. sp., view of colony (SMF 5429, holotype); 20, same, autozooid showing the distal cryptocystal curvature; 21 and 22, Crepis sp., autozooids, New Guinea (ZMA V. Bry. 1813).