Hippoporina indica Pillai, 1978

Taylor, Paul D. & Tan, Shau-Hwai Aileen, 2015, Cheilostome Bryozoa from Penang and Langkawi, Malaysia, European Journal of Taxonomy 149, pp. 1-34 : 24-25

Hippoporina indica Pillai, 1978

Fig. 13 A–F

Hippoporina indica Pillai, 1978: 62 , figs 1–4.

Hippoporina indica – McCann et al. 2007: 331, fig. 7a–d.

Material

MALAYSIA: MSL BRY017b, Kuah jetty, Langkawi, fouling mussel shell attached to rope hanging from jetty. MSL BRY022, Pulau Betong, Penang, fouling a bivalve from an oyster raft. MSL BRY023, Sungai Menghulu, Langkawi, fouling a barrel.

Description

Colony encrusting, multiserial, unilamellar, except for frontal buds covering early astogenetic stages and apparent reparative growths. Autozooids subrectangular, elongate, 0.35–0.63 mm long by 0.23–0.33 mm wide; frontal shield gently convex, pustulose, porous, with large marginal areolar pores and large pseudopores, which are lacking from an apron proximal of orifice; orifice longer than wide ( Fig. 13B ), about 0.13 mm long by 0.11 mm wide, sinus broad and shallow, with medial edge almost straight, a pair of proximally directed, pointed condyles separating sinus from semicircular poster, closed by cryptocystal calcification in some zooids ( Fig. 13C ); ovicell hyperstomial, prominent, broader than long, about 0.16–0.18 mm long by 0.21–0.23 mm wide; about 10–20 rimmed pores of various shapes and sizes, becoming overgrown from the margins by a lamina of interior wall ( Fig. 13 D–E). Avicularia adventitious, small, about 0.10 mm long by 0.07 mm wide, normally located laterally to orifice and directed distolaterally towards orifice, usually single, lacking in many zooids, occasional avicularia with variable orientations present more proximally; rostrum pointed, arch-shaped; cross-bar calcified, narrow; opesia semielliptical, broader than long.

Remarks

Despite being described as late as 1978 (from Bombay Harbour), Hippoporina indica is rapidly becoming widespread as an invasive fouling species. It has been reported from the southeastern USA ( McCann et al. 2007), New Zealand ( Gordon et al. 2008) and Australia ( Tilbrook 2012), and its presence in Penang and Langkawi is therefore unsurprising.

Figures

Fig. 13. Hippoporina indica Pillai, 1978. – A–D. Kuah jetty, Langkawi, MSL BRY017b. A. Group of zooids. B. Autozooidal orifice and avicularium. C. Autozooids with closed orifices. D. Ovicell. – E. Pulau Betong, Penang, MSL BRY022; ovicell. – F. Sungai Menghulu, Langkawi, MSL BRY023; group of ovicellate zooids. Scale bars: A, C, F = 200 μm; B, D–E = 100 μm.