Domopora floridana Canu & Bassler, 1928

Judith L Winston, 2016, Bryozoa of Floridan Oculina reefs, Zootaxa 4071 (1), pp. 1-81 : 73-76

Domopora floridana Canu & Bassler, 1928 a

( Fig. 42 ; Table 41 )

Domopora floridana Canu & Bassler, 1928a: 164 , pl. 30, figs 5, 6.

Material examined. VMNH no. 70665.

Description. Colony encrusting, forming circular mound, with flat to slightly sunken upper surface, with generally higher sides ( Fig. 42 A). Upper surface with polygonal cancellae ( Fig. 42 B); sides have zooid tubes interspersed with additional cancellae ( Fig. 42 C). Interior walls of zooids and cancellae with minute spinules in form of stalks with stellate heads ( Fig. 42 D).

Remarks. Canu & Bassler (1928a) described this species from 30 fms in the Gulf of Mexico. They claimed to have found another Recent species in the Philippines and believed the genus to belong to a group that was abundant in the Cretaceous and Tertiary. Osburn (1940) included Domopora floridana in Lichenopora , but while it probably does not belong to the fossil genus, it does not really seem to be a lichenoporid either. Superficially the species resembles an encrusting foraminiferan, such as Homotrema , but the size of the zooid tubes and their internal ultrastructure with calcareous spinules are characteristically bryozoan. Maturo (1968) reported Lichenopora floridana [sic] from southeastern continental shelf collections in a checklist.

The specimens in the Oculina study were old and abraded and could be taken for senescent colonies of Disporella or Patinella , but no other lichenoporid colonies in any condition were found in the study. It seems to be a real entity, but further classification must await better specimens.

Distribution. Florida and Gulf of Mexico continental shelf.

Figures

FIGURE 42.? Domopora floridana Canu & Bassler, 1928: A, much-abraded colony in side view; B; upper surface of colony; C, sides of colony, showing two sizes of openings; D, close-up of zooidal interior showing pinhead spinules with stellate heads. Scale bars: A, 0.5 mm; B, 0.2 mm; C, 0.3 mm; D, 0.03 mm.

Tables

TABLE 41. Measurements in mm of Domopora floridana Canu & Bassler, 1928 a.

	Wz	Col D	Lz or c	Wz or c
N	6	6	6	6
Mean	0.095	0.063	0.086	0.068
SD	0.011	0.015	0.014	0.008
Min	0.081	0.036	0.072	0.054
Max	0.108	0.072	0.108	0.072