Schizobrachiella sanguinea ( Norman, 1868 ) Cryptogenic

Ruiz-Velasco, Sofía, Ros, Macarena, Guerra-García, José M. & López-Fé, Carlos M., 2025, Fouling bryozoans in recreational marinas of the Canary Islands (North-Eastern Atlantic) with new records of non-indigenous and cryptogenic species, Zootaxa 5656 (1), pp. 1-63 : 40-41

Schizobrachiella sanguinea ( Norman, 1868) Cryptogenic

( Fig. 20 ; Table 20)

Hemeschara sanguinea Norman, 1868: 222 .

Schizobrachiella sanguinea : Hayward & Ryland 1999: 222, figs 92, 94B; Hayward & McKinney 2002: 65, fig. 29C–F; Berning & Wisshak 2024: 72, fig. 23F–J.

(A detailed list of synonymies can be found in Hayward & McKinney 2002).

Figured material. Marina Tenerife (19/06/23) (1C on floating pontoon) ( MNCN 25.03/4468).

Other material examined. Garachico (20/06/23) (1C on buoy), Gran Tarajal (28/06/23) (1C on buoy).

Description. Colonies reddish-brown and encrusting, unilaminar or multilaminar ( Fig. 20A ). Poligonal zooids with well-defined separation, and a frontal shield filled with large pores ( Fig. 20B ). Primary orifice with two notable condyles and a small V-shaped sinus ( Fig. 20C, D ). Adventitious avicularia single or paired, located distolaterally from the orifice and with a distomedial orientation ( Fig. 20C ). Ovicell globular and perforated ( Fig. 20E ).

Remarks. Berning & Wisshak (2024) recently designated the lectotype of S. sanguinea from Norman’s Collection. Our material shows a slightly wider sinus in comparison to the lectotype, but overall, the dimensions of diagnostic characters are very similar to those recorded by these authors (see Table 20).

Distribution and status. Schizobrachiella sanguinea is mainly distributed in the Mediterranean Sea ( Pisano & Boyer 1985; Cebrián et al. 2000; Fortič et al. 2021; Ramalho et al. 2022) and adjacent areas, reaching the western part of the English Channel ( Hayward & Ryland 1999) in its northern distribution and Macaronesia on its southern limit ( Arístegui 1984b). Although the native area of this species has been considered Atlanto-Mediterranean, its status in Macaronesia remains uncertain. Indeed, this species could be an example of an ancient introduction. Therefore, following the lead of Micael et al. (2019) and Berning & Wisshak (2024) in the Azores, we consider S. sanguinea cryptogenic in the Canary Islands.

Genus Schizoporella Hincks, 1877

Figures

FIGURE 20. Schizobrachiella sanguinea (Norman, 1868) (MNCN25.03/4468). A. View of colony through stereomicroscope and B. through SEM. C. Primary orifice through light microscope and D. through SEM. E. Ovicell. Scale bars: A = 600 µm; B = 400 µm; C = 200 µm; D = 90 µm; E = 100 µm.