Schizoporella errata ( Waters, 1878 ) Introduced

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 : 41-43

Schizoporella errata ( Waters, 1878) Introduced

( Fig. 21 ; Table 21)

Lepralia errata Waters, 1878: 11 , pl. 1, fig. 9.

Schizoporella unicornis (Johnston) : Waters 1909 (partim): 143, pl. 12, figs 12, 13.

Schizoporella errata (Waters) : Calvet 1902: 23; Ryland 1965: 64, fig. 31A, B; Hastings 1967: 336; Hayward & Ryland 1999: 212.

Schizoporella unicornis var. errata (Waters) : Calvet 1927: 16.

(A more extensive and detailed list of synonymies can be found in Tompsett et al. 2009).

Figured material. Pasito Blanco (26/06/23) (1C on buoy) ( MNCN 25.03/4469).

Other material examined. Marina Tenerife (19/06/23) (2C on buoy and floating pontoon), Garachico (20/06/23) (1C on buoy), Big Canary Sports Dock (27/06/23) (2C on buoy), Morro Jable (27/06/23) (1C on buoy), Gran Tarajal (28/06/23) (2C on buoy), Corralejo (28/06/23 on buoy) (1C), Puerto Calero (29/06/23) (1C on buoy), Playa Blanca (29/06/23) (2C on buoy), Marina Lanzarote (29/06/23) (1C on buoy).

Description. Colony encrusting, unilaminar or multilaminar. Colour variable, generally dark purple in the centre of the colony and orange in the outer margins. Frontal shield convex, increasing in multilaminar colonies. Autozooids longer than wide ( Table 21), less constant in shape in frontally budded zooids ( Fig. 21A ). Pseudopores present on the frontal shield except on the distal area surrounding the primary orifice, reduced in later ontogeny by secondary calcification. Primary orifice nearly as wide as broad, appearing circular, with U-shaped sinus, wider than long ( Fig. 21B ). Edge of primary orifice sloped distally from the sinus. Condyles small with prominent tips. Adventitious avicularia single, located proximolaterally from the primary orifice and proximolaterally oriented, longer than wide ( Fig. 21C ), occasionally being larger than usual. Rostrum with hooked tip. Opesia nearly circular with no columella. Ovicell globular and porous, with rugose surface ( Fig. 21D ).

Remarks. The genus Schizoporella includes remarkable taxonomic confusion. Schizoporella errata is a great example of it, being easily mistaken with similar congeneric and co-occurring species. Tompsett et al. (2009) stated that only seven out of 20 papers analysed included a correct identification of S. errata . In Macaronesia, S. errata can be mainly confused with Schizoporella unicornis (Johnston in Wood, 1844) and Schizoporella pungens Canu & Bassler, 1928 . In comparison to S. errata , S. unicornis shows a generally wider primary orifice in comparison to its length, the edge of the orifice adjacent to condyles slopes downwards from the sinus (in contrast to S. errata in which the edge slopes upwards), scalloped ridges are present on the edges of the ovicells and there is no frontal budding. Schizoporella pungens is included in the Schizoporella errata species complex, as well as Schizoporella isabelleana d’Orbigny, 1842 . McCann et al. (2019) compared S. pungens from Galapagos with material assigned to S. errata from San Francisco ( United States) bryoliths and with the S. errata topotype, as described by Italy from Tompsett et al. (2009). However, the S. errata material from San Francisco was misidentified, and corresponds to Schizoporella variabilis (Leidy, 1855) (L. McCann, personal communication). Although Winston (2005) mentioned slight differences in the shape of the orifice and position of spines in the ancestrula, and the dimensions of the orifice (shorter and wider in S. pungens ), clear morphological differences among S. errata material from Italy and S. pungens from Galapagos are difficult to observe. Further extensive molecular studies, combined with detailed morphometrics analyses, will be needed to clarify the identity of S. pungens . Schizoporella pungens was described from the Gulf of Mexico, and has been introduced in Macaronesia, where it was recorded for the first time in Madeira in 2010 ( Canning-Clode et al. 2013a).

Distribution and status. Schizoporella errata is widely spread across the globe, although some identifications have been considered questionable ( Tompsett et al. 2009). This species was described from the Mediterranean Sea ( Ryland 1965; Ferdeghini & Cocito 1999; Sokolover et al. 2018; Ramalho & Caballero 2022), and has been also detected in the western Pacific Ocean ( Zabin et al. 2010), Australasia ( Hayes et al. 2005), the Red Sea ( El Komi 1992), the Western Atlantic ( Gordon & Taylor 2005; Ramalho et al. 2011) and the eastern Atlantic ( Taylor et al. 2008; Souto & Reverter Gil 2024). Regarding Macaronesia in particular, nowadays it is commonly found on artificial structures in all archipelagos ( Micael et al. 2014; Castro et al. 2023), including the Canary Islands ( Arístegui 1984b; Arístegui & Cruz 1986). Considering the affinity of this species to anthropogenic structures and its absence in earlier records of the Canarian archipelago (e.g. Cook 1968 in La Luz Port from Gran Canaria, where S. errata is not likely to go unnoticed), we consider this species introduced in the Canary Islands.

Figures

FIGURE 21. Schizoporella errata (Waters, 1878) (MNCN25.03/4469).A. View of colony through SEM. B. Primary orifice. C. Primary orifice and avicularia D. Ovicell. Scale bars: A = 200 µm; B, C = 40 µm; D = 100 µm.