Crisia denticulata ( Lamarck, 1816 ) 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 : 48

Crisia denticulata ( Lamarck, 1816) Cryptogenic

( Fig. 25 ; Table 24)

Cellaria denticulata Lamarck, 1816: 182 .

Crisia denticulata : Busk 1875: 4, pl. 4, figs 1–4; Hincks 1880: 422, pl. 56, fig. 7; Marcus 1940: 47, fig. 24; Kluge 1962: 156, fig. 77; Mawatari & Mawatari 1973: 95, pl. 1, figs 1–4; Hayward & Ryland 1985: 55, fig. 16; Zabala & Maluquer 1988: 164, figs 480–482.

Figured material. Corralejo (28/06/23) (1C on buoy) ( MNCN 25.02/181).

Other material examined. Garachico Marina (20/06/23) (1C on buoy), Big Canary Sports Dock (27/06/23) (1C on buoy), Morro Jable (27/06/23) (2C on buoy and rope), Gran Tarajal (28/06/23) (1C on buoy).

Description. Small erect white colonies, below three cm in height. Biserial branches with black joints and with one or two internodes that arise high within each internode ( Fig. 25A ). Each internode with eight to twelve tubular and slender zooids ( Fig. 25B ), with narrow (diameter less than 75 µm, see Table 24) and elongated peristomial apertures ( Fig. 25C ). Rounded gonozooid with higher density of slit-shaped pseudopores in comparison with the autozooids, with ooeciostome rounded to oval on a very short tube ( Fig. 25D ).

Remarks. Our material clearly resembles Crisia denticulata , which is a common fouling species in North-Eastern Atlantic waters ( Gestoso et al. 2017; Micael et al. 2019). The long internodes, as well as the position and morphology of the gonozooid, are similar to those of Crisia klugei Ryland, 1967 . In both species, the gonozooid appears high within the internodes, is widest distally and has a very short tube difficult to observe from the front. However, while C. denticulata is characterized by distinct black joints and the new branches arise high within the internodes (usually between the 5 th to the 9 th position) ( Hayward & Ryland 1985). In contrast, C. klugei has pale yellow or colourless joints, and its new branches generally originate from odd-numbered positions within the internodes (commonly the 3 rd, the 5 th or the 7 th) ( Ryland 1967). Additionally, the basis of the rami appears to be wedged-in in C. denticulata .

Distribution and status. Crisia denticulata is a very widespread species, occurring specially in the Mediterranean Sea ( Gerovasileiou & Rosso 2016) and northern European waters ( De Blauwe 2009). Nevertheless, it has also been recorded in Angola ( Barros-Pestana et al. 2017), the Gulf of Mexico ( Felder & Camp 2009), Canada ( Osburn 1912), Japan ( Mawatari & Mawatari 1973), the Arctic Ocean ( Gontar & Denisenko 1989) and North-Eastern Atlantic archipelagos, such as Macaronesia ( Waters 1918; Gestoso et al. 2017; Micael et al. 2019). Although there is no clear understanding of the geographical origin of this species, the Mediterranean Sea and the North-Eastern Atlantic have been proposed as its potential native area ( Barros-Pestana et al. 2017). Nevertheless, due to this widespread distribution that hinders the determination of a native area for this species, we consider C. denticulata as cryptogenic.

Figures

FIGURE 25. Crisia denticulata (Lamarck, 1816) (MNCN25.02/181).A. Colony with gonozooid through stereomicroscope and B. through SEM. C. Close-up of gonozooid. D. Peristomial aperture. Scale bars: A = 200 µm; B = 400 µm; C, D = 100 µm.