New seamount- and ridge-associated cyclostome Bryozoa from New Zealand
Author
Gordon, Dennis P.
National Institute for Water & Atmospheric Research, Private Bag 14901 Kilbirnie, Wellington, New Zealand
Author
Taylor, Paul D.
Department of Palaeontology, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW 7 5 BD, UK. E-mail: pdt @ nhm. ac. uk
text
Zootaxa
2010
2010-07-12
2533
1
43
68
https://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.2533.1.3
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.2533.1.3
1175-5326
5303533
Disporella minicamera
n. sp.
(
Fig. 11 A–D
)
Material examined.
Holotype
:
NIWA 61256
, from cruise TAN0104, Stn 3, 42°45.48–
42°45.18’S
, 179°59.47–
179°59.54’ W
, “Graveyard” Seamount, Chatham Rise,
943–1097 m
depth
, collected
15 April 2001
.
Paratypes
:
NIWA 61257
, same locality as holotype
. Other material: TAN0104 Stns 43, 116, 149, 150, 153, 194, 288, 289, 333, 336, 337, 389, 399.
Distribution.
“Graveyard Seamount Complex”, north-central Chatham Rise,
New Zealand
,
750–1181 m
.
Etymology.
Latin
minus
, small +
camera
, chamber.
Description.
Colony small, circular, generally with a single macular centre, but a secondary macula can develop in fertile colonies. Maximum diameter
1.9 mm
. Completely adnate, with entire basal surface affixed to substratum. Frontal surface granular-tubercular.
Fertile colonies with only 15–16 autozooidal peristomes in 1–2 cycles around the colony periphery, radiating outwards, the apertural rims coarsely fimbriated. Colony centre hummocky, with small openings (kenozooidal?) in the depressions. Autozooidal peristomes up to
0.19 mm
in external diameter; apertures
0.08 mm
in internal diameter.
Gonozooid comprising a subglobular sac-like brood chamber,
0.38 mm
wide,
0.44–0.47 mm
long, prominent on the colony surface near the periphery, not embedded; exterior surface calcification granulartubercular like the rest of the colony, the ooeciopore very broad, wider (
0.12–0.16 mm
) than long, set low on the side facing the colony margin, the narrow rim of the ooeciostome very thin with little granulation. Ancestrula not seen.
Remarks.
Gordon &
Taylor (2001)
described the known species of
Lichenoporidae
from
New Zealand
, comprising five species of
Disporella
and one of
Doliocoitis
. Two of the
Disporella
species
are quite small —
D. humilis
, from
107 mm
on Puysegur Bank, has a maximum diameter of
2.5 mm
;
D. sacculus
, from
972– 1350 m
at the Norfolk and Kermadec Ridges and the
Bay of Plenty
, achieves
5 mm
diameter — but both of these species have concealed brood chambers, although
D. sacculus
has 1–3 sequentially functional brood chambers that are somewhat saccate. The closest species in morphology to
D. minicamera
is
Disporella minima
Moyano, 1991
; it is equally tiny (not exceeding
2 mm
diameter) and has an inflated sac-like gonozooid that is not concealed by kenozooids and secondary calcification. Its brood chamber is located entirely in the macular centre of the colony.
Moyano (1991)
noted some apparent differences between
D. minima
and other species of
Disporella
, suggesting that
D. minima
could represent a new genus. This possibility occurred to the present authors but we think that
D. minima
and
D. minicamera
can be accommodated within
Disporella
on the grounds that:
FIGURE 11.
A–D.
Disporella minicamera
n. sp.
(TAN0104 Stn 3). A, B, whole colonies with globular brood chambers; C, infertile colony; D, brood chamber with broad transverse ooeciostome. E, F.
Disporella minutissima
n. sp.
(TAN0104 Stn 3); E, close-up of ooeciostome; F, whole colony with short, smooth base and central brood chamber with ooeciostome.
1. The small size and saccular nature of the brood chamber is probably no more than a consequence of small colony size: large colonies, large chambers; small colonies, small chambers.
2. The occurrence of the brood chamber on the surface of the colony instead of being embedded in it is probably also associated with small colony size and limited growth; large species have the capacity for increase in colony thickness, such that frontal growth of kenozooidal chambers can be achieved relatively quickly, partially or wholly concealing brood-chamber surfaces.
3.
Schäfer (1991)
showed that the brood chamber in
Disporella
species
has a definite floor, unlike the situation in
Patinella
(
Lichenopora
auctt.); the floor of the brood chamber in
D. minicamera
conforms to that of other
Disporella
species.