Intertidal Bryozoa (Cheilostomata) of Ketchikan, Alaska
Author
Dick, Matthew H.
Author
Grischenko, Andrei V.
Author
Mawatari, Shunsuke F.
text
Journal of Natural History
2005
2005-12-23
39
43
3687
3784
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00222930500415195
journal article
10.1080/00222930500415195
1464-5262
5220912
Microporella setiformis
O’Donoghue and O’Donoghue, 1923
(
Figure 18C, D
)
Microporella setiformis
O’Donoghue and O’Donoghue 1923
, p 32
, Plate 3,
Figure 21
;
1926, p 65, Plate 5, Figure 44.
Microporella setiformis
:
Osburn 1952
, p 385
, Plate 44,
Figure 8
;
Soule et al. 1995
, p 150
,
Plate 53.
Description
Colony.
Unilaminar, encrusting; white, covered with shiny ectocyst.
Zooids.
Irregularly hexagonal, distinct, separated by a deep groove; variable in size and shape, markedly elongate or nearly as wide as long;
0.55–0.80 mm
long (average
50.666 mm
,
n
511, 1) by
0.40–0.58 mm
wide (average
50.492 mm
,
n
511, 1).
Frontal wall.
Convex, rising sharply around margin, flatter on top, even, without umbo, finely granulated; with 10–14 areolar pores along each lateral margin and smaller, slightly infundibular pores over entire surface.
Orifice.
As wide as or slightly wider than long,
0.10–0.13 mm
long (average
50.122 mm
,
n
511, 1) by
0.13–0.15 mm
wide (average
50.138 mm
,
n
511, 1); sides recurve slightly toward proximal margin, which is shallowly concave between small, shelf-like condyles; peristome a low, smooth, rim around curvature of orifice, with a straight hinge shelf along proximal margin.
Ascopore.
More-or-less circular, often with a small denticle projecting from the distal margin; surrounded by a flat, smooth collar abutting proximal rim of orifice.
Spines.
No spines or spine scars evident in our specimens.
Avicularia.
Small, oval; near zooidal margin lateral to ascopore on one or both sides, pointing distolaterally, with a setose mandible roughly three times as long as rostrum.
Ovicell.
Not observed.
Ancestrula
.
Not observed.
Remarks
Microporella setiformis
was rare at Ketchikan; we collected two colonies at Higgins Point. Although we observed no spines or spine scars, both
Osburn (1952)
and
O’Donoghue and O’Donoghue (1926)
reported this species to have five evanescent oral spines on marginal zooids.
Distribution
Microporella setiformis
is a boreal species endemic to the north-eastern Pacific.
Osburn (1952)
summarized records from numerous localities in
British Columbia
, Puget Sound, and as far southward as the
Channel Islands in Southern
California
. Ketchikan is the northernmost extent of the known range
.