Cheilostome Bryozoa from Penang and Langkawi, Malaysia

Abstract

Abstract. Twenty-three species of cheilostome bryozoans are described from the Malaysian islands of Penang and Langkawi based on a brief reconnaisance survey of shore localities. These are the first bryozoans to be formally described from either island and they demonstrate the potential for further research on these neglected suspension feeders. Of the 23 species recorded, 12 are anascans, half of which are malacostegines, and 11 are ascophorans. The new combinations Acanthodesia falsitenuis (Liu, 1992), A. perambulata (Louis &Menon, 2009) and A. irregulata (Liu, 1992) are introduced. Most of the species recorded are widespread in the Indo-Pacific, and some are apparently globally distributed in the tropics and subtropics, including the invasive fouling species Bugula neritina, Hippoporina indica and Schizoporella japonica, as well as the coral reef associates Cranosina coronata and Hippopodina feegeensis. Plastic debris and glass bottles were encrusted by Jellyella eburnea, a coloniser of floating biological and man-made objects that is becoming widespread in the tropics and subtropics of the world's oceans.

Carbonate mineralogy of a tropical bryozoan biota and its vulnerability to ocean acidification

“…Langkawi is an archipelago of islands 80 km north of Penang in the Andaman Sea, at latitude 6°N. The four sites sampled at Penang and the eight sites at Langkawi yielded a total of 23 species of cheilostome bryozoans (site details, species descriptions and specimen repository information can be found in Taylor & Tan 2015); one species, Antropora minor (Hincks, 1880), was represented by a single colony deep within a gastropod shell and could not be analysed. Some of the bryozoans fouled man-made structures, such as pier wharves, fishing floats and plastic objects, whereas others encrusted mollusc shells or rocks.…”

“…Specimens were washed and air-dried after collection. Scanning electron microscopy was employed for imaging and to confirm species' identities after bleaching (see Taylor & Tan 2015).…”

“…between 23.5°N and 23.5°S latitude). This paper presents the first mineralogical survey of a tropical bryozoan biota, based on shore collections made in Penang and Langkawi, Malaysia during 2013 (Taylor & Tan 2015). We employed Raman spectroscopy, a precise and non-destructive method of analysis, to determine the mineralogies of 22 species of cheilostomes.…”

Distribution of the invasive bryozoan Schizoporella japonica in Great Britain and Ireland and a review of its European distribution

“…This is evidence of the species’ ability to persist and spread in the relatively cooler northern waters enabled by its wide temperature tolerance as indicated by its successful introduction to sites with temperatures ranging as low as 4 °C in Northern Scotland (Loxton 2014) and as high as 30 °C in Langkawi, Malaysia (Taylor and Tan 2015; NOAA 2016). Its cold-water tolerance sets the species apart from other non-native bryozoans in Europe, which are predominantly warm-water species e.g.…”

“…The species’ occurrence as reproductive colonies in Malaysia (Taylor and Tan 2015) indicates that its tolerance of higher temperatures elsewhere in the world would, in the Atlantic, allow substantial southward extension of its current range, potentially into tropical waters. However, the species has not yet been found on the opposite side of the English Channel in NW France, or further south in Portugal.…”