Description of a new species ofReteporella(Bryozoa: Phidoloporidae) from the Weddell Sea (Antarctica) and the possible functional morphology of avicularia

Abstract

Figuerola, B., Ballesteros, M. and Avila, C. 2013. Description of a new species of Reteporella (Bryozoa: Phidoloporidae) from the Weddell Sea (Antarctica) and the possible functional morphology of avicularia. —Acta Zoologica (Stockholm) 94: 66–73. A new species of cheilostome bryozoan, Reteporella rosjoarum sp. n., belonging to the family of Phidoloporidae is described from the Weddell Sea (Antarctica) and illustrated with binocular microscope and SEM micrographs. SEM has been used to observe the essential characters to describe the new species and to compare it to similar species. Three samples from three different stations were collected at 332–597 m depth during the ANT XXI/2 cruise of the R/V Polarstern (AWI, Bremerhaven, Germany) using a bottom trawl. The new species is characterized by the presence of giant vicarious spherical avicularia. The distinctive morphology of these avicularia discriminates this species from Antarctica congeners. The variability in avicularian morphometrics demonstrates that intraspecific variation between localities (Austasen and Drescher Inlet) may exist. It is also interesting to relate the morphology of the avicularia with the possible functions in Cheilostomata.

Structure of bryozoan communities in an Antarctic glacial fjord (Admiralty Bay, South Shetlands)

“…5) were found only below 70 m. Kukliński et al (2005) pointed that aside glacial disturbance in the Arctic fjords, the depth was also influencing bryozoan assemblages. However, Antarctic bryozoans are mostly eurybathic (Barnes 1995c;Lopez-Fe 2005;Barnes and Kukliński 2010;Figuerola et al 2013). This fact might be associated with a deepwater origin of that fauna (Barnes and Kukliński 2010).…”

Polar marine biology science in Portugal and Spain: Recent advances and future perspectives

“…These findings confirm the importance that whale bones may have in the Antarctic shallow-water ecosystem. Bryozoans also provided new species, and among these species, the first one described by Conxita Ávila's group is a Reteporella (Bryozoa Phidoloporidae) from the Weddell Sea, and we discussed the possible functional morphology of their avicularia (Figuerola et al, 2012a). This new cheilostome bryozoan is characterized by the presence of giant vicarious spherical avicularia.…”

“…Temperature is also relevant to the equilibrium concentration and the diffusion coefficients of dissolved CO 2 (Falkowski and Raven, 1997), so that the effect of increased levels of CO 2 on algal ecophysiology are, at least in part, temperature dependent. Higher concentrations of CO 2 at low temperatures (and frequently low salinity during melting events) compensate for lower diffusion rates (Raven et al, 2002).…”

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