Facelucia B.C. Souza

Gymnolaemata bryozoans of Bahia State, Brazil

A checklist of Gymnolaemata bryozoans from Bahia State, north-east Brazil, is presented. Specimens are lodged in the Bryozoa collection of the Museu de Zoologia at the Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA). The checklist comprises 135 species in 54 families, the majority belonging to the order Cheilostomata.

Taxonomy of recent Adeonidae (Bryozoa, Cheilostomata) from Brazil, with the description of four new species

Here we present the taxonomy of the cheilostome genera Adeonellopsis MacGillivray, 1886 and Reptadeonella Busk, 1884 in Brazil. Of the six species previously reported in Brazilian waters, we include redescriptions of Adeonellopsis subsulcata (Smitt, 1873), Reptadeonella bipartita (Canu & Bassler, 1928) and Reptadeonella costulata (Canu & Bassler, 1928). Four new species of Reptadeonella are described: Reptadeonella aspera n. sp., Reptadeonella brasiliensis n. sp. (previously misidentified as Reptadeonella violacea), Reptadeonella cucullata n. sp. and Reptadeonella leilae n. sp. Reptadeonella aspera n. sp., from Bahia State, is characterized by rugose frontal calcification, a tubular peristome, small suboral avicularium and elliptical spiramen. Reptadeonella brasiliensis n. sp. is the commonest intertidal species in NE Brazil; it is distinguished from other Brazilian Reptadeonella in having a nodular peristome, large subperistomial areolar pore and zooids with one or two frontal pores frequently replaced by a suboral avicularium and crescentic spiramen. Reptadeonella cucullata n. sp., from Espírito Santo and Bahia states, has a hood-like peristome, large subperistomial areolar pore, suboral avicularium with curved mandible and denticulate spiramen. Reptadeonella leilae n. sp., described from Bahia State, has a frontal shield with small granules, tubular peristome, semilunar to semicircular subperistomial areolar pore and circular spiramen. Diagnostic characters of Reptadeonella species are discussed.

Malacostegine bryozoans (Bryozoa: Cheilostomata) from Bahia State, northeast Brazil: taxonomy and non-indigenous species

Bryozoans belonging to the suborder Malacostegina are commonly found in ports and bays around the world. They are often related to bioinvasion events and can be adapted to life on floating substrata, show tolerance to environmental stress and grow quickly when compared to other encrusting bryozoan species. Malacostegine bryozoans are simple morphologically, with few informative characters to distinguish taxa. Even so, the use of consistent morphological characters in addition to new ones may be helpful in providing confident taxonomic identifications needed for this common group in the fouling invasive community. Here, we provide taxonomic remarks on 13 species of Malacostegina from Bahia State, northeast Brazil. One new species, Conopeum loki n. sp., is described. At least six species reported here are originally from the Indo-Pacific region and are considered non-indigenous to the Atlantic Ocean: Biflustra grandicella, Biflustra irregulata, Biflustra okadai nom. nov., Arbocuspis bellula, Arbopercula bengalensis and Sinoflustra annae. Most of these taxa were collected at Todos os Santos Bay, a region with intense shipping traffic, tourism, activities of oil exploration and where other invertebrates, including bryozoans, have been already recognised as exotic. Although no immediate environmental or economic impact has been reported for the species here described, the detection of these exotic taxa constitute the first step in preventing bioinvasion events.

Bryozoa on disarticulated bivalve shells from Todos os Santos Bay, northeastern Brazil, with the description of two new species

As sessile organisms, bryozoans are among the commonest components of the encrusting communities on hard substrata. On unconsolidated bottoms, benthic animals and their carapaces, including mollusk shells, represent potential surfaces for encrustation. Here we describe the bryozoan fauna growing on disarticulated bivalve shells collected intertidally on Itaparica beach, Todos os Santos Bay, northeast Brazil. We examined a total of 382 valves representing seven species of bivalves, among which we found 82 valves of three bivalve species to be encrusted by bryozoans, with 109 bryozoan colonies detected overall. We identified 11 cheilostome bryozoan species, among which Phidoloporidae and Smittinidae were the most diverse, with four and two species, respectively. We redescribed two bryozoan species, Parasmittina loxoides and Rhynchozoon phrynoglossum, and describe another two, Pleurocodonellina marcusi n. sp. and Rhynchozoon itaparicaensis n. sp., as new. A new combination for Cribella triangulata Canu Bassler, 1928 is proposed, including Calyptotheca tenuata Harmer, 1957 as a new junior subjective synonym of Calyptotheca triangulata n. comb. All but one of the 11 species have encrusting colonies; Licornia aff. diadema, forms erect branching colonies. For seven of the bryozoans, ours are the first records of these species growing on shells. Although the majority of bryozoans we studied have also been reported on other substrata, Rhynchozoon brasiliensis and Parasmittina loxoides were predominant in the fauna, comprising 79 (72%) of all colonies inventoried. Due to the lack of information on the distribution of these species in northeastern Brazil, further studies are needed to determine whether they show any substratum preference.