Membraniporidae

Colony of Membranipora membranacea, from Frank Emil Moen & Erling Svensen.

Belongs within: Cheilostomata.

The Membraniporidae are a family of cheilostome bryozoans with poorly calcified frontal walls and generally monomorphic zooids, and a twinned ancestrula (the initial pair of zooids in the colony) (Taylor & Monks 1997). The sea-mat Membranipora membranacea is widespread in temperate regions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, where it grows encrusting large algae such as kelp. This species has become a notable invasive species in some regions.

<==Membraniporidae
    |--Acanthodesia Canu & Bassler 1920 THG01
    |--Jellyella Taylor & Monks 1997 THG01
    |    |--*J. eburnea (Hincks 1891) [=Membranipora eburnea] THG01
    |    `--J. tuberculata (Bosc 1802) [=Flustra tuberculata, Membranipora tuberculata, Nichtina tuberculata] THG01
    |--Biflustra d’Orbigny 1852 THG01
    |    |--*B. ramosa (d’Orbigny 1852) [=Membranipora ramosa] THG01
    |    |--B. reticulata Tilbrook, Hayward & Gordon 2001 THG01
    |    `--B. savartii (Audouin 1826) [=Flustra savartii] THG01
    `--Membranipora de Blainville 1830 THG01
         |--M. ansiopoma R96
         |--M. arborescens J79
         |--M. hyadesi R79
         |--M. membranacea (Linne 1767) L70
         |--M. pilosa H15
         |--M. tenella Hincks 1880 [=Electra tenella] THG01
         `--M. wilsonensis Etheridge 1902 F71

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[F71] Fletcher, H. O. 1971. Catalogue of type specimens of fossils in the Australian Museum, Sydney. Australian Museum Memoir 13: 1-167.

[H15] Harmer, S. F. 1915. The Polyzoa of the Siboga Expedition – Part I. Entoprocta, Ctenostomata and Cyclostomata. E. J. Brill: Leyden.

[J79] Jackson, J. B. C. 1979. Morphological strategies of sessile animals. In Biology and Systematics of Colonial Organisms (G. Larwood & B. R. Rosen, eds) pp. 499-555. Academic Press: London.

[L70] Leloup, E. 1970. Recherches sur l’ostreiculture dans le bassin de chasse d’Ostende en 1968. Bulletin de l’Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique 46 (6): 1-24.

[R96] Roff, D. A. 1996. The evolution of threshold traits in animals. Quarterly Review of Biology 71 (1): 3-35.

[R79] Ryland, J. S. 1979. Structural and physiological aspects of coloniality in bryozoans. In Biology and Systematics of Colonial Organisms (G. Larwood & B. R. Rosen, eds) pp. 211-242. Academic Press: London.

Taylor, P. D., & N. Monks. 1997. A new cheilostome bryozoan genus pseudoplanktonic on molluscs and algae. Invertebrate Biology 116 (1): 39-51.

[THG01] Tilbrook, K. J., P. J. Hayward & D. P. Gordon. 2001. Cheilostomatous Bryozoa from Vanuatu. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 131: 35-109.