Vesiculariidae

Colony of Amathia distans, photographed by J. Hoover.

Belongs within: Ctenostomata.

The Vesiculariidae are a family of ctenostome bryozoans characterised by the presence of a distinct stolon (Harmer 1915).

Characters (from Harmer 1915): Axis relatively thick, branching, tubular; zooecia directly attached to axis by contracted or expanded base; axis usually divided by diaphragms into internodes, each of which gives off a number of zooecia; budding only from axis. Tentacles usually 8-10. Gizzard generally present.

<==Vesiculariidae [Vesiculariadae]
    |--Vesicularia Thompson 1830 H15
    |    |--*V. spinosa [=Sertularia spinosa] H15
    |    `--V. papuensis Busk 1886 [incl. V. trichotoma Busk 1886] H15
    |--Bowerbankia Farre 1837 H15
    |    |--B. gracilis Leidy 1855 HJ08
    |    |--B. imbricata (Adams 1800) (see below for synonymy) H15
    |    `--B. pustulosa [=Vesicularia pustulosa] H15
    |--Amathia Lamouroux 1912 [=Serialaria Lamarck 1816] H15
    |    |--A. brasiliensis Busk 1886 H15
    |    |--A. convoluta Lamouroux 1816 (see below for synonymy) H15
    |    |--A. distans Busk 1886 [incl. A. acervata Lamouroux 1824] H15
    |    |--A. pruvoti H15
    |    |--A. semiconvoluta H15
    |    |--A. spiralis H15
    |    `--A. vidovici Heller 1867 HJ08
    `--Zoobotryon Ehrenberg 1831 H15
         |--‘Vesicularia’ bilateralis H15
         |--‘Daedalea’ mauritiana H15
         |--Z. pellucidum [incl. Bowerbankia biserialis Hincks 1887] H15
         `--Z. verticillatum della Chiaje 1828 HJ08

Amathia convoluta Lamouroux 1816 [=Serialaria convoluta Lamarck 1816; incl. Sirinx circumplicata ms, Se. crispa Lamarck 1816, A. semispiralis Busk 1886, Se. semispiralis] H15

Bowerbankia imbricata (Adams 1800) [=Sertularia imbricata, Vesicularia imbricata; incl. Bowerbankia caudata Annandale 1911, B. densa Farre 1837] H15

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

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

[HJ08] Huisman, J. M., D. S. Jones, F. E. Wells & T. Burton. 2008. Introduced marine biota in Western Australian waters. Records of the Western Australian Museum 25 (1): 1-44.