Morphology of ctenostome bryozoans: 5. Sundanella, with description of a new species from the Western Atlantic and the Multiporata concept.

ABSTRACT: Ctenostome bryozoans are a small group of gymnolaemates that comprise only a few hundred described species. Soft-tissue morphology remains the most important source for analysing morphological characters and inferring relationships within this clade. The current study focuses on the genus Sundanella, for which morphological data is scarce to almost absent. We studied two species of the genus, including one new to science, using histology and three-dimensional reconstruction techniques and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Sundanella generally has a thick, sometimes arborescent cuticle and multiporous interzooidal pore plates. The lophophore is bilateral with an oral rejection tract and generally has 30 or 31 tentacles in both species. The digestive tract shows a large cardia in S. florid

SUBMITTER: Schwaha T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9545146 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature