Membraniporidae

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 1920THG01
    |--PleuroporaJB12
    |--Jellyella Taylor & Monks 1997THG01
    |    |--*J. eburnea (Hincks 1891) [=Membranipora eburnea]THG01
    |    `--J. tuberculata (Bosc 1802) [=Flustra tuberculata, Membranipora tuberculata, Nichtina tuberculata]THG01
    |--Biflustra d’Orbigny 1852THG01
    |    |--*B. ramosa (d’Orbigny 1852) [=Membranipora ramosa]THG01
    |    |--B. reticulata Tilbrook, Hayward & Gordon 2001THG01
    |    `--B. savartii (Audouin 1826) [=Flustra savartii]THG01
    |         |--B. s. savartiiT93
    |         `--B. s. texturata (Reuss 1848)T93
    `--Membranipora de Blainville 1830THG01
         |--M. ansiopomaR96
         |--M. arborescensJ79
         |--M. flemingiiC64
         |--M. hyadesiR79
         |--M. imbellisN79
         |--M. membranacea (Linne 1767)L70
         |--M. pilosaH15
         |--M. rhynchotaN79
         |--M. sacculataN79
         |--M. tenella Hincks 1880 [=Electra tenella]THG01
         `--M. wilsonensis Etheridge 1902F71

*Type species of generic name indicated

References

[C64] Carpenter, P. P. 1864. Supplementary report on the present state of our knowledge with regard to the Mollusca of the west coast of North America. Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 33: 517–686.

[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: Larwood, G., & B. R. Rosen (eds) Biology and Systematics of Colonial Organisms pp. 499–555. Academic Press: London.

[JB12] Johnson, M. E., & B. G. Baarli. 2012. Development of intertidal biotas through Phanerozoic time. In: Talent, J. A. (ed.) Earth and Life: Global biodiversity, extinction intervals and biogeographic perturbations through time pp. 63–128. Springer.

[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.

[N79] Norman, A. M. 1879. The Mollusca of the fiords near Bergen, Norway. Journal of Conchology 2: 8–77.

[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: Larwood, G., & B. R. Rosen (eds) Biology and Systematics of Colonial Organisms pp. 211–242. Academic Press: London.

[T93] Taylor, P. D. 1993. Bryozoa. In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 465–489. Chapman & Hall: 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.