Plumatella geimermassardi, a newly recognized freshwater bryozoan from Britain, Ireland, and continental Europe (Bryozoa : Phylactolaemata)

Wood, T. S. and Okamura, B. (2004) Plumatella geimermassardi, a newly recognized freshwater bryozoan from Britain, Ireland, and continental Europe (Bryozoa : Phylactolaemata). Hydrobiologia, 518 (1-3). pp. 1-7. ISSN 0018-8158 doi: 10.1023/B:HYDR.0000025051.65713.85

Abstract/Summary

Plumatella geimermassardi is a newly recognized species of phylactolaemate bryozoan. Its known range extends from Ireland east through southern Norway and south into Italy. Colonies grow close to the substrate with little free branching; the body wall is mostly transparent and without an obvious raphe. Floatoblasts are broadly oval and relatively small, with distinctively large dorsal fenestra and uniformly narrow ventral annulus. The sessoblast basal valve is low and dish-shaped; the annulus bears tubercles which vary in their prominence. This species brings to 14 the number of phylactolaemate bryozoans known in the region.