Revision of the Oligocene bryozoan taxa described by Stoliczka (1862), with the description of a new genus of Bryocryptellidae

A collection of bryozoans from the Oligocene of Latdorf, Germany, first described by Ferdinand Stoliczka in 1862 and not examined since, has been re-examined. Stoliczka had recognized 47 species, 24 of them new. Of these latter, 14 names remain valid; the remainder are synonyms of previously described taxa or, owing to the originally inadequate state of the fossil material examined, taxonomically indeterminable. The genera Orbitulipora Stoliczka, 1862 and Stichoporina Stoliczka, 1862, both introduced by Stoliczka in 1862 along with their type species, are still valid. Two of his species, one of which had not been examined since its first description, comprise a new bryocryptellid genus, Stoliczkella n. gen., which superficially resembles the celleporid genus Galeopsis Jullien & Calvet, 1903. Diagnoses or descriptions are provided herein for all of the taxa in the collection and lectotypes selected. The results of this revision will be applied to a forthcoming analysis of a recent extended excavation of the Latdorf section by the University of Leipzig, in which bryozoans are among the most abundant fossil groups.SYN-THESYS Project - European Community Research Infrastructure Action under the FP7 "Capacities" Program" [AT-TAF-2647, FR-TAF-2648]; NIWA under Coasts and Oceans Research Programme 2 [2012/13 SCI

Bryozoan genera Fenestrulina and Microporella no longer confamilial; multi-gene phylogeny supports separation

Bryozoans are a moderately diverse, mostly marine phylum with a fossil record extending to the early Ordovician. Compared to other phyla, little is known about their phylogenetic relationships at both lower and higher taxonomic levels. Hence, an effort is being made to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships among bryozoans. Here, we present newly sequenced nuclear and mitochondrial genes for 21 cheilostome bryozoans and compile these with existing orthologous molecular data. Using these data, we focus on reconstructing the phylogenetic relationships of Fenestrulina and Microporella, two species-rich genera. They are currently placed in a globally distributed family, Microporellidae, defined by having a semicircular primary orifice and a proximal ascopore, although there are indirect inferences in the morphological literature that suggest they might not be confamilial. Our six-gene phylogenetic analysis reveals that the genera Fenestrulina and Microporella are each monophyletic, with the sister clade to Microporella comprising non-microporellids. These genera thus have a polyphyletic relationship and should not be placed in the same family. Our result supports the reinstatement of the family Fenestrulinidae Jullien, 1888 for Fenestrulina and genera with comparable frontal shield and ooecial morphologies. Our well-supported phylogeny based on independent molecular data lends credit to existing phylogenetic hypotheses based on morphological observations but does not conform to the current classification of these particular bryozoans. This illustrates the general need for a rethink of bryozoan higher-level systematics, ideally based on both morphological and molecular data

First records of freshwater Bryozoa (Phylacrolaemata) from Kalimantan, istland of Borneo, Indonesia: First records of freshwater Bryozoa (Phylacrolaemata) from Kalimantan, istland of Borneo, Indonesia

A collection of freshwater bryozoans from Danau Sentarum National Park (Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia) included statoblasts on a piece of styrofoam and a colony inside a plastic bottle. The colony was taxonomically undeterminable; the statoblasts were assigned to the following species: Hyalinella lendenfeldi, Plumatella javanica, Plumatella vorstmani and two unidentified plumatellid species. The present study provided first records of these species from Borneo