Meded. Werkgr. Tert. Kwart. Geol. vol. 10 nr. 1 pp. 3-8 maart 1973

Vittaticella elegans (Busk), a bryozoan hitherto unknown from

the North Sea Basin

by

G.C. Cadée Texel.

Cadée, G. C. Vittaticella elegans (Busk), a bryozoan hitherto

unknown from the North Sea Basin. - Keded. ï.'erkgr. Tert. Kwart.

Geol., 10 (1): 3-8 Leiden. March 1973-

The bryozoan Vittaticella elegans (Busk) is recorded for the

first time from Pliocene deposits of the Low Countries. This

species has a worldwide recent distribution, but was never found

outside Victoria (Australia) as a fossil.

G. C. Cadée, V.'estergeest B 65, Texel, The Netherlands.

Samenvatting

In dit artikel wordt de eerste vondst van Vittaticella elegans (Busk) vermeld wordt het Nederland. uit Plioceen van België en Deze bryozoe behoort

tot de Catenicellidae, die hun hoofdverspreidingsgebied hebben in Australasia.

Fossiel is deze soort voorzover ik kon nagaan alleen bekend van het Ondermio- ceen en Onderplioceen van Victoria (Australië).

leven De kolonies bestaan uit segmenten (internodiën), die in met chitineuze verbindingsstukjes aan elkaar zitten (fig. 1c). Fossiel worden deze

segmenten altijd los gevonden (fig. 1a-b).

De exemplaren werden verzameld in sediment komend uit Scaphella lam- berti-schelpen van Antwerpen (dok 5 en 6) en Ellewoutsdijk. Het is zeer waar-

zeldzame in Plioceen. schijnlijk geen bryozoe geweest het

ten small fossils from sediment About years ago I collected some the contained in shells of the gastropod Scaphella lamberti, (Sowerby) from Antwerp and Ellewoutsdijk. Although undoubtedly of bryozoan nature, they puzzled me a

long time, because similar bryozoans had never been described in the literature on Bryozoa from this region (e.g. Lagaay, 1952). 4

it became that the Later on apparent they belonged to genus Vittati-

cella of the family Catenicellidae, which family is "abundant in Tertiary and

Recent of but little known north of the (Bassler, 1S53 Australasia, equator" s

p. 222).

The specimens found closely resemble the fossil and recent V. elegans

(Busk) and are therefor given this name.

Vittaticella elegans (Busk, 1852)

Fig. 1 a-c.

Catenicella 1852 elegans Busk, p. 361, pl. 1, fig. 2

- 1884 Catenicella elegans Busk, p. 12, pl. 1, fig. 2, 2a, 3, 5

1934 Vittaticella - 1-4 elegans Stach, p. 19, pl. 3, fig.

1947 Vittaticella - 1-7 elegans Correa, p. 1, fig.

1957 - 2 Vittaticella elegans Farmer, p. 769, pl. 50, fig.

1967 - a Vittaticella elegans Powell, p. 237, fig. 13a-b, pl. 3, fig.

Vittaticella colonies consist of segments (internodes) containing 1-3 zooecia,

connected by chitinous • tubes. In fossil material only loose segments are found

shows chi- Fig. lc a reconstruction based on drawings of recent specimens. The

tinous connection-tubes make the colonies flexible to withstand watermovements.

and Zooecia: in our material only bizooecial (fig. la) unizooecial

- (fig. lb) internodes are present. Length of unizooecial internode 0.30 0.37

of bizooecial internode 0.55 mm. The frontal wall has two mm, lenght _+ grooves

(vittae). Pores in the frontal wall as mentioned and figured by some authors

could not be seen, but they are also not figured by Powell (1967) and Stach

conical contain avicularia (1934). The two processes and a pore (see fig. la).

Ovicella were not found in our material.

with Orifice; breadth; 0.07-0.08 mm, nearly round, two small teeth

the (condyles) in lower part.

Haterial - 15 internodes from Scaphella shell, dok 5, Antwerp. 6 internodes from Scaphella shell, dok 6, Antwerp. 2 internodes from Scaphella shell, Ellewoutsdijk.

Stratigraphy - The exact stratigraphic position of the Scaphella shells is not known. But since Scaphella lamberti is common in the Scaldisian deposits and

in the Merxemien that rare lower (Glibert, 1958, p. 16) we can safely state

Vittaticella elegans sterns from pliocene deposits.

be unknown Although not all literature was seen Vittaticella seems to

from European Tertiary deposits. Vittaticella elegans is recorded from Lower

Miocene and Lower Pliocene deposits of Victoria (Stach, 1934, 1935).

The distribution of recent Vittaticella elegans based on data from

the the literature is given in fig. 2. This species is common on southern coast of Australia and off Zealand the Atlantic it is New (Harmer, 1957, p. 770). In recorded from Tristan da Cunha (Busk, 1884), Bermuda (Osburn, 1952) and Santos

(Correa, 1947). The Challenger material of Vittaticella from Brazil off Maceio 5

Belgium. Antwerp,

5, x) x) 150 Dok 150 x) from (15 (approx. (approx. 1852), colony zooecia zooecium of (Busk, part

two one of elegans with with Vittaticella Internode Internode Reconstruction a. b. c.

1

Fig. 6

1852). and (Busk, (1957) elegans Harmer Vittaticella (1947), Correa (+) fossil (1935), and Stach

(•) by recent compiled of data (1967). on Distribution Based Powell

2

Fig. 7

in collection is not the Challenger according to Harmer (1957, p. 770), this

location therefor is uncertain.

Depth distribution - Vittaticella elegans lives from just below the low water

line down to several hundred meters. The deepest occurence cited by Correa

of 2012 based Busk (1947, p. 3) m is apparently on (1884, p. 12): Challenger

st. 135, Tristan da Cunha, 60-1100 fathoms (= 110-2012 m). According to Tizard

sheet made 8 of et al.(1885, p. 242, 17, p. 1010) the "Challenger" stations, which 6 were dredge stations near the Tristan da Cunha group of islands. Unfor-

tunately these were numbered 135 and 135a-g. Now apparently Busk has put all the material from these stations together as material from station 135, 60-1100

fathoms, being the depth-range of the 8 stations. According to Murray & Renard station (1891, p. 72-73) only 135 c (110-150 fathoms) and 135 d (72 fathoms)

delivered It however whether the bryozoa in great quantities. is uncertain Vit-

taticella material sterns from these stations, therefor exact depth data for the

and the Challenger material are not available deepest occurence of Vittaticella of 1100 fathoms is almost certainly wrong: at st. 135 f (1100 fathoms) the

several stones l.c.). dredge brought up only large pumice (Murray & Renard,

1 Also Brady working on the Foraminifera from the "Challenger mentions "off fathoms". (1885, p. 85) material from st. 135 Nightingale Island, 100-150

This apparently is not st. 135 (depth 360 fathoms, near Tristan da Cunha) but

stations mis- 135 d, which prooves once more, that the Challenger worked quite leading.

Discussion - Only one other Vittaticella is known from the Atlantic: Vittati- cella contei (Audouin) found in Brazil (Marcus, 1937, 1938) and Madeira (Nor-

this lacks the avicularia man, 1909). According to Waters (1909, p. 130) species

the The Stach on conical processes. genus is represented in Australasia:

(1933, 1934) mentions 11 species from the Tertiary of Victoria, Harmer (1957) describes 8 species from the collections of the Siboga expedition (Indonesia).

is that this will be for those who have It my hope description helpful found or will find this elegant bryozoan. Presumebly it is by no means rare as

because smallness and lts a fossil,but of its fragility it may pass unnoticed.

in the North Basin needs better but the dis- stratigraphic range Sea a study,

of this dates back to the of appearance warm water species certainly beginning the Pleistocene Period. Although the recent bryozoan fauna of Europe is rather well studied it was never found. This species has a worldwide distribution, but it is restricted to warm waters; it is however seldom reported from the true

tropical waters.

REFERENCES

Bassler, R. S., 1953. Bryozoa in R. C. Moore (ed.) Treatise on Invertebrate Pa-

leontology, G: 1-253, 175 figs.

Brady, H. B., 1884. Report on the Foraminifera dredged by HMS Challenger during

- 1876. - 9: 115 the years 1873 Chall. Rep. Zool. 1-814, pl.

G. 1852. An of the and sertularian Busk, s account Polyzoa Zoophytes. Appendix

4: 1 in J. Narrative of the of no. 343-402, pl., Macgillivray: voyage

H?1S Rattlesnake. London.

Busk, G., 1884. Report on the Polyzoa. The Cheolostomata. - Chall. Rep. Zool.

10: 1-216, 36 pl., 59 figs. 8

Correa, D. D., 1947. Note on Vittaticella elegans (Bryozoa, Cheilostomata). -

Comun. Zool. Mus. Eist. Nat. Montevideo 2 (43): 1-7, 7 figs.

Glibert, M., 1958. Tableau stratigraphique des Mollusques de Nêogène de la Bel-

gique. - lleded. Kon. Belg. Inst. Natuurw. 34 (32): 1-20.

of - Harmer, S. F., 1957. The Polyzoa the Siboga Expedition 4. Uitk. Siboga Exp.

28d: I - XV, 641-1147, pl. 42-74.

Lagaay, R., 1952. The Pliocense Bryozoa of the Low Countries. -Meded. Geol. Sticht. C-V-5: 1-233, 26 pl., 29 figs.

Marcus, E., 1937-1938. Bryozoarios marinhos Brasileiros.1 & 2. - Bol. Fac. Filos

Cienc. S. Paulo Zool. 1: 3-162, 29 pl.; ibidem 2: 1-137, 29 pl.

- Murray, J., & A. F. Renard, 1891. Report on deep sea deposits. Chall. Rep.:

1-525, 29 pl.

of - Norman, A. M., 1909. The Polyzoa Madeira and neighbouring islands. J. Linn.

Soc. (Zool.) 30: 275-314, pl. 33-43.

Osburn, R. C., 1952. Bryozoa of the Pacific coast of America. 2 Cheilostomata-

Ascophora. - Allan Hancock Pacific Exp. 14 (2): 271-611, pl. 30-64.

Powell, N. A., 1967. Polyzoa (Bryozoa)-Ascophora- from North New Zealand. -

Discovery Rep. 34: 199-394, 34 pl., 105 figs.

Tizard, T. H., H. N. Moseley, J. Y. Buchanan & J. Murray, 1885. Narrative of

the cruise of HMS Challenger 1 (1-2): 1-1110, 35 pl.

Stach, L. W., 1933-1934. Victorian Tertiary Catenicellidae 1 & 2. - Proc. Roy.

Soc. Victoria (N.S.) 45: 85-98, pl. 8; ibidem 47: 18-53, pl. 3.

Stach, L. W., 1935. Victorian Lower Pliocene Bryozoa 1. - Proc. Roy. Soc. Vic-

toria (N.S.) 47: 338-341, pl. 12.

Waters, A. W., 1909. Reports on the marine biology of the Sudanese Red Sea 12.

The Bryozoa 1. Cheilostomata. - J. Linn. Soc. (Zool.) 31: 123-181,

pl. 10-18.

ADDENDUM

footnote of A. B. in Haraer to After the manuscript was finished, a Hastings, (1957» P» 66?) oame my attention, in which she indicated that the Challenger material of V. elegans from Tristan da Cunha i3

This corroborates conclusions. labelled 100-150 fathoms. my

Moreover the record of a third Vittaticella species from the Atlantic came to my attention: Vittaticella uberrima Harmer, 1957» in Lagaay, R., 1 - New additions to the Bryozoan fauna of the Gulf of Mexico. -

Publ. Inst. Mar. Sci, 162-236 (p. 202, pl. 7, fig. 1, 2).

differs from V. elegans its its lateral which not This species by more elongate zooecia, processes are

cusped distally but transverse, its ovicell with a single row of pores instead of pluriserial pores and

the of scattered avicularia. presenee giant

Vittaticella elegans from the Caribbean in his Lagaay includes (with a question-mark) Osburn's synonymy,

here indeed giant avicularia were found.

More material, especially specimens with ovicells, is needed to identify our material with certainty, but

lateral and the absence of avicularia to indicate that found the distally cusped processes giant seems we

V. elegans.