Family VICTORELLIDAE Hincks, 1880

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Regional Maps

• Victorellidae Hincks, T.H. 1880. A history of the British Marine Polyzoa. London : John van Voorst 601 pp. [558].

Introduction

The Victorellidae was introduced by Hincks (1880) for the genus Victorella, from brackish and fresh waters. It is characterised by elongated zooids, peristomial budding and an ovisac developed from an invagination of the dorsal wall of the vestibule.

Eggs are released, often through a distinct intertentacular organ, and develop in an invagination of the vestibule wall.

A great deal of work has been done on morphological variation of various taxa attributed to Victorella and similar genera under different conditions of salinity, food supply and substratum etc., and upon growth cycles and reproduction (Hayward 1985 for a summary).

Victorella pavida, the type species of Victorella, is generally inconspicuous, with semi-transparent zooids which creep over the substratum, or are loosely adherent, forming dense clumps of peristomially budded zooids. Colonies are attached to any available substratum, rock or shell, wood, algae or freshwater planks. Since its original description from the London docks, V. pavida has been reported from many parts of the world, in fresh waters or those of variable and lowered salinities, including the Black Sea, the Americas, India and Japan (Hayward 1985). V. pavida was recorded by Whitelegge (1889) from brackish water in New South Wales, but has not been reported from Australia since then.

Diagnosis

Colony encrusting or loosely adherent, cuticle transparent, zooids thinly spaced or in clumps. Zooids elongated, budded peristomially. Intertentacular organ present, brooding in an invagination of the vestibular wall.

General References

Hayward, P.J. 1985. Ctenostome Bryozoans. pp. 1-169 in Kermack, D.M. & Barnes, R.S.K. (eds). Synopses of the British Fauna. n.s London : E.J. Brill for the Linnean Society Vol. 33.

Hincks, T.H. 1880. A history of the British Marine Polyzoa. London : John van Voorst 601 pp.

Whitelegge, T. 1889. List of the Marine and Freshwater Invertebrate Fauna of Port Jackson and the Neighbourhood. Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 23: 163-323

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