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Bryozoa
Membraniporella gigas Cadée, 1982
Nomenclature
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Family: CribrilinidaeGenus: Membraniporella
SUMMARY
Colonies erect, bifoliate, broken into small pieces.
Autozooids are large, about 1.0 mm long by 0.5 mm wide, and elliptical in outline shape. The frontal shield is moderately convex and formed by 11-15 costae (including the thick apertural bar) separated by slit-like lacunae. Costae are dumb-bell shaped with a single opening (papilla) at both ends, and fuse along the median line of the zooid where a central depression is located. The orifice is large, about 0.25 mm long by 0.19 mm wide, rounded D-shaped and has 4 oral spines that may be overgrown by avicularia. Ovicells are unknown.
Adventitious avicularia are developed distolaterally of the orifice, usually paired, and irregularly elsewhere around the edge of the frontal shield. They are small, with a rounded rostrum and a calcified cross bar.