FPIK, SEMARANG – As an archipelagic country, Indonesia holds an extraordinary amount marine diversity and resources that has not much been studied. One of the least studied marine animal is Bryozoa. It is known as one of the phylum in aquatic invertebrate that live both in freshwater and the sea. Bryozoa are sessile, often found living as colony, and by 2013 there were more than 5.900 known species (Bock and Gordon, 2013). Several reports have found bryozoans that live on the surface of algae, corals, mollusks and are most commonly found in dead bivalve shells (McCann et. al., 2007; Gordon & Taylor 2008). They are also found on various objects such as wood, plastic to other wastes in the sea (Watts et. al., 1998; Barnes & Dick 2000).
In Indonesia, there have been only few reports on bryozoans. It is the reason why this study became the topic of research conducted by Dr. Meezan A. Asagabaldan, a student of the Coastal Resource Management Doctoral Program (MSDP), UNDIP, who is also a recipient of a PMDSU scholarship. His study successfully described 6 species of bryozoans from Jepara waters and one of them is a new species named Pleurocodonellina jeparaensis n. sp. (Smittinidae). Interestingly, this new species was found in pieces of bivalve shells found in Telukawur bay, Jepara.
This research became the first report that successfully described the presence of bryozoa in Central Java. The discovery of new species in the Telukawur bay, Jepara, proved that new findings are awaiting and more studies are needed in order to maintain the presence of marine resources in a sustainable manner. (Mada).
Sources:
Asagabaldan MA, Bourgoungnon N, Bedoux G, Kristiana R, Ayuningrum D, Widyananto PA, Muchlissin SI, Magueresse A, Sabdono A, Trianto A, Radjasa OK. 2019. Some Cheilostomata (Bryozoa) from the Java Sea, central Indonesian Archipelago, with a description of Pleurocodonellina jeparaensis n. sp. (Smittinidae). Zootaxa 4668(3): 329-234.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4668.3.2
References:
Bock, P.E. & Gordon, D.P. (2013) Phylum Bryozoa Ehrenberg, 1831. Zootaxa, 3703 (1), 67–74. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3703.1.14
McCann, L.D., Hitchcock, N.G., Winston, J.E. & Ruiz, G.M. (2007) Non-native bryozoans in coastal embayments of the southern United States: new records for the Western Atlantic. Bulletin of Marine Science, 80, 319–342.
Gordon, D.P. & Taylor, P.D. (2008) Systematics of the bryozoan. Linnean Society, 153, 115–146.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00386.x
Watts, P.C., Thorpe, J.P. & Taylor, P.D. (1998) Natural and anthropogenic dispersal mechanisms in the marine environment: a study using cheilostome Bryozoa. Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences, 353, 453–464.
