Celleporaria labelligera Harmer, 1957 (Fig. 7 A–C; Table 7) Holoporella descostilsii: Waters 1909: 162, pl. 16, figs 1–3. Non Cellepora descostilsii Audouin, 1826. Celleporaria labelligera Harmer, 1957: 676, pl. 42, figs 14–17, 22, 24; Balavoine 1959: 276, pl. 5, fig. 4; Powell 1967a: 167; Powell 1969b: 361, fig. 2; Rédier 1969: 13; Dumont 1981: 635. Material examined. Specimens from Lebanon: 1) Stn 1A, 1 large colony; 2) Stn 1B, several large colonies; 3) Stn 5A, 3 colonies; 4) Stn 12A, 1 large colony; 5) Stn 12B, 1 large colony; 6) Stn 12C, 1 colony; 7) Stn 12D, 1 large colony; 8) Stn 12E, 2 large colonies; 9) Stn 15A, 1 colony. Other material examined: 1) MNHN, 5 specimens labelled Celleporaria labelligera by Balavoine (1959), Dollfus coll., Al Sayad survey, Gulf of Suez: No. 7766, Stn IV, 65 m; No. 7825, Stn X, 8 December 1928, 28– 62 m; No. 7843, Stn XI, 8 December 1928, 25– 31 m; No. 7843, Stn XII, 9 December 1928, 29 m; No. 7881, Stn XXXIX, 25 m; 2) SEM photos of Celleporaria labelligera, northern Bay of Safaga, Red Sea, posted by Ostrovsky et al. (2011). Description. Colony encrusting, multilamellar by frontal budding, sometimes forming large mamillate mounds, brown-grey when dry. Autozooids short in frontal view, irregularly arranged, except at peripheral budding margin; frontal surface bumpy, granular when young, 12–16 large marginal pseudopores. Orifice slightly wider than long, proximal edge (poster) straight, 2 small triangular condyles, large rounded anter. Proximal suboral lip absent or moderately raised and thick, occasionally forming collar with median triangular blade. Spines 2, rarely 3, predominantly occurring and longer on zooids in concave parts of colony. Suboral avicularium absent. Vicarious avicularia variably sized; cystid with large marginal pseudopores; rostrum with rounded tip, prominent when large, serrated but often eroded, sides concave, particularly in large avicularia, rostral palate occupying 40–60% of rostral length; cross-bar complete, thick, with columella developed downwardly as a vertical blade, proximal opesia small with thick proximal rim. Ooecium globular but irregularly shaped, widely open, clearly broader than long, with pearly frontal surface, sometimes placed well above orifice of maternal zooid when latter immersed in secondary calcification. Remarks. Celleporaria labelligera belongs to a group of species having in common a primary orifice with a straight proximal edge. Harmer (1957) based the original description of this species on specimens from both Indonesia and the Red Sea, including those recorded by Waters (1909) as Holoporella descostilsii (Audouin). He noticed differences between these specimens, particularly the presence or absence of a suboral avicularium. The specimens from Lebanon conform closely in most morphological characters to Red Sea specimens recorded by Waters (1909), Balavoine (1959: Gulf of Suez) and Ostrovsky et al. (2011a). Some features (orifice shape, frontal shield) of a specimen of C. labelligera from the Gulf of Suez illustrated (light microscopy) by Powell (1969b) are consistent with those of the Lebanese specimens. Other records from the Red Sea by Powell (1967a), Rédier (1969) and Dumont (1981) were not documented by any description or illustration. According to Gordon (1993), C. labelligera presents many characters in common with Celleporaria columnaris (Busk, 1881), which may be a senior synonym of the former, a synonymy which would involve a wide range of morphological variation. However, the boundaries of these species may likely be defined by the occurrence of suboral avicularia and tall columnar processes (C. columnaris) or their lack (C. labelligera). As stated by Harmer (1957), the Red Sea specimen attributed to Holoporella descostilsii by Waters (1909) belongs to C. labelligera. Cellepora descostilsii was named by Audouin (1826) from Savigny’s illustrations (1817, pl. 8, fig. 11) of a specimen growing on an Acropora branch (thus, from the Red Sea). The most distinctive features indicated by these figures are orifices with a thick, pointed proximal umbo, three oral spines, and vicarious avicularia with very large cystid and long, erect rostrum. Celleporaria labelligera was common in Lebanon, particularly in the port areas of Beirut and Tripoli where large, mamillate colonies encrusted jetty blocks.

Published as part of Harmelin, Jean-Georges, 2014, Alien bryozoans in the eastern Mediterranean Sea — new records from the coast of Lebanon, pp. 301-338 in Zootaxa 3893 (3) on pages 317-318, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3893.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/250297