A new species of Taylorius (Bryozoa: Escharinidae) from the east coast of South Africa

Abstract

A new species of Escharinidae, Taylorius nyembezi sp. nov., is described and illustrated from material collected by the R.V. Meiring Naudé cruises at 90 m depth off the east coast of South Africa in 1979 and lodged in the collections of the Iziko Museums of South Africa, Cape Town and The Natural History Museum, London. The specimens were previously reported as conspecific with recent and fossil specimens from New Zealand and misidentified as Escharina waiparaensis (Brown, 1952) by Hayward & Cook (1983). Subsequently Gordon (2014) clarified the taxonomic status of the unique species that constitutes Escharina waiparaensis. In this paper we erect Taylorius nyembezi sp. nov., for the South African specimens based on its unique anter and sinus shape, metrics of its zooids and orifices, and the large size and position of the spine bases. Key words: Bryozoa, Escharinidae, Taylorius, new species, historical specimens, South Africa