Morphological Study of Some Reptadeonella Busk, 1884 (Bryozoa, Cheilostomatida) From Brazil With the Description of Two New Species and an Updated Identification Key to the Genus

Reptadeonella Busk, 1884, is one of the most common bryozoan genera reported from warm waters across all oceans and is currently represented by 29 species. Almost half of this diversity has been described in the past 10 years, including the recognition of 12 new species and documentation of morphological variations. In this work, we analyzed types of some Reptadeonella already reported from Brazil and more than 60 newly collected specimens, including comparisons between newly budded (young) and mature zooids to assess ontogenetic variation within species and colonies. The descriptions of Reptadeonella bipartita (Canu and Bassler, 1928) and Reptadeonella cucullata Almeida, Souza, Sanner and Vieira, 2015, with the recognition of additional morphological characters, are provided, as well as the description of two new species: Reptadeonella noronhensis sp. nov. and Reptadeonella osvaldinae sp. nov. analysis of entire colonies supported the recognition of morphological variations among autozooids and gonozooids and the occurrence of heterozooids in the studied Reptadeonella species. A tabular identification key for all species of the genus is also presented.