At the last workshop in November, we came across a Cribrilinid bryozoan which I could not really identify. After having taken some scanning electron microscopy images of the colony, I am leaning towards the genus Reginella. This genus has no European records in WoRMS or GBIF, but scattered findings along North America, Greenland, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand
When I say that this genus has not been recorded in Europe before, it may be a truth with modifications. For the species Cribrilina spitzbergensis has several similar characters, and is in Osburn 1950, with some probability, noted down as Reginella spitsbergensis (Norman, 1903).
And we have found this Arctic species near Svalbard, so it is possible that it is a Reginella species that has been recorded under a different name in Europe. But a taxonomic revision of Reginella as a genus is probably necessary to clear up the uncertainties.
Anyway, this Reginella was not collected in the Arctic, so based on that and the morphology, this is a different species. But is it a new species, an invasive species, or an overlooked species? It's difficult to say, but it's fun to have some mysteries to solve!
References:
Osburn, R. C. 1950. Bryozoa of the Pacific coast of America. Part 1, Cheilostomata –Anasca. Report of the Allan Hancock Pacific Expeditions, 14: 1-269. The University of Southern California Publications.