(Also colour photo)
Type species: Flustra membranacea Linnaeus, 1767
The genus (and family) has been used for many forms of encrusting anascans with little or no frontal calcification. The modern definition includes development of a colony from a twinned ancestrula. Information on ancestrula is not available for many Recent (and most fossil) species. These species are included in the list below until more information makes a better definition possible. It is likely that a residue of described species which are inadequately known will continue to be a problem. A large number of fossil species have been described; ultimately, these will be added to this page, but it is expected that few will be related to the Recent genus.
Levinsen (1909) suggested the name Membraniporina for species without characters such as ovicells or avicularia which would permit assignment to other genera. (ie Membranipora sensu lato). The proposal did not specify a type species, and cannot be considered a formal definition. The informal "Membranipora" is used for these species.
This genus includes the species:
| Membranipora arborescens | (Canu & Bassler, 1928) | Recent | Atlantic |
| Membranipora commensale | (Kirkpatrick & Metzelaar, 1922) | Recent | Atlantic, E. Pacific |
| Membranipora constantia | Kluge, 1914 | Recent | S.Atlantic |
| Membranipora eriophoroidea | Liu, 1992 | Recent | West Pacific |
| Membranipora falsitenuis | Liu, 1992 | Recent | West Pacific |
| Membranipora grandicella | (Canu & Bassler, 1929) | Recent | NW Pacific |
| Membranipora limosa | (Waters, 1909) | Recent | Red Sea, China |
| Membranipora lingdingensis | Liu & Lu, 1987 | Recent | West Pacific |
| Membranipora membranacea | (Linnaeus, 1767) | Recent | Cosmopolitan |
| Membranipora rustica | Florence, Hayward & Gibbons, 2007 | Recent | South Africa |
| Membranipora serrilamella | Osburn, 1950 | Recent | Northeast Pacific |
| Membranipora similis | Liu, 1992 | Recent | West Pacific |
| Membranipora? subvertebralis | Favorskaja, 1992 | Cretaceous | Russia |
| Membranipora tenella | Hincks, 1880 | Recent Miocene |
West Atlantic Jamaica |
| Membranipora tenuis | Desor, 1848 | Recent Miocene |
Atlantic, Mediterranean USA |
| Membranipora triangularis | Winston & Håkansson, 1986 | Recent | USA (Florida) |
| Membranipora villosa | Hincks, 1880 | Recent | NE Pacific |
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| Membranipora arborescens | Membranipora membranacea (Also colour photo) |
Membranipora membranacea at Encyclopedia of Marine Life of Britain and Ireland, Ulster Museum.
Membranipora membranacea - at the British Columbia Creature Page.
Membranipora membranacea - from San Francisco, at the California Academy of Sciences.
Membranipora - MBL/WHOI Web Site.
Membranipora tenella - Virginia Museruum of Natural History.
Photos of Membranipora sp. - at Phillip Colla Photography.
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