Bugula tsunamiensis n. sp. (Bryozoa, Cheilostomata, Bugulidae) from Japanese tsunami marine debris landed in the Hawaiian Archipelago and the Pacific Coast of the USA

A new species of the cheilostome bryozoan genus Bugula Oken, 1815, Bugula tsunamiensis, is described from Japan, having rafted across the North Pacific Ocean on numerous objects released into the ocean by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, and landing in the Hawaiian Islands and on the Pacific Coast of the United States. This is the second species of the Bugula uniserialis Hincks, 1884 group to be reported from Japan. We elevate the Japanese species Bugula scaphoides constricta Yanagi and Okada, 1918 to full species status, B. constricta, based upon distinctions from the stem species. We suggest that Bugula uniserialis reported from the Galapagos Islands is an undescribed species.