The genus Adeonella (Bryozoa, Ascophora) in the Mediterranean, with description of two new living species and rediscovery of a fossil one

The bryozoan genus Adeonella from the Mediterranean area has been investigated. Analysis includes the two species traditionally recorded as living in this basin: Adeonella calveti Canu and Bassler and Adeonella pallasii (Heller) and the description of two new living species Adeonella pozarae sp. nov. and Adeonella flabellata sp. nov., both from the Adriatic. The fossil distribution of the former two species, going back to the Middle-Late Pliocene and the Late Tortonian-Early Messinian, respectively, has been discussed. A further fossil species Adeonella adae (Neviani), seemingly restricted to the Pleistocene of the central Mediterranean, is reported after more than one hundred years. These records, together with that of Adeonella polystomella (Reuss), already known from this area, add new insights on the history of Adeonella in the Late Cenozoic.