Bryozoans from the Lower Permian Vøringen Member (Kapp Starostin Formation), Spitsbergen (Svalbard)

Bryozoans of the orders Cystoporata, Trepostomata, Cryptostomata and Fenestrata are represented by 41 species (four of which are new: Meekopora magnusi, Fenestella akselensis, Fenestella reversicnotta, Lyropora serissima) in the Vøringen Member (Kapp Starostin Formation). The bryozoans have strong affinities with faunas previously described from the Sverdrup, Wandel Sea and Timan-Pechora basins, and may generally be correlated with Artinskian-Kungurian faunas from these basins. Growth forms reflect the depositional conditions with low, robust fenestrates and thick ramose and encrusting trepostomes and cystoporates in the shelly coquinas in the lowermost part, and more delicate fenestrates, trepostomes and cryptostomes in the shaley limestones near the top of the unit.