Etimologías de los taxones supraespecíficos empleados en el filo Bryozoa

The literature in Spanish related to the meanings of the taxa is scarce, so it is necessary to value the etymological studies. In this work, 1238 names of supraspecific taxa of bryozoans are compiled. For each of the genera, the original reference, the etymology and meaning of the name, and the source from which it was obtained is included, if it is different from the original. Most of the suprageneric taxa derive directly from some genus, so they do not have their own etymology. Etymological roots can be classified into different categories. In bryozoans, most of them refer to the anatomy or morphology of zooids and colonies. Certain suffixes, such as –pora, –ella, –cella or –zoon, are also very frequently used to build new names. Other common categories are pre-existing genus names, eponyms, numbers, geography, mythology, plants, and habitats. The vast majority of the names have been constructed from Latin and ancient Greek words, while only seven generic names are based on a different language.