Amathia verticillata

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Amathia verticillata
Amathia verticillata (Delle Chiaje, 1822) (phylum Bryozoa, classe Gymnolaemata).jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Bryozoa
Class: Gymnolaemata
Order: Ctenostomatida
Family: Vesiculariidae
Genus: Amathia
Species:
A. verticillata
Binomial name
Amathia verticillata
(Delle Chiaje, 1822) [1]
Synonyms [1]
  • Hyalosiphonia verticillatus (Delle Chiaje, 1822)
  • Hydra verticillata Delle Chiaje, 1822
  • Serialaria coutinhii Muller, 1860
  • Zoobotryon pellucidus Ehrenberg, 1829
  • Zoobotryon verticillatum (Delle Chiaje, 1822)

Amathia verticillata, commonly known as the spaghetti bryozoan, is a species of colonial bryozoans with a bush-like structure. It is found in shallow temperate and warm waters in the western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea and has spread worldwide as a fouling organism. It is regarded as an invasive species in some countries.

Contents

Description

Colonies of Amathia verticillata resemble miniature trees up to a metre (yard) wide and consist of a dense mass of feeding zooids known as autozooids connected to each other by slender branching stolons 0.5 mm (0.02 in) in diameter. The stolons are attached to the substrate by an adhesive disc and are translucent and may be brownish or bluish. The autozooids are in two rows along the stolons, each zooid being sac-like and 0.4 to 0.6 mm (0.016 to 0.024 in) in length. The mouth of each autozooid bears a retractable crown-like feeding structure known as a lophophore, with eight short tentacles. The stolon has a jointed appearance and is composed of a series of tubular non-feeding heterozooids. All the zooids within the colony are connected via pores in their walls and coelomic fluid can be transferred along the stolon and between adjacent autozooids. [2] [3]

Distribution and habitat

Colonies of Amathia verticillata are found in shallow water in the tropical and subtropical western Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea and many other parts of the world. It is tolerant of a range of water conditions but grows best at salinities of at least 30ppt and water temperatures over 22 °C (72 °F). It is a common species in the Indian River Lagoon where it grows vigorously from April to September but dies back during winter. Amathia verticillata is a fouling organism and its typical habitat is growing on the blades of seagrasses, the thallus of large seaweeds, the roots of mangroves, rocky reefs, the shells of bivalve molluscs, piers, breakwaters and other man-made structures, the hulls of boats, floating masses of seaweed and other floating debris. [2]

Biology

Each autozooid feeds by expanding its lophophore, the extended tentacles of which filter phytoplankton from the water. It has been estimated that each zooid can process 8.8 ml of water in a day, and the zooids on a square metre of seagrass meadow can filter some 184,728 litres (48,613 gallons) of water a day. By this means, this bryozoan can play a useful role in improving water quality. [2]

Expansion of the colony is by budding and new colonies can also be formed by fragmentation. It has been shown that one end of a cut piece of stolon will develop attachment structures to anchor it to the substrate within about twenty-four hours. This bryozoan is a hermaphrodite and reproduction also takes place sexually. The larva is planktonic, settles on a hard surface and develops into a heterozooid which attaches itself to the substrate with an adhesive disc. [4]

Ecology

Amathia verticillata sometimes grows in association with the honeysuckle tunicate (Perophora viridis), the stolons of which intertwine with those of the bryozoan. [5] The colonies provide hiding places for juvenile fish and for the amphipods, copepods, polychaete worms and the other small invertebrates on which the young fish feed. [2]

The tissues of Amathia verticillata contain certain secondary metabolites that render it unappetizing to many potential predators. The main one is a bromo-alkaloid which has been shown to prevent settlement of mussel and barnacle larvae on the colony. One of the few creatures that does feed on it is the nudibranch Okenia zoobotryon which is thought to live, feed and lay its eggs almost exclusively on the bryozoan and whose tissues may then contain many of the same anti-predator chemicals. [4]

Invasive species

There are concerns about Amathia verticillata as an invasive species. It can develop into huge aggregations and cause fouling of fishing gear, block sea-water inlets, out-compete native species and upset food chains by filtering phytoplankton from the water. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryozoa</span> Phylum of colonial aquatic invertebrates called moss animals

Bryozoa are a phylum of simple, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary colonies. Typically about 0.5 millimetres long, they have a special feeding structure called a lophophore, a "crown" of tentacles used for filter feeding. Most marine bryozoans live in tropical waters, but a few are found in oceanic trenches and polar waters. The bryozoans are classified as the marine bryozoans (Stenolaemata), freshwater bryozoans (Phylactolaemata), and mostly-marine bryozoans (Gymnolaemata), a few members of which prefer brackish water. 5,869 living species are known. At least two genera are solitary ; the rest are colonial.

<i>Membranipora membranacea</i> Species of moss animal

Membranipora membranacea is a very widely distributed species of marine bryozoan known from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, usually in temperate zone environments. This bryozoan is a colonial organism characterized by a thin, mat-like encrustation, white to gray in color. It may be known colloquially as the coffin box, sea-mat or lacy crust bryozoan and is often abundantly found encrusting seaweeds, particularly kelps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyclostomatida</span> Order of moss animals

Cyclostomatida, or cyclostomata, are an ancient order of stenolaemate bryozoans which first appeared in the Lower Ordovician. It consists of 7+ suborders, 59+ families, 373+ genera, and 666+ species. The cyclostome bryozoans were dominant in the Mesozoic; since that era, they have decreased. Currently, cyclostomes seldom constitute more than 20% of the species recorded in regional bryozoan faunas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phylactolaemata</span> Order of moss animals

Phylactolaemata is a class of the phylum Bryozoa whose members live only in freshwater environments. Like all bryozoans, they filter feed by means of an extensible "crown" of ciliated tentacles called a lophophore, and like nearly all bryozoans, they live in colonies, each of which consists of clones of the founding member. Unlike those of some marine bryozoans, phylactolaemate colonies consist of only one type of zooid, the feeding forms known as autozooids. These are supported by an unmineralized "exoskeleton" made of gelatinous material or protein, secreted by the zooids. The class contains only one extant order, Plumatellida.

<i>Flustra foliacea</i> Species of moss animal

Flustra foliacea is a species of bryozoans found in the northern Atlantic Ocean. It is a colonial animal that is frequently mistaken for a seaweed. Colonies begin as encrusting mats, and only produce loose fronds after their first year of growth. They may reach 20 cm (8 in) long, and smell like lemons. Its microscopic structure was examined by Robert Hooke and illustrated in his 1665 work Micrographia.

Cauloramphus disjunctus is a species of small colonial bryozoan found encrusting rocks in shallow parts of the sea near Japan. Fossils of this species have been found that date back a million years.

Perophora viridis, the honeysuckle tunicate, is a species of colonial sea squirt in the genus Perophora found in the tropical western Atlantic Ocean.

Amathia vidovici is a species of colonial bryozoans with a tree-like structure. It is found in shallow waters over a wide geographical range, being found in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and adjoining seas.

<i>Okenia zoobotryon</i> Species of gastropod

Okenia zoobotryon is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Goniodorididae. It is normally found on the colonial bryozoan Amathia verticillata on which it lives and feeds.

<i>Conopeum seurati</i> Species of moss animal

Conopeum seurati is a species of colonial bryozoan in the order Cheilostomatida. It is native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. This species has been introduced to New Zealand and Florida.

<i>Electra pilosa</i> Species of moss animal

Electra pilosa is a species of colonial bryozoan in the order Cheilostomatida. It is native to the northeastern and northwestern Atlantic Ocean and is also present in Australia and New Zealand.

<i>Cryptosula pallasiana</i> Species of moss animal

Cryptosula pallasiana is a species of colonial bryozoan in the order Cheilostomatida. It is native to the Atlantic Ocean where it occurs in northwestern Europe and northern Africa, and the eastern seaboard of North America. It has been accidentally introduced to the western coast of North America and to other parts of the world.

<i>Watersipora subtorquata</i> Species of moss animal

Watersipora subtorquata, commonly known as the red-rust bryozoan, is a species of colonial bryozoan in the family Watersiporidae. It is unclear from where it originated but it is now present in many warm-water coastal regions throughout the world, and has become invasive on the west coast of North America and in Australia and New Zealand.

<i>Beania magellanica</i> Species of bryozoan

Beania magellanica is a species of colonial bryozoan in the family Beaniidae. It has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring in shallow waters in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and in Antarctica.

<i>Electra posidoniae</i> Species of bryozoan (marine moss animal)

Electra posidoniae is a species of bryozoan in the family Electridae. It is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea, and is commonly known as the Neptune-grass bryozoan because it is exclusively found growing on seagrasses, usually on Neptune grass, but occasionally on eelgrass.

<i>Chorizopora brongniartii</i> Species of bryozoan (marine moss animal)

Chorizopora brongniartii is a species of bryozoan in the family Chorizoporidae. It is an encrusting bryozoan, the colonies forming spreading patches. It has a widespread distribution in tropical and temperate seas.

Bicellariella ciliata is a species of bryozoan belonging to the family Bugulidae. It is found in shallow water on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Indo-Pacific region.

<i>Crisularia plumosa</i> Colonial aquatic invertebrate

Crisularia plumosa is a species of bryozoan belonging to the family Bugulidae, commonly known as the feather bryozoan. It is native to the Atlantic Ocean.

Walkeria tuberosa is a species of colonial bryozoan in the order Ctenostomatida. It is native to the Mediterranean Sea, and has spread to the Red Sea and the Indo-Pacific region.

Walkeria uva is a species of colonial bryozoan in the order Ctenostomatida. It occurs on either side of the Atlantic Ocean, in the Baltic Sea, in the Mediterranean Sea and in the Indo-Pacific region.

References

  1. 1 2 "Amathia verticillata". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Amathia verticillata". Smithsonian Marine Station. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  3. ↑ Ruppert, Edward E.; Fox, Richard, S.; Barnes, Robert D. (2004). Invertebrate Zoology (7th ed.). Cengage Learning. pp. 829–845. ISBN   81-315-0104-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. 1 2 Robinson, N. M. (2001). "Interactions between the nudibranch Okenia zoobotryon and its bryozoan prey Zoobotryon verticillatum" (PDF). Thesis, Master of Sciences. University of Central Florida. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  5. ↑ Goodbody, Ivan (1994). "The tropical western Atlantic Perophoridae (Ascidiacea): I. The genus Perophora". Bulletin of Marine Science. 55 (1): 176–192.
  6. ↑ "Least wanted aquatic invaders: Spaghetti bryozoan, Zoobotryon verticillatum" (PDF). Elkhorn Slough Research. 2002. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
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