| Conopeum seurati | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Clade: | Lophophorata |
| Phylum: | Bryozoa |
| Class: | Gymnolaemata |
| Order: | Cheilostomatida |
| Family: | Electridae |
| Genus: | Conopeum |
| Species: | C. seurati |
| Binomial name | |
| Conopeum seurati (Canu, 1928) [1] | |
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.
Conopeum seurati is an encrusting bryozoan that forms small colonies on seagrasses, shells and other hard surfaces. When a larva of Conopeum seurati settles on a suitable surface, it undergoes metamorphosis into a zooid known as an ancestrula. This is oval in shape and measures about 0.55 by 0.33 mm (0.022 by 0.013 in).
The ancestrula buds to produce another zooid which has a pair of long spines at the distal end and sometimes a further three to five pairs of thin spines at the sides. Further asexual reproduction takes place, with each zooid producing several buds until there is a small, roughly circular encrusting cluster of zooids, white or brownish-white in colour, with the ancestrula at the centre. On flat surfaces the colony is regular and lacy in appearance but on uneven surfaces, it is more irregular and may form lobes. Some colonies are also spherical. Each individual zooid bears a lophophore, the characteristic feeding apparatus of bryozoans, with fifteen or sixteen ciliated tentacles, used to filter phytoplankton. The operculum, a flap that hinges to form a lid over the aperture of the lophophore, has a membranous edge and is chitinised. It is thick and crescent-shaped when closed. The walls between the zooids are calcified on the proximal edge and membranous elsewhere. [2] [3]
Conopeum seurati full distribution is unknown. It is found on the coasts of northern Europe and the Mediterranean Sea. It is considered to have been introduced to the Atlantic coast of Florida and to New Zealand. [3] It is a fouling species and is found in brackish water, estuaries and lagoons where it can tolerate a wide range of salinities; these range from eighteen to forty parts per thousand in the Indian River Lagoon, and as little as one ppt. in Europe. It usually forms colonies on seagrasses, ditch grasses, floating seaweed, mussels, oysters and man-made structures. [2]
Like other bryozoans, Conopeum seurati is a suspension feeder, filtering phytoplankton from the water with its tentacles. [2] Breeding takes place between June and October in Britain. [3] The cyphonautes larvae are triangular in shape with brownish bivalve shells in their later developmental stages. These larvae are planktonic and drift with the currents for some time before settling and undergoing metamorphosis into ancestrulae to found new colonies. [4]
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. One genus is solitary and the rest are colonial.
Entoprocta, or Kamptozoa, is a phylum of mostly sessile aquatic animals, ranging from 0.1 to 7 millimetres long. Mature individuals are goblet-shaped, on relatively long stalks. They have a "crown" of solid tentacles whose cilia generate water currents that draw food particles towards the mouth, and both the mouth and anus lie inside the "crown". The superficially similar Bryozoa (Ectoprocta) have the anus outside a "crown" of hollow tentacles. Most families of entoprocts are colonial, and all but 2 of the 150 species are marine. A few solitary species can move slowly.
Cheilostomatida, also called Cheilostomata, is an order of Bryozoa in the class Gymnolaemata.
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 sea-mat or lacy crust bryozoan and is often abundantly found encrusting seaweeds, particularly kelps.
Cyclostomatida, or cyclostomes, 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.
Botrylloides leachii is a colonial tunicate of the family Styelidae. Its unique methods of propagation and regeneration make it an ideal model organism for use in biological study of development, immunology, stem cells, and regeneration.
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.
Didemnum vexillum is a species of colonial tunicate in the family Didemnidae. It is commonly called sea vomit, marine vomit, pancake batter tunicate, or carpet sea squirt. It is thought to be native to Japan, but it has been reported as an invasive species in a number of places in Europe, North America and New Zealand. It is sometimes given the nickname "D. vex" because of the vexing way in which it dominates marine ecosystems when introduced into new locations, however the species epithet vexillum actually derives from the Latin word for flag, and the species was so named because of the way colonies' long tendrils appear to wave in the water like a flag.
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.
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.
Ficopomatus enigmaticus, commonly known as the Australian tubeworm, is a species of serpulid tubeworms. Their true native range is unknown, but they probably originated in the Southern Hemisphere, perhaps from the Indian Ocean and the coastal waters of Australia. Today they have a cosmopolitan distribution, having been introduced to shallow waters worldwide. The Australian tubeworm is an invasive species that dominates and alters habitats, reduces water quality, depletes resources, and causes biofouling.
Zoobotryon verticillatum, 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.
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.
Polyclinum planum, is a compound ascidian commonly known as the Elephant Ear Tunicate. It is an ascidian tunicate in the family Polyclinidae. Ascidians are also known as sea squirts.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Callopora lineata is a species of colonial bryozoan in the family Calloporidae. It is found on rocky shores in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
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.