Walkeria tuberosa | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Bryozoa |
Class: | Gymnolaemata |
Order: | Ctenostomatida |
Family: | Walkeriidae |
Genus: | Walkeria |
Species: | W. tuberosa |
Binomial name | |
Walkeria tuberosa | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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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.
This species was first described in 1867 by the Austrian zoologist Camill Heller, and was named in honour of the Scottish minister and natural historian John Walker, a professor at the University of Edinburgh. [2] There is some confusion as to whether the original scientific name of the bryozoan was Walkeria tuberosa or Valkeria tuberosa. The genus name Walkeria was in 1994 given to a genus of dinosaurs, in this case being in honour of the British palaeontologist Alick Walker. When it was realised that the name had previously been used and was therefore not available, the dinosaurs were renamed Alwalkeria . [2]
Walkeria tuberosa is a colonial bryozoan and forms small clusters developing from a thread-like stolon that creeps across the substrate. The zooids are vase-shaped and grow in groups direct from the stolon and not from each other. Each zooid is about 2 to 3 mm (0.08 to 0.12 in) long and tipped by a relatively long lophophore with a crown of eight tentacles. The clusters of zooids are about 1 cm (0.4 in) apart. The colony is light beige or pale grey. [2]
Walkeria tuberosa was first described from the Adriatic Sea and is also found in the western, central and eastern Mediterranean, including between Crete and Turkey. It is also sporadically found in the Red Sea and the Indo-Pacific region, including Malaysia and New Zealand. It occurs from the lower littoral zone down to about 45 m (150 ft). It grows on rocks and other hard substrates as well as on the thallus of algae. When the tufts of zooids grow among a crowded community of other organisms, its presence is very difficult to detect, but where it grows alone, on an otherwise bare surface, it is easier to spot; such a surface might be a thallus of red alga such as Peyssonnelia sp., of a green alga such as Codium sp. or Flabellia sp., or a colonial tunicate such as Aplidium undulatum . [2]
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.
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.
Walkeria is a genus of colonial bryozoans in the order Ctenostomatida.
Jellyella is a genus of bryozoans in the family Membraniporidae.
Halimeda tuna is a species of calcareous green seaweed in the order Bryopsidales. It is found on reefs in the Atlantic Ocean, the Indo-Pacific region and the Mediterranean Sea. Halimeda tuna is the type species of the genus Halimeda and the type locality is the Mediterranean Sea. The specific name "tuna" comes from the Taíno language, meaning "cactus" and referring to the resemblance of the thallus to the growth form of an Opuntia cactus.
Ecteinascidia turbinata, the mangrove tunicate, is a sea squirt species in the genus Ecteinascidia, which was described to science in 1880 by William Abbott Herdman. The cancer drug trabectedin is isolated from E. turbinata.
Didemnum molle is a species of colonial tunicate in the family Didemnidae. It is commonly known as the tall urn ascidian, the green barrel sea squirt or the green reef sea-squirt. It is native to the Red Sea and the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific region.
Acetabularia caliculus, the umbrella alga, is a species of green alga found in shallow temperate and tropical seas. It usually grows on pebbles, shells or pieces of rock, and is often found in seagrass meadows, on mudflats and coral reefs, in estuaries and growing on the submerged roots of mangroves. Each individual thallus consists of a single cell with a long stipe and a terminal cup-shaped or flattened disc.
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.
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.
Perophora japonica is a species of colonial sea squirt in the genus Perophora, native to the North Indo-Pacific. It has spread to several other parts of the world including the south coast of Britain, France, the Netherlands and the west coast of the United States.
Perophora multiclathrata is a species of colonial sea squirt in the genus Perophora. It is native to the tropical Indo-Pacific and the western Atlantic Ocean.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Dictyota dichotoma is a species of Brown algae found in the temperate western and eastern Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, the Red Sea and the western Indian Ocean.
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.
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.