| Bugulina flabellata | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Clade: | Lophophorata |
| Phylum: | Bryozoa |
| Class: | Gymnolaemata |
| Order: | Cheilostomatida |
| Family: | Bugulidae |
| Genus: | Bugulina |
| Species: | B. flabellata |
| Binomial name | |
| Bugulina flabellata (Thompson in Gray, 1848) [1] | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Bugulina flabellata is a species of bryozoan belonging to the family Bugulidae. It is found in shallow water in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
Bugulina flabellata is a colonial bryozoan forming small clumps up to 5 cm (2 in) high with a characteristic cone or fan-shape. The fronds have up to eight dichotomous branches with square tips. Each zooid bears two or three short spines. Colonies are dark buff when living and greyish when dried up. [2]
Bugulina flabellata has a wide distribution in shallow temperate waters in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. It has also been recorded off the coasts of Brazil, Mauritius and Australia. It grows on rock surfaces or the undersides of boulders, on stones and on shells, at depths down to about 300 m (1,000 ft). [2]
Colonies of bryozoans grow by budding from a single zooid known as an ancestrula. Bugulina flabellata overwinters as a dormant holdfast or an ancestrula. In spring new fronds develop and there are two generations of ephemeral fronds during the summer and autumn. Bugulina flabellata is a protogynous hermaphrodite, that is, each zooid starts life as a female but later becomes a male. Embryos start to be produced soon after the individual zooids form, and there may be several stages of embryo present in the colony at any one time. Sperm is emitted through pores in the tips of the tentacles and is drawn into the recipient zooids by the feeding tentacles. The developing embryos are brooded in a brood pouch; when expelled into the sea in due course, they have a short larval life and do not disperse far. Bugulina flabellata seems specially adapted to grow and reproduce fast during the period in summer when there is an abundance of phytoplankton. [3]
Bugulina flabellata is one of the species that form a bryozoan "turf", along with Bicellariella ciliata and Bugulina turbinata , on steep or vertical, moderately wave-exposed rock, round the coasts of Britain just below the littoral zone; this habitat tends to be dominated by aggregations of the jewel anemone Corynactis viridis and the cup coral Caryophyllia smithii . [3]
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.
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.
Bugula is a genus of common colonial arborescent bryozoa, often mistaken for seaweed. It commonly grows upright in bushy colonies of up to 15 cm in height.
Parazoanthus axinellae, commonly known as the yellow cluster anemone, is a zoanthid coral found on the southern Atlantic coasts of Europe and in the Mediterranean Sea. Zoanthids differ from true sea anemones, in having a different internal anatomy and in forming true colonies in which the individual animals (polyps) are connected by a common tissue, called the coenenchyme.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Bugulina turbinata is a species of bryozoan belonging to the family Bugulidae. It is found in shallow water in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
Bugulina is a genus of bryozoans in the family Bugulidae.