bryozoa
Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary colonies. Typically about long, they have a special feeding structure called a ...
n belonging to the family
Bugulidae
Bugulidae is a family of bryozoans belonging to the order Cheilostomatida.
Genera
The World Register of Marine Species lists the following genera:-
*'' Beanodendria'' d'Hondt & Gordon, 1996
*'' Bicellariella'' Levinsen, 1909
*'' Bicellarina'' L ...
. It is found in shallow water on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Indo-Pacific region.
Description
''Bicellariella ciliata'' is a colonial bryozoan and has an upright, branched habit, and forms small white, feathery clumps up to in height. The colony is fixed to the substrate by a narrow flexible base. The zooids grow on branches, facing alternately to left and right, and appearing as regular black spots to the naked eye. Each feeding zooid has a cone-shaped tube leading to a bean-shaped chamber; the
lophophore
The lophophore () is a characteristic feeding organ possessed by four major groups of animals: the Brachiopoda, Bryozoa, Hyolitha, and Phoronida, which collectively constitute the protostome group Lophophorata. '' Bugulina flabellata'', ''
Crisularia plumosa
''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.
Description
''Crisularia plumosa'' is a colonial bryozoan that forms small bushy clum ...
'' and ''
Bugulina turbinata
''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.
Description
''Bugulina turbinata'' is a colonial bryozoan that forms s ...
'' are other bryozoans of very similar morphology with which ''Bicellariella ciliata'' may be confused. ''Bicellariella ciliata'' can form a bryozoan "turf" with these three.
Distribution and habitat
''Bicellariella ciliata'' has a widespread distribution. It occurs in the Mediterranean Sea, in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, from Norway to South Africa, in the western Atlantic Ocean from
Cape Cod
Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...
to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and in the Indo-Pacific region. It grows in rocky locations such as vertical walls exposed to moderate currents, at depths between . It often grows as an
epibiont
An epibiont (from the Ancient Greek meaning "living on top of") is an organism that lives on the surface of another living organism, called the basibiont ("living underneath"). The interaction between the two organisms is called epibiosis. An ep ...
hydrozoa
Hydrozoa (hydrozoans; ) are a taxonomic class of individually very small, predatory animals, some solitary and some colonial, most of which inhabit saline water. The colonies of the colonial species can be large, and in some cases the specialize ...
ns and on other bryozoans.
Ecology
Like other bryozoans, ''Bicellariella ciliata'' is a filter feeder, consuming diatoms and other small organic particles which it catches with the ever-active tentacles of its lophophore. Colonies have both male and female zooids; reproduction mainly takes place in late March and April, giving rise to
plankton
Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a crucia ...
ic larvae in May and June. These settle on the seabed in August and undergo metamorphosis into single zooids which will found new colonies which will overwinter. This species is more noticeable in winter and spring than it is in mid-summer. ''Bicellariella ciliata'' is one of the bryozoans on which the
nudibranch
Nudibranchs () are a group of soft-bodied marine gastropod molluscs which shed their shells after their larval stage. They are noted for their often extraordinary colours and striking forms, and they have been given colourful nicknames to match, ...
''
Antiopella cristata
''Antiopella cristata'', sometimes known by the common name crested aeolis, is a species of nudibranch, a marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusc in the family (biology), family Janolidae.
Taxonomy
Previously some authors synonymised ''Antiopel ...