''Jellyella'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of bryozoans in the family Membraniporidae.

Etymology

The genus is named in honour of the

Eliza Catherine Jelly Eliza Catherine Jelly (28 September 1829 - 3 November 1914) was an English bryozoologist. She was one of the first women to work and publish in the field of bryozoology. Her 1889 text ''The Synonymic Catalogue of the Recent Marine Bryozoa'' is sti ...

(1829–1914), of

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in honour of her contributions to the study of bryozoans.

Morphology

''Jellyella'' closely resemble ''Membranipora'', and in common with other members of the family Membraniporidae has twinned ancestrular

zooid A zooid or zoöid is a single animal that is part of a colonial animal. This lifestyle has been adopted by animals from separate unrelated taxa. Zooids are multicellular; their structure is similar to that of other solitary animals. The zooi ...

s. However, ''Jellyella'' can be distinguished by the presence of intricately branched processes (called spinules) projecting into the zooidal chambers. ''Jellyella'' also have a calcitic skeletal ultrastructure made up of transversely arranged, elongate spindles.

Ecology

''Jellyella'' is unusual in being a pseudoplanktonic bryozoan found encrusting floating objects, both natural and artificial. ''Jellyella eburnea'' is common on shells of the squid ''

Spirula ''Spirula spirula'' is a species of deep-water squid-like cephalopod mollusc, mollusk. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the genus ''Spirula'', the Family (biology), family Spirulidae, and the order (biology), order Spirulida. Because ...

'' (which become detached from the soft body of the squid after death) and on the shells of the planktonic

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

Janthina ''Janthina'' is a genus of small to medium-sized pelagic or planktonic sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Epitoniidae.Gofas, S. (2011). Janthina Röding, 1798. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.mari ...

''. ''Jellyella tuberculata'' grows on the floating

alga Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mi ...

Sargassum ''Sargassum'' is a genus of brown (class Phaeophyceae) macroalgae (seaweed) in the order Fucales. Numerous species are distributed throughout the temperate and tropical oceans of the world, where they generally inhabit shallow water and coral re ...

'', and on flat-bladed kelp and other seaweeds around the Cape Peninsula of South Africa. In Cape waters it is preyed upon by the crazed nudibranch, '' Corambe'' sp.Branch, G.M., Branch, M.L, Griffiths, C.L. and Beckley, L.E. 2005. ''Two Oceans: a guide to the marine life of southern Africa'' By contrast, most other bryozoans are

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...

, encrusting hard substrates such as

kelp Kelps are large brown algae seaweeds that make up the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera. Despite its appearance, kelp is not a plant - it is a heterokont, a completely unrelated group of organisms. Kelp grows in "underwat ...

or rocks.

Species

*'' Jellyella eburnea'' (Hincks, 1891). Tropical Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Oceans. *'' Jellyella tuberculata'' (Bosc, 1802). Widespread, subtropical. Colloquially known as the Gulf weed bryozoan.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6579504 Cheilostomatida Bryozoan genera