Biodiversity & Conservation

An erect bryozoan - Bugula turbinata - General information

Bugula turbinata

Image Keith Hiscock - Colonies of Bugula turbinata on overhang. Image width ca 25 cm.
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Distribution map

Bugula turbinata recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

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Bugula turbinata is not listed under any importance categories.

General information

Key Icon Researched by: Dr Harvey Tyler-Walters Text page icon Refereed by: Dr Peter J. Hayward

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy

Phylum Bryozoa Sea mats, horn wrack & lace corals
Class Gymnolaemata
Map icon Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland A southern species predominantly found on the south and southwest coasts of England and Wales but with records from Shetland, Orkney, the north east coast, Ireland, the west coast of Scotland and St. Kilda.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Present on the walls of gullies and under boulders on the lower shore and on bedrock, boulders, stones and shells in the shallow subtidal.
Text page icon Description Bugula turbinata forms an erect, bushy, tufted colony about 3-6 cm in height and orange to brown in colour. The branches are arranged spirally around the main axis and composed of two rows of zooids proximally, increasing to 3-4 rows distally. Individual zooids are rectangular, 0.5-0.6 by 0.15-0.2 mm, narrowing slightly at their proximal end and bearing a single short spine at each corner of the distal end. The front of the zooid is almost entirely membranous. The polypide bears 13 tentacles. Avicularia arise just below the spines and are short and plump resembling a 'birds head', with a rectangularly hooked beak. Inner avicularia are smaller than marginal ones. Brood chambers (ooecia) are globular in shape and conspicuous. Colonies are attached to the substratum by extensions of the basal zooids (rhizoids). Yellow embryos are present from early May to November.

This review can be cited as follows:

Dr Harvey Tyler-Walters 2005. Bugula turbinata. An erect bryozoan. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 24/05/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesfullreview.php?speciesID=2825>